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  • Trade Marks Ordinance, 2001

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    • The Pakistan Patents and Designs Act, 1911
    Section: 1
    Short Title, extent and commencement.

    (1) This Act may be called the Patents and Designs Act, 1911.

    (2) It extends to the whole of Pakistan.

    (3) It shall come into force on the first day of January 1912.

    Section: 2
    Definitions.

    In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-
      (1) "Advocate General" includes the Attorney General for Pakistan:

      (2) "article" means (as respects designs) any article of manufacture and any substance, artificial or natural or partly artificial and partly natural:

      (3) "Controller" means the Controller of Patents and Designs appointed under this Act:

      (4) "copyright" means the exclusive right to apply a design to any article in any class in which the design is registered:

      (5) "design" means only the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to any article by any industrial process or means, whether manual, mechanical or chemical, separate or combined, which is the finished article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye; but does not include any mode or principle of construction or anything which is in substance a mere mechanical device, and does not include any trade mark as defined in section 478, as amended from time to time, or property mark as defined in section 479 of the Pakistan Penal Code:

      (6) "District Court" has the meaning assigned to that expression by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908:

      (7) **deleted.

      (8) "invention" means any manner of new manufacture and includes an improvement and an alleged invention:

      (9) "legal representative" means a person who in law represents the estate of a deceased person:

      (10) "manufacture" includes any art, process or manner of producing, preparing or making an article, and also any article prepared or produced by manufacture:

      (11) "patent" means a patent granted under the provisions of this Act:

      (12) "patentee" means the person for the time being entered on the register of patents kept under this Act as the grantee or proprietor of the patent:

      (13) "prescribed" includes prescribed by rules under this Act: and

      (14) "proprietor of a new or original design,"-
        (a) where the author of the design, for good consideration executes the work for some other person, means the person for whom the design is so executed; and

        (b) where any person acquires the design or the right to apply the design to any articles, either exclusively of any other person or otherwise, means, in the respect and to the extent in and to which the design or right has been so acquired, the person by whom the design or right is so acquired; and

        (c) in any other case, means the author of the design;
      and where the property in, or the right to apply, the design has devolved from the original proprietor upon any other person, includes that other person.
    Section: 3
    Application.

    (1) An application for the patent may be made by any person whether he is a citizen of Pakistan or not, and whether alone or jointly with any other person.

    (2) The application must be made in the prescribed form, and must be left at the Patent Office in the prescribed manner.

    (3) The application must contain a declaration to the effect that the applicant is in possession of an invention, whereof, or in the case of a joint application one at least of the applicants, claim to be the true and first inventor or the legal representative or assign of such inventor and for which he desires to obtain a patent, and must be accompanied by either a provisional or complete specification and by the prescribed fee.

    (4) Where the true and first inventor is not a party to the application, the application must contain a statement of his name, and such particulars for his identification as may be prescribed, and the applicant must show that he is the legal representative or assign of such inventor.

    Section: 4
    Specifications.

    (1) A provisional specification must describe the nature of the invention.

    (2) A complete specification must particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed.

    (3) A specification, whether provisional or complete, must commence with the title, and in the case of a complete specification must end with a distinct statement, of the invention claimed.

    (4) Where the Controller deems it desirable, he may require that suitable drawings shall be supplied at any time before the acceptance of the application, and such drawings shall be deemed to form part of the complete specification.

    (5) If in any particular case the Controller considers that an application should be further supplemented by a mode or sample of anything illustrating the invention or alleged to constitute an invention, such model or sample as he may require shall be furnished before the acceptance of the application, but such model or sample shall not be deemed to form part of the specification.

    (6) The Controller may, where the application was accompanied by a specification purporting to be a complete specification, if the applicant so requests, treat the specification as a provisional specification and proceed with the application accordingly.

    Section: 4A
    Time for leaving complete specification.

    (1) If the applicant does not leave a complete specification with his application, he may leave it at any subsequent time within nine months from the date of the application:
      Provided that the said nine months shall be extended to such period, not exceeding ten months from the date of the application, as may be specified in a request made by the applicant to the Controller, if the request is made and the prescribed fee is paid within the period so specified.
    (2) If the complete specification is not left within the period allowable under sub-section (1), the application shall be deemed to be abandoned at the expiration of ten months from the date thereof.

