I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time.
The existing law relating to patents for inventions is contained in Part II and, partly, in Parts I and V of the Industrial and Commercial Property (Protection) Act, 1927, as amended by the Acts of 1929, 1947, 1949, 1957 and 1958. These Acts also dealt with trade marks, industrial designs, and copyright. New Acts relating to copyright and trade marks have recently been passed by the Oireachtas.
A review of the law on patents has now been carried out. In making the review the patents legislation in other countries has been taken into consideration, and also, the results of the Conference, held at Lisbon in 1958, for the revision of the International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. The Lisbon Revision of the International Convention cannot be ratified until the law is amended in several respects. Consideration has also been given to various international trends indicated at other conferences which have been held under the auspices of the Council of Europe. These conferences had as their aim the preparation of conventions regarding the filing in several countries of applications for patents for the same invention and also with the unification of the patent laws of different countries.
There have been many changes of international thought and law on patents since our Act was drawn up in 1927. I think it is necessary now to modernise our law so as to keep it in step with that of the main industrial countries. We must also be ready for important changes which may result from the current discussions between patent experts of many countries. We do not propose fundamental changes in the system of granting protection for inventions. What the Bill does is to make a number of detailed amendments to the existing law designed to be of advantage both to the inventors and to the general public.
A major purpose of all patent laws is to encourage invention, but it is recognised that the existence of unjustified or invalid patents is harmful to the public interest. Our law already provides for the examination of applications for patents to discover whether there is any reason, such as lack of novelty, why a patent ought not to be granted. It also provides for the revocation of a patent which is shown, after grant, to be invalid. A number of measures are proposed for strengthening these existing safeguards, which at present are less stringent than those provided by many national laws, and bringing them more into line with modern thought in the European community.
As regards novelty, the present law requires the Office to make a search through Irish patent specifications before accepting an application. The applicant is required to show by evidence that his invention has not previously been published in certain British specifications. The standard of the test for novelty can, at present, vary from case to case. Applications for alleged inventions which are not new may be accepted merely because the search for novelty is too narrow. It is not feasible for our Patents Office to undertake a complete search for novelty as is done, at very great expense, by some foreign offices. Instead of this, it is now proposed, in section 8 (6) and section 12, to give the Minister power to prescribe a wider and more uniform test for novelty. At the same time, an applicant will have the choice of alternative ways of providing evidence in relation to foreign specifications. For example, the applicant might be allowed to submit the result of a novelty search made by an international search organisation, or one made in any one of several foreign countries, in respect of the same invention.
Further measures to prevent invalid patents being granted or to enable them to be revoked are contained in sections 19, 20, 34 and 35, These sections give wider opportunities than at present exist for interested persons to oppose the grant of such patents or to secure their revocation, if granted.
The provisions in the existing law for protecting the public from the abuse by the patentee of his monopoly rights are repeated in section 39. Certain small changes are necessitated by the Lisbon Revision of the International Convention. The existing powers under which a Minister may use a patented invention when this is necessary in the service of the State are made more comprehensive in section 92.
There are certain small changes intended to help applicants for patents. Provisions in sections 6 and 22 make it easier to assign the rights in an invention at an early stage. New provisions in sections 8, 9 and 10 help an inventor who makes or improves an invention in a number of steps.
The Controller of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks has to make decisions affecting the rights of inventors and others. The Bill will give him additional duties of this kind. For example, sections 52 and 53 may require him to settle disputes as to the joint ownership of a patent or the respective rights of an employer and his employee in an invention. It is, of course, necessary that there should be appeal from decisions of the Controller. Hitherto, appeal has been mainly to the Attorney General. The Attorney General is also adviser, under the Act, to the Controller. It is considered undesirable to have advisory and appellate functions combined in this way. It is proposed, therefore, in section 75 that all such appeals should be heard by a judge of the High Court. Where an appeal involves a patent specification which has not become open to public inspection the hearing will be in private. The principals and their agents will have the right of audience. Under the new provisions the present advantages of secrecy, expedition and cheapness in such appeals will not be lost.
The present law has provision for implementing the priority provisions of the International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, to which the State is a party. It is proposed, in section 93, to provide, in a more general form, powers to implement not only the existing Convention but also the future international arrangements for the mutual protection of inventions to which I have already referred.
Section 86 continues the existing provision whereby the practice of patent agency is restricted to persons, with prescribed qualifications, who are entered in the Register of Patent Agents. The Minister is empowered to authorise temporary exceptions if exceptional circumstances should make such a course necessary.
Sections 77 to 85, which continue the present provisions for the establishment of an Office and a Controller and his staff, are designed to cover all the activities centred in the Office and the Controller, namely, those in connection with patents, trade marks, industrial designs, and copyright.
I recommend the Bill for the approval of the Dáil.