Section 18 Patents and Designs Act 1971

Section 18 of the Patents and Designs Act 1971 is about Applications under sealed cover. It is under ‘Designs’ of the Act. It provides as follows:

(1) An applicant for the registration of an industrial design may ask for the design to be kept secret for a specified period not exceeding twelve months from the date of the application; and, where he does so, then, notwithstanding any other provision of this Act-

(a) the specimen and other matters mentioned in section 15 (1) (a) (iii) and (iv) of
this Act shall be enclosed in a sealed package, which shall be opened by the
registrar-
(i) when the specified period has elapsed; or
(ii) if, before the specified period has elapsed, the applicant asks for the
application to be converted into an open application; or
(iii) if the package is still sealed, at the expiration of twelve months after
the date of the application;

(b) a provisional registration certificate shall be issued and a provisional notification published under section 17 of this Act, each of which shall exclude the reproduction and other matters mentioned in section 17 (1) (e) of this Act;
(c) the said provisional registration certificate and provisional notification shall
not confer any right to protection under section 25 of this Act; and

(d) when the sealed package has been opened pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
subsection, the registrar shall proceed in accordance with sections 16 and 17 of
this Act in so far as he has not already done so and, if authorised by those sections, shall issue a revised registration certificate and publish a revised notification which shall have the same effect as any other certificate issued or notification published under section 17 of this Act.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, a sealed package may be opened by the registrar at any time on the direction of a court and shall be resealed when the court no longer requires it:

Provided that, if the time at which the package may be opened under subsection (1) (a) of this section arrives before the court has ceased to require it, the package shall be deemed to have been duly opened at that time and shall not be resealed.

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