    Section: 4B
    Provisional protection.

    (1) An invention may, during the period between the date of an application for a patent therefor and the date of sealing a patent on that application, be used and published without prejudice to that patent, and such protection from the consequences of use and publication is in this Act referred to as provisional protection.

    (2) In this section, the expression "date of an application for a patent" means, as respects an application which is post-dated or ante-dated under this Act, the date to which the application is so post-dated or ante-dated, and means, as respects any other application, the date on which it is actually made.

    Section: 5
    Proceedings upon application.

    (1) The Controller shall refer to an examiner every application in respect of which a complete specification has been filed and if satisfied on the report of the examiner that -
      (a) the nature of the invention or the manner in which it is to be performed is not particularly described and ascertained in the complete specification, or

      (b) the application, specification and drawings have not been prepared in the prescribed manner, or

      (c) the title of the specification does not sufficiently indicate the subject-matter of the invention, or

      (d) the statement of claim does not sufficiently define the invention, or

      (dd) where a complete specification has been left after a provisional specification, the invention particularly described in the complete specification is not substantially the same as that which is described in the provisional specification, or

      (e) the invention as described and claimed is prima facie not a manner of new manufacture or improvement, or

      (f) the specification relates to more than one invention, or

      (g) in the case of an application claiming priority under section 78A, the specification describes and claims an invention subsequently larger than or substantially different from the invention disclosed in the specification filed with the application made outside Pakistan by virtue of which priority is claimed, or

      (h) in the case of an application for a patent of addition under section 15A, the invention described and claimed in the specification is not an improvement or modification of that described and claimed in the original specification.
    he may refuse to accept the application or require that the application, specification or drawings be amended before he proceeds with the application; and in the latter case the application shall, if the Controller so directs, bear date as from the time when the requirement is complied with:
      Provided that, when a specification comprises more than one invention, the application shall, if the Controller or the applicant so requires, be restricted to one invention and the other inventions may be made the subject-matter of fresh applications; and any such fresh application shall be proceeded with a substantive application, but the Controller may, in his discretion, direct that any such fresh application made before the acceptance of the original application shall bear the date of the original application or such later date as he may fix, and the fresh application shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have been made on the date which it bears in accordance with such direction:

      Provided further that where a complete specification is left after a provisional specification, the Controller may, if the applicant so requests, cancel the provisional specification and direct that the application shall be deemed to have been made on the date on which the complete specification was left, and proceed with the application accordingly.
    (1A) If the Controller considers, at any time before the acceptance of an application, that the invention claimed therein has been wholly or in part claimed in a specification published on or after the date which the patent applied for would bear if granted, appertaining to an application for a patent which if granted will be of prior date to the patent applied for, he may require that the applicant's specification be amended by the insertion of a reference to such other specification, by way of notice to the public.

    (2) Where the Controller refuses to accept an application or requires an amendment or the insertion of a reference the applicant may appeal from his decision to the Federal Government.

    (3) The investigations required by this section shall not be held in any way to guarantee the validity of any patent, and no liability shall be incurred by the Federal Government or any officer by reason of, or in connection with, any such investigation, or any proceeding consequent thereon.

    (4) Unless an application is accepted within eighteen months from the date of the application, the application shall (except where an appeal has been lodged) be deemed to have been refused.
      Provided that where, before, or within three months after the expiration of the said period of eighteen months, a request is made to the Controller for an extension of time, the application shall, on payment of the prescribed fee, be continued for any period so requested not exceeding in all three months from the expiration of the said period of eighteen months.
    Section: 6
    Advertisement on acceptance of application.

    On acceptance of an application the Controller shall give notice thereof to the applicant and shall advertise the acceptance; and the application and specifications with the drawings (if any) shall be open to public inspection.

    Section: 7
    Effect of acceptance of application.

    After the acceptance of an application and until the date of sealing a patent in respect thereof, or the expiration of the time for sealing, the applicant shall have the like privileges and rights as if a patent for the invention had been sealed on the date of the acceptance of the application:
      Provided that the applicant shall not be entitled to institute any proceedings for infringement until the patent has been sealed.
    Section: 8
    ** deleted

    Section: 9
    Opposition to grant of patent.

