Section 22 Patents and Designs Act 1971

Section 22 of the Patents and Designs Act 1971 is about Nullity of registration. It is under ‘Designs’ of the Act. It provides as follows:

(1) Subject to this section, on the application of any person (including a publ ic officer acting in the exercise of his functions) the court shall declare the registration of an industrial design to be null and void–
(a) if the design, because of its failure to conform with section 13 (1) (b) of this Act, ought not to have been registered; or

(b) if the design fails to comply with section 13 (1) (a) or 14 of this Act.

(2) Where-
(a) a declaration under subsection (1) of this section relates to an application comprising several designs; and
(b) the grounds for making the declaration affect only some of those designs,
the declaration shall apply only to the designs so affected.

(3) Where a declaration is made under subsection (1) of this section-
(a) the registration in question shall be deemed, to the extent specified in the declaration, to have been null and void ab initio, so however that it shall not be
necessary to repay royalties paid by any licensee unless the court so orders;
and

(b) the proper officer of the court shall inform the registrar, who shall register and
notify the declaration.

(4) The court-
(a) shall not make a declaration under subsection (1) of this section without first
giving the design owner an opportunity to be heard;

(b) in applying subsection (1) (a) of this section, shall have regard only to the state of affairs existing when the proceedings were instituted; and
(c) shall dismiss an application under subsection (1) of this section if the applicant
(not being a public officer) fails to satisfy the court that he has a material interest in making the application.

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