This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
Jurisdiction
Commonwealth
Act Number
70 of 1904
Collection
legislative instrument
Plain English Summary
6/10 complexity
These Regulations set out the practical rules for obtaining, opposing, amending, and keeping patents under the Patents Act 1903. They prescribe fees, filing forms, document and drawing standards, time limits, evidence and hearing procedures, appeal routes, renewal and compulsory‑licence processes, and the registration and examination of patent attorneys.
They affect inventors, patentees, opponents, patent attorneys and the Commissioner: applicants pay specified fees and meet strict form, timing and evidence rules; the Commissioner is given procedural powers (extensions, refusals, security for costs) that shape how and when rights are pursued.
Zoe can write the in-depth analysis on top of the summary above: how it works, who it affects and what each part actually does.
Current sections
Direct links to the current provisions in The Patents Regulations, 1904.
1
Source text: opening excerpt
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
1 The Patents Regulations, 1904
STATUTORY RULES.
No. 70.
REGULATIONS UNDER THE PATENTS ACT 1903.
I, THE Governor-General in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Patents Act 1903, to come into operation forthwith.
Dated this second day of November, One thousand nine hundred and four.
NORTHCOTE,
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command,
A. McLEAN,
Minister of State for Trade and Customs.
SHORT TITLE.
These Regulations may be cited as “The Patents Regulations, 1904.”
INTERPRETATION.
Interpretation.
In these Regulations—
“The Act” means the Patents Act 1903.
“Justice of the Peace” means a Justice of the Peace of the Commonwealth, or part of the Commonwealth, or of a State or part of a State.
FEES.
Fees.
The fees to be paid under the Act and these Regulations shall be those specified in the First Schedule, and shall be paid in cash at the Patent Office.
Where any fee is payable in respect of any act or document, the Commissioner may refuse to permit or perform the act, or to receive or issue the document as the case requires until the fee payable is paid.
The prescribed fee for preparation of the patent for sealing shall be paid within the time allowed for the sealing of the patent, and if not so paid, the application for the patent shall become abandoned.
FORMS.
Second Schedule.
The forms contained in the Second Schedule may, as far as they are applicable, be used in any proceeding under the Act or these Regulations to which they are appropriate.
HOURS OF BUSINESS.
Hours of Business.
Except in the case of holidays observed under the Commonwealth Public Service Act 1902, the Patent Office shall be open to the public on week days (other than Saturdays) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon.
PRIORITY OF APPLICATIONS UNDER SECTION 29.
Priority of applications lodged before commencement of Act.
Applications for patents lodged at the Patent Office under section 29 of the Act shall have priority according to the time when they were received at the Patent Office.
All applications lodged by being left with the principal officer at the Customs House in a State shall be deemed to have been received at the Patent Office at the time when they were so lodged.
For the purposes of this regulation time shall be reckoned according to the standard time in force in the State of Victoria.
APPLICATIONS.
Manner of lodging applications.
Every application for a patent must be left at or sent to the Patent Office, and may be sent by prepaid letter through the post, and must in every case be accompanied by the prescribed fee.
Manner of recording applications.
Every application for a patent left at the Patent Office shall be numbered in the order of its receipt.
Every application for a patent sent by prepaid letter through the post shall, as far as practicable, be opened and numbered in the order in which the letter containing it was delivered at the Patent Office.
Address for service.
Every application for a patent shall be accompanied by a statement of an address for service to which all notices, requisitions, and communications of every kind may be sent by the Commissioner. The address for service shall be within the Commonwealth, and, if the Commissioner so requires, in or near to the city in which the Patent Office is situate.
Certificate of correctness as to documents.
All documents and copies thereof accompanying an application for a patent shall, by indorsement on the back thereof, be certified to be correct as to number and contents for the purposes of the Act, by one or more applicants, or by his or their agent.
Signature of applicant and witness.
Every application must be signed by all the applicants, each of whose signatures must be attested by a witness.
Application by body corporate.
An application by a body corporate shall be signed or executed in such a manner as to bind the corporation, and shall be signed by some person who shall be personally responsible for the truth of the statements therein contained.
Application after revocation of patent obtained by fraud.
Where the applicant applies as the actual inventor after the revocation of a patent obtained in fraud of his rights, the application may be in the Form A10 in the Second Schedule.
Application for separate patent by way of amendment.