    (1) Any person may, on the payment of the prescribed fee, at any time within four months from the date of the advertisement of the acceptance of an application, give notice at the Patent Office of opposition to the grant of the patent on any of the following grounds, namely:-
      (a) that the applicant obtained the invention from him, or from a person of whom he is the legal representative or assign; or

      (b) that the invention has been claimed in any specification filed in Pakistan which is or will be of prior date to the patent, the grant of which is opposed; or

      (c) that the nature of the invention or the manner in which it is to be performed is not sufficiently or fairly described and ascertained in the specifications; or

      (d) that the invention has been publicly used in any part of Pakistan or has been made publicly known in any part of Pakistan; or

      (e) that the complete specification describes or claims an invention other than that prescribed in the provisional specification, and that such other invention either forms the subject of an application made by the opponent for a patent which if granted would bear a date in the interval between the date of the application and the leaving of the complete specification, or has been made available to the public by publication in any document published in Pakistan in that interval;
    but on no other grounds.

    (2) Where such notice is given, the Controller shall give notice of the opposition to the applicant, and shall, on the expiration of those four months, after hearing the applicant and the opponent, if desirous of being heard, decide on the case.

    (3) The decision of the Controller shall be subject to appeal to the Federal Government.

    Section: 10
    Grant and sealing of patent.

    (1) If there is no opposition, or, in case of opposition, if the determination is in favour of the grant of a patent, a patent shall, on payment of the prescribed fee, be granted, subject to such conditions (if any) as the Federal Government thinks expedient, to the applicant, or in the case of a joint application to the applicants jointly, and the Controller shall cause the patent to be sealed with the seal of the Patent Office.

    (1A) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section
      (1), where -
        (a) an applicant has agreed in writing that on the grant to him of a patent he will assign it to another party or to a joint applicant and refuses to proceed with the application, or

        (b) disputes arise between joint applicants as to proceeding with an application,
      the Controller, if he is satisfied of the existence of such agreement or, in any other case, that any joint applicant or applicants ought to be allowed to proceed alone, may direct that such other party or joint applicant or applicants may proceed with the application accordingly and may grant a patent to him or them, as the case may be:
        Provided that -
          (i) the Controller shall not give any such direction until every party interested has had an opportunity of being heard by him, and

          (ii) an appeal from any such direction shall lie to the Federal Government.
      (2) A patent shall be sealed as soon as may be, and not after the expiration of twenty-four months from the date of application:
        Provided that,-
          (a) where the Controller has allowed an extension of the time within which an application may be accepted, a further extension of four months after the said twenty-four months shall be allowed for the sealing of the patent;

          (b) where the sealing is delayed by an appeal to the Federal Government, or by opposition to the grant of the patent, or by any proceedings taken for obtaining a direction of the Controller under the provisions of sub-section (1A), or by reason of the Controller, in exercise of the powers given to him by rule 53 of the Defence of Pakistan Rules, having omitted to do or delayed the doing of anything relating to the application the patent may be sealed at such time as the Controller may direct;

          (c) where the patent is granted to the legal representative of an applicant who has died before the expiration of the time which would otherwise be allowed for sealing the patent, the patent may be sealed at any time within twelve months after the date of his death or at such later time as the Controller may think fit;

          (d) where for any reason a patent cannot be sealed within the period allowed by any of the foregoing provisions of this section, that period may, on payment of prescribed fee and on compliance with the prescribed conditions, be extended to the extent applied for but not exceeding three months.
    Section: 11
    Date of patent.

    Except as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, a patent shall be dated and sealed as of the date of the application:
      Provided that no proceedings shall be taken in respect of an infringement committed before the advertisement of the acceptance of the application.
    Section: 12
    Effect, extent and form of patent.
      (1) A patent sealed with the seal of the Patent Office shall, subject to the other provisions of this Act, confer on the patentee the exclusive privilege of making, selling and using the invention throughout Pakistan and of authorizing others so to do.

      (2) Every patent may be in the prescribed form and shall be granted for one invention only, but the specification may contain more than one claim; and it shall not be competent for any person in a suit or other proceeding to take any objection to a patent on the ground that it has been granted for more than one invention.
    Section: 13
    Fraudulent applications for patents.

