Section 4 Patents and Designs Act 1971

Section 4 of the Patents and Designs Act 1971 is about Examination of application and grant of patent. It is under ‘Patents’ of the Act. It provides as follows:

(1) The registrar shalt examine every patent application as to its conformity with subsections (1), (3) and (4) of section 3 of this Act, and–
(a) if subsection (1) of section 3 of this Act has not been complied with, the registrar shalt reject the application;

(b) if subsection (3) of section 3 of this Act has not been complied with, the registrar shall–
(i) invite the applicant to restrict the application so that it relates to only
one invention; and
(ii) notify the applicant that he may within three months file in respect of the other inventions dealt with in the original application subsidiary applications which shall benefit from the date of filing of the original application and, if relevant, from the date of any foreign priority claimed under subsection (4) of section 3 of this Act, and, if the applicant does not comply with the invitation mentioned in sub paragraph (i) of this subsection, shall reject the application; and
(c) if subsection (4) of section 3 of this Act has not been complied with, the registrar shall disregard any claim for foreign priority.

(2) Where the examination mentioned in subsection (1) of this subsection shows that a patent application satisfies the requirements of subsections (1) and (3) of section 3 of this Act, the patent shall be granted as applied for without further examination and, in particular, without examination of the quesrions-s-
(a) whether the subject of the application is patentable under section I of this Act;

(b) whether the description and claims satisfy the requirements of subsection (2)
of section 3 of this Act; and

(c) whether a prior application, or an application benefiting from a foreign priority, has been made in Nigeria in respect of the same invention, and whether a
patent has been granted as a result of such an application.

(3) Where the said examination shows that subsection (4) of section 3 of this Act has been complied with as respects a claim for a foreign priority, the foreign priority claimed shalt be mentioned in the patent.

(4) Patents are granted at the risk of the patentee and without guarantee of their validity.

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