The Gazette 1983

APRIL 1983

GAZETTE

European Patent Convention changing radically the previous statutory definition and interpretive case law. The new Act removes the ground of invalidity known as prior claiming. It introduces a statutory definition of infringement which replaces the former case law based upon the language contained in the form of granted Letters Patent for inventions. A further change is to increase the period of patent protection from 16 to 2 0 years with a con- comitant abolition of the right to apply for an extension of the term of a patent. The new Act also abolishes the previous pre-grant patent opposition procedure and patents of addition. The Act having been passed by a Labour Government not surprisingly introduces provisions regarding employees' inventions including the right of the employee to an award of compensation in certain circumstances for inventions made by him in the course of his employment. The other noteworthy innovation effected by the 1977 Act is the abolition of the former Patents Appeal Tribunal and the creation of a new Patents Court as part of the Chancery devision of the High Court. Part 2 of the Act has introduced the most fundamental change to enable effect to be given to three International Conventions already mentioned. The Community Patent Convention has not yet come into operation. The European Patent Convention of 1973 established a European Patent organisation including a European Patent Office situated in Munich empowered to grant so- called European patents as provided for under the Convention. Thus it is no longer necessary for an inventor to file separate national applications in those European countries which have ratified the European Patent Convention. Instead the Applicant has the option of filing one application at the European Patent Office and designating any of the contracting states of the Convention where patent protection is desired. If, following examination by the European Patent Office, the application is accepted, a European patent is granted for each of the designated states and thereafter the European patent is treated in the State concerned as having the effect of and being subject to ine same conditions as our national patents granted by that State. With the enactment of the Patents Act, 1977 the exclusive monopoly enjoyed by the U .K. Patent Office no longer exists but is now shared with the European Patent Office. The enactment of the Patents Act 1977 therefore constitutes a striking diminution in British sovereignty with profound consequences for the future development of indigenous British Technology. Only government instability in this country has prevented the enactment of similar legislation and moreover the derogation from sovereignty implicit in the British legislation may not so easily be achieved in this country with its more rigid constitutional provisions touching on the question of sovereignty. The foregoing are some of the complex new features of U .K. Patent law dealt with by this latest edition of Terrell and it seems safe to predict that the pace of judicial interpretation will require further editions in the future and in this connection it is to be hoped that the publishers will consider the printing of a loose leaf edition which can be readily up-dated with supplements to take account of changes of official practice and judicial interpretation. Martin Tierney 71

the text of the Act in full, together with its schedules and offers lengthy and well-researched commentary and interpretation on each section. The booklet commences with a general note giving the history of devolution in Northern Ireland from 1920 to date, carrying references to all the major legislation leading up to the 1982 Act. Each Section is then dealt with separately with an explanatory note on each. While the Act has only 7 Sections and is considerably shorter than most pieces of legislation, Mr. McGuire is to be complimented on his excellent commentary which will be of considerable value to both lawyer and lay-man alike. While the Act is short, it is quite complex. The Act amends the Northern Ireland Constitution Act of 1973 and the Northern Ireland Assembly Act of the same year. The purpose of the 1982 Act is to provide for a staged devolution of power to the province of Ulster. In a general note of explanation to the background leading up to enactment, Mr. McGuire, obviously ayare of the delicate political background to the "Irish question", treats his subject thoroughly and dispassionately. However, while the publication date was 25th November 1982, Mr. McGuire ends his short reference to relations between the Republic and the United Kingdom with the Executive decision of both Governments in November 1981 in establishing the Anglo-Irish Inter-Governmental Council. It may not be appropriate to a publication of this sort to comment on what, after all, is a rather changeable relationship between the two jurisdictions, but Mr. McGuire does quote the Labour Front Bench Spokesman commenting favourably on the Bill in Hansard. TWs quotation is left without comment from the author, but its inclusion appears to be intended to show the political will to obtain "cross-community support necessary for devolution". I would not have thought that much semblance of this support existed at the time of publication. On a more general point, this type of commentary should be required reading for the draftsmen of explanatory memoranda on Irish legislation. Such explanatory memoranda are rarely of much practical use, but a commentary of the sort written by Mr. McGuire would be of tremendous value. . The publishers are also to be complimented on their excellent presentation of this booklet. An extension of this idea to Irish legislation would be most welcome. Gary Byrne The first edition of this indispensable text-book for the practitioner appeared in 1884. The present edition has been necessitated by the sweeping changes introduced into the United Kingdom by the Patents Act 1977. This Act has not only amended the Patents Act, 1949 in many fundamental respects: it also introduces provisions which enable the United Kingdom to fulfil its obligations under the Patent Co-Operation Treaty of 1970, the European Patent Convention of 1973 and the Community Patent Convention of 1975. . , . . The principal changes highlighted by the new edition are. the following. A statutory definition of patentability has been introduced conforming with that contained in the Review of Terrell on the Law of Patents - 1 3 t h Edition. Sweet & Maxwell Ltd., London. 7 00 pp. £ 4 0 . 00 (Sterling). , . c ..