    (1) A patent granted to the true and first inventor or his legal representative or assign shall not be invalidated by an application in fraud of him, or by protection obtained thereon or by any use or publication of the invention subsequent to that fraudulent application during the period of protection.

    (2) Where a patent has been revoked by the High Court on the ground that it has been obtained in fraud of the true and first inventor, or where the grant of a patent has been refused by the Controller under section 9 on the ground stated in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of that section, the Controller may, on the application of the true inventor or his legal representative or assign made in accordance with the provisions of this Act, grant to him a patent for the whole or any part of the invention, and the patent so granted shall bear the same date as the patent so revoked or, in the case of a patent the grant of which has been refused, the same date as would have been borne by the patent if it had been granted:
      Provided that no suit shall be brought for any infringement of the patent so granted committed before the actual date when such patent was granted.
    Section: 13A
    Single patent for cognate inventions.

    (1) Where the same applicant has put in two or more provisional specifications for inventions which are cognate or modifications one of the other, and has obtained hereby concurrent provisional protection for the same, and the Controller is of opinion that the whole of such inventions are such as to constitute a single invention and may properly be included in one patent, he may allow one complete specification in respect of the whole of such applications and grant a single patent thereon.

    (2) Such patent shall bear the date of the earliest of such applications, but in considering the validity of the same, and in determining other questions under this Act, the Court or the Controller, as the case may be, shall have regard to the respective dates of the provisional specifications relating to the several matters claimed in the complete specification.

    Section: 14
    Term of patent.

    (1) The term limited in every patent for the duration thereof shall, save as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, be sixteen years from its date.

    (2) A patent shall, notwithstanding anything therein or in this Act, cease if the patentee fails to pay the prescribed fees within the prescribed times:
      Provided that where the patentee, before, or within three months after, the expiration of the time for payment, applies to the Controller for an extension of time, the patent shall, on payment of such additional fee as may be prescribed, be continued or revived, as the case may be, for any period so applied for not exceeding in all three months from the expiration of the time for payment.
    (3) If any proceeding is taken in respect of an infringement of the patent committed after a failure to pay any fee within the prescribed time, and before any enlargement thereof, the Court before which the proceeding is taken may, if it thinks fit, refuse to award any damages in respect of such infringement.

    Section: 15
    Extension of term of patent.

    (1) A patentee may, present a petition to the Federal Government praying that his patent may be extended for a further term; but such petition must be left at the Patent Office at least six months before the time limited for expiration of the patent and must be accompanied by the prescribed fee and must be advertised by the patentee within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner.

    (2) Any person may within such time as may be prescribed and on payment of the prescribed fee give notice to the Controller of objection to the extension.

    (3) Where a petition is presented under sub-section (1), the Federal Government may, as it thinks fit, dispose of the petition itself or refer it to a High Court for decision.

    (4) If the petition be referred to the High Court, then on the hearing of such petition under this section, the patentee, and any person who has given notice under sub-section (2) of objection, shall be made parties to the proceeding, and the Controller shall be entitled to appear and be heard.

    (5) The Federal Government or a High Court to which a petition is referred shall in considering the petition have regard to the nature and merits of the invention in relation to the public, to the profits made on the Patent and to all the circumstances of the case.

    (6) If it appears to the Federal Government or to the High Court when the petition is referred to it, that the patent has not been sufficiently remunerative, the Federal Government or the High Court, as the case may be, may by order extend the term of the patent for a further term no exceeding five or in exceptional cases ten years or may order the grant of a new patent for such term not exceeding ten years as may be specified in the order and subject to any restriction, conditions and provisions which the Federal Government or the High Court, as the case may be, may think fit.

    Section: 15A
    Patents of addition.

    (1) Where a patent for an invention has been applied for or granted, and the applicant or the patentee, as the case may be, applies for a further patent in respect of any improvement in or modification of the invention, he may in his application for the further patent request that the term limited in that patent for the duration thereof be the same as that of the original patent or so much of that term as is unexpired, and, if he does so, a patent (hereinafter referred to as a patent of addition) may be granted for such term as aforesaid.

