[Chapter VA inserted by s. 38 of Act No. 38 of 1997.]
| (1) | When processing the national phase of an international application, the patent office shall, subject to subsections (2), (3) and (4) apply the Patent Co-operation Treaty, the regulations made thereunder and the administrative instructions issued under those regulations, and the other provisions of this Act. |
| (2) | When processing the national phase of an international application, he Patent Co-operation Treaty, the regulations made thereunder and the administrative instructions issued under those regulations shall prevail in the event of any conflict with this Act. |
| (3) | When processing the national phase of an international application designating the Republic— |
(a)
| (b) | section 10 shall apply only if the applicant complies with section 43E and the applicant who so complies shall, for the purposes of section 10, be deemed to be the applicant in respect of the national phase of the international application; |
| (c) | section 16(2) shall apply in relation to time limits specified in terms of the Patent Co-operation Treaty, the regulations made thereunder and the administrative instructions issued under those regulations unless otherwise provided therein; |
(d)
(e)
| (ii) | the applicant has complied with Rule 17.1 of the regulations made under the Patent Co-operation Treaty; and |
| (iii) | the priority document referred to in the said Rule 17.1 is a prescribed document for the purposes of section 35(2),the applicant shall be deemed to have furnished a copy of the priority document within the prescribed period referred to in section 35(2); |
| (fA) | if the first-mentioned application contemplated in section 37 is the national phase of an international application, the date on which that application was lodged at the patent office shall be the international filing date accorded in terms of the Patent Cooperation Treaty; |
| (h) | the period of 18 months from the date of the application shall, for the purposes of section 40, be a period of 12 months from the date on which the applicant complies with section 43E; |
| (i) | section 43(3) shall not apply but, when the applicant has complied with section 43E and the international application has been published in terms of Article 21 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the national phase of the international application shall be open to public inspection as provided in section 43(1); |
| (j) | section 43(4) shall not apply; |
| (jA) | the date of application of the national phase of the international application shall, for the purposes of section 46 be the international filing date accorded in terms of the Patent Co-operation Treaty; |
| (k) | any correction or rectification of any document made in terms of the regulations made under the Patent Co-operation Treaty shall be deemed to be a correction or amendment made in terms of section 50; |
(l)
| (i) | if an application for amendment of the national phase of the international application is made before publication in terms of section 42, the application for amendment shall not be advertised as contemplated in section 51(2); |
| (m) | any amendment made in terms of— |
| (i) | Article 19 of the Patent Co-operation Treaty and which does not go beyond the disclosure in the international application as filed; or |
| (ii) | Article 34 of the Patent Co-operation Treaty and which is annexed to the international preliminary examination report,shall be deemed to have been allowed in terms of section 51 but may be set aside in terms of subsection (10) of that section if the amendment does not comply with subsection (6) or (7) thereof. |
| (4) | Save as provided for in this Chapter, the provisions relating to an application for a patent accompanied by a complete specification shall mutatis mutandis apply to the national phase of an international application, and to any patent granted thereon. |
[Section 43F substituted by section 6 of Act No. 58 of 2002.]
