Patents Act, 1978 (Act No. 57 of 1978)Chapter V : Applications for patents37. Procedure in case of amendment of application or lodging or fresh application |
| (1) | Where at any time after an application has been lodged at the patent office and before it is accepted, a fresh application is made in the prescribed manner by the same applicant in respect of part of the matter disclosed in the first-mentioned application, the registrar may, on application made to him in the prescribed manner before that application is accepted, direct that such fresh application be ante-dated to a date not earlier than the date on which the first-mentioned application was so lodged. |
| (2) | A patent granted on such fresh application shall not be revoked or invalidated on the ground only that the invention claimed in such fresh application is not new having regard to the matter disclosed in the first-mentioned application. |
[Sub-section (2) added by section 36 of Act No. 38 of 1997.]