Where a person making application for a patent includes in his specification more than one invention he may, with the consent of the Commissioner, before acceptance, amend his complete specification, so as to apply to one invention only, and may make application for separate patents for each of the other inventions.
Where a person making application for a patent includes therein more than one invention, he may, after the refusal of the Commissioner to accept the application, amend it so as to apply to one invention only, and may make application for separate patents for each of the other inventions.
In either case every such new application shall, if the applicant notify his desire to that effect to the Commissioner, bear the date of the first application, and shall, together therewith, be proceeded with in the manner prescribed as if it had been originally made on that date.
Extension of time for leaving and accepting complete specifications.
Every application for an extension of time for lodging a complete specification shall be made in the Form C1 in the Second Schedule, and shall state in detail the circumstances and grounds in and upon which the extension is applied for, and the Commissioner may require the applicant to substantiate such allegations by such proof as the Commissioner thinks necessary.
Time limit for acceptance of complete specification.
Every complete specification must be accepted within twelve months from the date of application, or within such extended period, not exceeding three months, as the Commissioner, on application within such twelve months, and on payment of the prescribed fee, allows. But in the case of complete specifications lodged under section 29 of the Act the Commissioner may extend the period for such acceptance to six months without the payment of a fee.
Notice and advertisement of acceptance.
On acceptance of an application and a complete specification, the Commissioner shall notify the applicant of the acceptance and require him to pay the acceptance fee and to lodge five additional copies of the complete specification. After receipt of the fee and the additional copies of the specification the Commissioner shall advertise the acceptance in the Gazette or the official journal of the Patent Office.
Inspection of specification.
After the advertisement of acceptance, the application and specification, with the drawings (if any), may be inspected at the Patent Office upon the payment of the prescribed fee.
Refusal to accept by Commissioner.
When the Commissioner refuses to accept an application accompanied by either a provisional or complete specification, he shall notify the refusal to the applicant, and such notification may be in the Form F in the Second Schedule.
Advertisement of other proceedings.
All advertisements, notices, or documents, which by the Act or by these Regulations are required to be published, shall be advertised in the Gazette, or in the official journal of the Patent Office, or in such daily newspaper as the Commissioner directs.
Date of sealing of Patents where time for acceptance has been extended.
Where the Commissioner has allowed an extension of time for the acceptance of a complete specification, he may allow an extension, for the same period, of the time for the sealing of the patent.
APPLICATIONS UNDER SECTION 7 OF THE ACT.
Application for a patent under section 7.
An application made under section 7 of the Act may be in the Form A8 or A9 in the Second Schedule.
Production of State patent.
The Commissioner may, if he thinks fit, direct that the State patent be produced for his inspection.
State specifications to accompany application.
The application must be signed by the applicant and attested by a witness, and, in addition to the specifications left therewith, be accompanied by a copy of the complete specification and drawings upon which the State patent was granted.
Amendment subsequent to grant of State patent.
The applicant must state whether any amendment has been made in any document subsequent to the grant of the patent in the State, and the reason for, and the nature of, the amendment.
Amendments and objections to State or States patents.
If a patent for the invention has been refused in any State or States, the applicant, when lodging his application, must state in writing the ground thereof. If any objection has been raised to the acceptance of his application in any State or States, he shall, when lodging his application, state in writing the nature of the objections, and the grounds upon which they were overcome.
Fee.
The payment of the prescribed renewal fee on an application under section 7 shall be reckoned as from the date of the application.
Further proceedings.
Save as aforesaid, all proceedings in connexion with an application under section 7 shall be taken within the times and in the manner prescribed for ordinary applications.
APPLICATION FOR ADDITIONAL PATENT.
Application for additional patent.
An application for an additional patent in respect of an improvement on an invention may be in the Form A7.
Application to be signed by applicant.
The application shall be signed by the applicant in the presence of a witness.
Fee.
The time for payment of the prescribed renewal lee on an additional patent shall be reckoned as from the date of the additional patent.
Further proceedings.
Save as aforesaid, all proceedings in connexion with an application for an additional patent shall be taken within the times and in the manner prescribed for ordinary applications.
SIZE, ETC., OF DOCUMENTS.
Size of documents.
Subject to any directions given by the Commissioner, all documents and copies of documents sent to or left at the Patent Office, or furnished to the Commissioner or to the Court or the Law Officer, shall be written or printed in the English language on tough white paper of good quality, not thinner than 300 sheets to the inch. The sheets shall be 13 inches by 8 inches, with a margin of not less than 2 inches at the left side, and one-half inch elsewhere.
