Section 7 Patents and Designs Act 1971

Section 7 of the Patents and Designs Act 1971 is about Duration and lapse of patent. It is under ‘Patents’ of the Act. It provides as follows:

(1) Subject to this Act, a patent shall expire at the end of the twentieth year from the date of the filing of the relevant patent application.

(2) A patent shall lapse if the prescribed annual fees are not duly paid in respect of it:
Provided that-
(a) a period of grace of six months shall be allowed for the payment of the fees;
and
(b) if the fees and any prescribed surcharge are paid within that period, the patent shall continue as if the fees had been duly paid.

(3) The expiration or lapse of a patent shall be registered and notified.

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