    (2) Save as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, a patent of addition shall remain in force as long as the patent for the original invention remains in force, but no longer, and in respect of a patent of addition no fees shall be payable for renewal:
      Provided that if the patent for the original invention is revoked, then the patent of addition shall, if the authority by which it is revoked so orders, become an independent patent, and the fees payable, and the dates when they become payable, shall be determined by its date, but its duration shall not exceed the unexpired term of the patent for the original invention.
    (3) The grant of a patent of addition shall not be conclusive evidence that the invention is a proper subject for a patent of addition, and the validity of the patent shall not be questioned on the ground that the invention ought to have been the subject of an independent patent.

    Section: 16
    Restoration of lapsed patent.

    (1) Where any patent has ceased owing to the failure of the patentee to pay any prescribed fee within the prescribed time, the patentee may apply to the Controller in the prescribed manner for an order for the restoration of the patent.

    (2) Every such application shall contain a statement of the circumstances which have led to the omission of the payment of the prescribed fee.

    (3) If it appears from such statement that the omission was unintentional or unavoidable and that no undue delay has occurred in the making of the application, the Controller shall advertise the application in the prescribed manner, and within such time as may be prescribed any person may give notice of opposition at the Patent Office.

    (4) Where such notice is given the Controller shall notify the applicant thereof.

    (5) After the expiration of the prescribed period the Controller shall hear the case and, subject to an appeal to the Federal Government issue an order either restoring the patent subject to any conditions and restrictions deemed to be advisable or dismissing the application:
      Provided that in every order under this section restoring a patent such provisions as may be prescribed shall be inserted for the protection of persons who may have availed themselves of the subject-matter of the patent after the patent had ceased.
    Section: 17
    Amendment of application or specification by Controller.

    (1) An applicant or a patentee may at any time, by request in writing left at the Patent Office and accompanied by the prescribed fee, seek leave to amend his application or specification, including drawings forming part thereof, by way of disclaimer, correction or explanation, stating the nature of, and the reasons for, the proposed amendment.

    (2) If the application for a patent has not been accepted, the Controller shall determine whether and subject to what conditions (if any) the amendment shall be allowed.

    (3) In any other case the request and the nature of the proposed amendment shall be advertised in the prescribed manner, and at any time within three months from its first advertisement any person may give notice at the Patent Office of opposition to the amendment.

    (4) Where such a notice is given the Controller shall give notice of the opposition to the person making the request, and shall hear and decide the case.

    (5) Where no notice of opposition is given, or the person so giving notice of opposition does not appear, the Controller shall determine whether and subject to what conditions, if any, the amendment ought to be allowed.

    (6) The decision of the Controller in either case shall be subject to an appeal to the Federal Government.

    (7) No amendment shall be allowed that would make the application or the specification, as amended, claim an invention substantially larger than, or substantially different from, the invention claimed by the application or specification as it stood before amendment.

    (8) Leave to amend shall be conclusive as to the right of the party to make the amendment allowed, except in case of fraud; and the amendment shall be advertised in the prescribed manner, and shall in all Courts and for all purposes be deemed to form part of the application or specification.

    (9) This section shall not apply when and so long as any suit for infringement or proceeding before a Court for the revocation of the patent is pending.

    Section: 18
    Amendment of specification by the Court.

    In any suit for infringement of a patent or proceeding before a Court for the revocation of a patent the Court may by order allow the patentee to amend his specification by way of disclaimer, correction or explanation in much manner, and subject to such terms as to costs, advertisement or otherwise, as the Court may think fit:
      Provided that no amendment shall be so allowed that would make the specification, as amended, claim an invention substantially larger than, or substantially different from, the invention claimed by the specification as it stood before the amendment and where an application for such an order is made to the Court notice of the application shall be given to the Controller, and the Controller shall have the right to appear and be heard.
    Section: 19
    Restriction on recovery of damages.

    Where an amendment of a specification by way of disclaimer, correction or explanation has been allowed under this Act, no damages shall be given in any suit in respect of the use of the invention before the date of the decision allowing the amendment unless the patentee establishes to the satisfaction of the Court that his original claim was framed in good faith and with reasonable skill and knowledge.