Specifications.
The top half of the first sheet of specifications shall be left blank, and the writing or printing shall be on one side only. The contents shall be written or printed in carbonaceous or other permanent ink, not affected by bleaching agents. If written, the writing shall be large and legible, not more than ten letters per inch, and with not more than two line spaces per inch. If printed, the type shall not be less than pica, and there shall not be more than three line spaces per inch. The date and the signature shall be on the last page, which shall, in the case of the complete specification, also contain the conclusion of the claims, and, in the case of the provisional specification, the conclusion of the description of the nature of the invention.
Signatures.
The signatures to all documents must be written in full in a large and legible hand.
Copies of specifications.
A copy of every provisional or complete specification shall be lodged at the Patent Office at the same time as the original. The copy shall be marked “True Copy,” and shall be signed by the applicant or his agent.
Copies of other documents.
Copies of all other documents required by the Commissioner shall be left as directed by him.
SIZES AND METHODS OF PREPARING DRAWINGS ACCOMPANYING PROVISIONAL OR COMPLETE SPECIFICATIONS.
Drawings.
The provisional or complete specification need not be accompanied by drawings if the specification sufficiently describes the invention without them; but if drawings are furnished they should accompany the provisional or complete specification to which they refer, unless the applicant desires to adopt the drawings lodged with the provisional specification as the drawings for the complete specification, when they must be referred to as those “left with the provisional specification.”
The drawings must show every feature of the invention covered by the specification.
When the invention consists of an improvement upon an old machine, the drawing must exhibit the invention disconnected from the old structure, and also, in another view, the specific improvement and such parts of the old structure as necessarily co-operate with it.
Drawings must be delivered at the Patent Office either flat or on rollers, so as to be free from creases, folds, or breaks.
Requirements as to paper, &c.
They must be made on pure white tough drawing paper, not thinner than 100 sheets to the inch, of smooth surface and good quality, and without colour or Indian ink washes.
Size of drawings.
They must be on sheets 13 inches at the sides by 8 inches at the top and bottom. The illustrations shall be inside a border rectangle 12 inches by 7 inches, leaving a margin half-an-inch wide. When an exceptionally large drawing is essential, it may be drawn in sections on several detached sheets. There is no limit to the number of sheets. The illustrations should be numbered consecutively throughout.
Quality of ink &c.
To insure their satisfactory reproduction on a reduced scale, all lines shall be in absolutely black Indian ink, and shall be uniform in thickness or gradation.
Section and shade lines shall not be closer than 30 per inch, and shading lines shall preferably be avoided.
Sections of plates and small pieces may be in solid black.
Reference letters and figures must be bold, distinct, not less than one-eighth of an inch in height, and should be placed in an upright position, and the same letters and figures must be used in different views of the same parts. Reference letters or figures shall be placed upon the larger parts, and to one side of the drawing, connected by a fine line to the smaller parts.
When the character of the drawings permits, such words as “plan,” “elevation,” and brief descriptive names of parts, such as “generator,” “dipping tank,” “high pressure cylinder,” may be added; but no connected description, phrase, or sentence, shall appear on the drawings.
Scale of drawings.
The scale adopted shall be large enough to show clearly wherein the invention consists, and only so much of the apparatus, machine, &c., need be shown as effects this purpose.
When the scale is shown on the drawing, it should be denoted, not by words, but by a divided line. Related drawings, such as “plan” and “elevation,” shall be drawn to the same scale, and be arranged in proper relative positions, where practicable.
Drawings to bear name of applicant, &c.
Each sheet of the drawings shall be signed by the applicant or his agent, as near the lower right-hand corner inside the border line as may be convenient.
In the case of drawings left with a complete specification after a provisional specification, the number and date of the application shall be
given in the lower left-hand corner, outside the border line. The total number of sheets, and the number of each sheet, shall be stated on each sheet in the top right-hand corner, outside the border line.
No professional designation, or advertisements, or addresses, will be permitted upon the face of the drawings nor anywhere upon the tracings.
Duplicates of drawings.
A fac-simile of the original drawings prepared strictly in accordance with the regulations governing original drawings must be lodged with the original drawing
This is an opening excerpt, not the complete document.