Patents Act, 1978 (Act No. 57 of 1978)Chapter V : Applications for patents26. Prior knowledge or publication of invention excused in certain circumstances |
A patent shall not be invalid by reason only of the fact that the invention in respect of which the patent was granted or any part thereof was disclosed, used or known prior to the priority date of the invention—
| (a) | if the patentee or his or her predecessor in title proves that such knowledge was acquired or such disclosure or use was made without his or her knowledge or consent, and that the knowledge acquired or the matter disclosed or used was derived or obtained from him or her, and, if he or she learnt of the disclosure, use or knowledge before the priority date of the invention, that he or she applied for and obtained protection for his or her invention with all reasonable diligence after learning of the disclosure, use or knowledge; or |
| (b) | as a result of the invention being worked in the Republic by way of reasonable technical trial or experiment by the applicant or patentee or the predecessor in title of the applicant or patentee. |
[Section 26 substituted by section 32 of Act No. 38 of 1997.]