    Section: 20
    Register of patents.

    (1) There shall be kept at the Patent Office a book called the Register of Patents, wherein shall be entered the names and addresses of grantees of Patents, notifications of assignments and of transmissions of patents, of licenses under patents, and of amendments, extensions, and revocation of patents, and such other matters affecting the validity or proprietorship of patents as may be prescribed.

    (2) The register of inventions and address book existing at the commencement of this Act shall be incorporated with, and form part of, the register of patents under this Act.

    (3) The register of patents shall be prima facie evidence of any matters by this Act directed or authorised to be inserted therein.

    (4) Copies of deeds, licenses and any other documents affecting the proprietorship in any patent or in any license thereunder, must be supplied to the Controller in the prescribed manner for filing in the Patent Office.

    Section: 21
    Patent to bind Government.

    (1) Subject to the other provisions of this section, a patent shall have to all intents the like effect as against the Government as it has against any person.

    (2) The officers or authorities administrating any department of Government may, by themselves or by such of their agents, contractors or others as may be authorised in writing by them, at any time after the application, and after giving notice to the applicant or patentee, make, use or exercise the invention for the service of the Government on such terms as may, either before or after the use thereof, be agreed on, with the approval of the Federal Government, between such officers or authorities and the applicant or patentee, or, in default of agreement, as may be settled in the manner hereinafter provided. And the terms of any agreement or license concluded between the applicant or patentee and any person other than such officers or authorities, shall be inoperative so far as concerns the making, use or exercise of the invention for the service of the Government.

    (3) Where an invention which is the subject of any patent has, before the date of the patent, been duly recorded in a document by, or tried by or on behalf of, the officers or authorities administrating any department of Government (such invention not having been communicated directly or indirectly by the applicant or patentee), such officers or authorities, or such of their agents, contractors, or others, as may be authorised in writing by them, may, after giving notice to the applicant or patentee, make, use or exercise the invention so recorded or tried for the service of the Government, free of any royalty or other payment to the applicant or patentee, notwithstanding the existence of the patent. If, in the opinion of such officers or authorities, the disclosure to the applicant or patentee, as the case may be, of the document recording the invention, or the evidence of the trial thereof, if required, would be detrimental to the public interest, it may be made confidentially to counsel on behalf of the applicant or patentee, or to any independent expert mutually agreed upon.

    (4) In the event of any dispute as to the making, use or exercise of an invention under this section, or the terms therefor, or as to the existence or scope of any record or trial as aforesaid, the matter shall be referred to the High Court for decision, who shall have power to refer the whole matter or any question or issue of fact arising thereon to be tried before a special or official referee or an arbitrator upon such terms as it may direct. The Court, referee or arbitrator, as the case may be, may, with the consent of the parties, take into consideration the validity of the patent for the purposes only of the reference and for the determination of the issues between the applicant or patentee and such officers or authorities. The Court, referee, or arbitrator, further, in setting the terms as aforesaid, shall be entitled to take into consideration any benefit or compensation which the applicant or patentee, or any other person interested in the patent, may have received directly or indirectly from the Government or from such officers or authorities in respect of such patent:
      Provided that, if the inventor or patentee is a Government servant and the subject-matter of the invention is certified by the Federal Government or Provincial Government to be connected with work done in the course of such service, any such dispute shall be settled by the Federal Government after hearing the applicant or patentee and any other person having an interest in the invention or patent.
    (5) The right to use an invention for the services of the Government under the provisions of this section, or any provisions for which this section is substituted, shall include, and shall be deemed always to have included, the power to sell any articles made in pursuance of such right which are no longer required for the services of the Government.

    (6) Noting in this section shall affect the right of the Government or of any person deriving title directly or indirectly from the Government to sell or use any articles forfeited under any law for the time being in force relating to customs or excise.

    Section: 21A
    Assignment of patent to the Federal Government.

    (1) The inventor of any improvement in instruments or munitions of war may (either for or without valuable consideration) assign to the Federal Government all the benefit of the invention and of any patent obtained or to be obtained for the invention; and the Federal Government may be a party to the assignment.

    (2) The assignment shall effectually vest the benefit of the invention and patent in the Federal Government and all covenants and agreements therein contained for keeping the invention secret and otherwise shall be valid and effectual (notwithstanding any want of valuable consideration), and may be enforced accordingly by or on behalf of the Federal Government.

    (3) Where any such assignment has been made, the Federal Government may, at any time before the publication of the specification, certify to the Controller that, in the interest of the public service, the particulars of the invention and of the manner in which it is to be performed should be kept secret.

    (4) If the Federal Government so certify, the application and specifications, with the drawings (if any) and any amendment of the specification and any copies of such documents and drawings, shall, instead of being left in the ordinary manner at the Patent Office, be delivered to the Controller in a packet sealed by authority of the Federal Government.

    (5) The packet shall, until the expiration of the term during which a patent for the invention may be in force, be kept sealed by the Controller, and shall not be opened save under the authority of an order of the Federal Government.

    (6) The sealed packet shall be delivered at any time during the continuance of the patent to any person authorised by the Federal Government to receive it, and shall, if returned to the Controller, be again kept sealed by him.

    (7) On the expiration of the term of the patent, the sealed packet shall be delivered to the Federal Government.

    (8) Where the Federal Government certifies as aforesaid after an application for a patent has been left at the Patent Office but before the publication of the specification, the application and specifications, with the drawings (if any) shall be forthwith placed in a packet sealed by authority of the Controller, and the packet shall be subject to the foregoing provisions respecting a packet sealed by authority of the Federal Government.

    (9) No proceeding by petition or otherwise shall lie for revocation of a patent granted for an invention in relation to which a certificate has been given by the Federal Government as aforesaid.

    (10) No copy of any specification or other document or drawing, by this section required to be placed in a sealed packet, shall in any manner whatever be published or open to the inspection of the public, but, save as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions of this Act shall apply in respect of any such invention and patent as aforesaid.

    (11) The Federal Government may at any time waive the benefit of this section with respect to any particular invention, and the specifications, documents and drawings shall be thenceforth kept and dealt with in the ordinary way.

    (12) The communication of any invention for any improvement in instruments or munitions of war to the Federal Government or to any person or persons authorised by the Federal Government to investigate the same or the merits thereof, shall not, nor shall anything done for the purposes of the investigation, be deemed use or publication of such invention so as to prejudice the grant or validity of any patent for the same.

    Section: 22
    Compulsory licenses and revocation.

    (1) Any person interested may present a petition to the Federal Government which shall be left at the Patent Office, together with the prescribed fee, alleging that the demand for a patented article in Pakistan is not being met to an adequate extent and on reasonable terms and praying for the grant of a compulsory license, or, in the alternative, for the revocation of the patent.

    (2) The Federal Government shall consider the petition, and if the parties do not come to an arrangement between themselves the Federal Government may, as it thinks fit, either dispose of the petition itself or refer it to a High Court for decision.

    (3) The provisions of sub-section (4) of section 15, prescribing the procedure to be followed in the case of references to the Court under that section, shall apply in the case of references made to the Court under this section.

    (4) If the Federal Government is of the opinion, or, where a reference has ben made under sub-section (2) to a High Court, that Court finds that the demand for the patented article in Pakistan is not being met to an adequate extent and on reasonable terms, the patentee may be ordered to grant licenses on such terms as the Federal Government or the High Court, as the case may be, may think just, or, if the Federal Government or the High Court is of the opinion that the demand will not be adequately mat by the grant of licenses, the patent may be revoked by order of the Federal Government or the High Court:
      Provided that an order of revocation shall not be made before the expiration of four years from the date of the patent, or if the patentee gives satisfactory reasons for his default.
    (5) For the purposes of this section the demand for a patented article shall not be deemed to have been met to an adequate extent and on reasonable terms -
      (a) if by reason of the default of the patentee to manufacture to an adequate extent and supply on reasonable terms the patented article, or any parts thereof which are necessary for its efficient working, or to carry on the patented process to an adequate extent or to grant licenses on reasonable terms, any existing trade or industry or the establishment of any new trade or industry in Pakistan is unfairly prejudiced; or

      (b) If any trade or industry in Pakistan is unfairly prejudiced by the conditions attached by the patentee to the purchase, hire or use of the patented article or to the using or working of the patented process.