New Zealand Legislation: Acts
Acts are laws made by Parliament
(1) Where, either before or after the commencement of this Act, an application for a patent has been made in respect of an invention, and it appears to the Commissioner that the invention is one of a class notified to him by the Minister of Defence as relevant for defence purposes, or is in the opinion of the Commissioner likely to be valuable for defence purposes, he may give directions for prohibiting or restricting the publication of information with respect to the invention, or the communication of such information to any person or class of persons specified in the directions; and while such directions are in force the application may, subject to the directions, proceed up to the acceptance of the complete specification, but the acceptance shall not be advertised nor the specification published, and no patent shall be granted in pursuance of the application.
(2) Where the Commissioner gives any such directions as aforesaid, he shall give notice of the application and of the directions to the Minister of Defence, and thereupon the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:
(a) The Minister of Defence shall, upon receipt of the notice, consider whether the publication of the invention would be prejudicial to the defence of New Zealand, and unless a notice under paragraph (c) of this subsection has previously been given by the Minister of Defence to the Commissioner, shall reconsider that question before the expiration of 9 months from the date of filing of the application for the patent and at least once in every subsequent year:
(b) For the purpose aforesaid, the Minister of Defence may, at any time after the complete specification has been accepted or, with the consent of the applicant, at any time before the complete specification has been accepted, inspect the application and any documents furnished to the Commissioner in connection therewith:
(c) If upon consideration of the invention at any time it appears to the Minister of Defence that the publication of the invention would not, or would no longer, be prejudicial to the defence of New Zealand, the Minister of Defence shall give notice to the Commissioner to that effect:
(d) On receipt of any such notice the Commissioner shall revoke the directions and may, subject to such conditions, if any, as he thinks fit, extend the time for doing anything required or authorised to be done by or under this Act in connection with the application, whether or not that time has previously expired.
(3) Where a complete specification filed in pursuance of an application for a patent for an invention in respect of which directions have been given under this section or under section 26 of this Act is accepted during the continuance in force of the directions, then—
(a) If any use of the invention is made during the continuance in force of the directions by or on behalf of or to the order of a Government Department, the provisions of sections 55 to 58 of this Act shall apply in relation to that use as if the patent had been granted for the invention; and
(b) If it appears to the Minister of Defence that the applicant for the patent has suffered hardship by reason of the continuance in force of the directions, the Minister of Finance may make to him such payment (if any) by way of compensation as appears to him to be reasonable, having regard to the novelty and utility of the invention and the purpose for which it is designed, and to any other relevant circumstances.
(4) Where a patent is granted in pursuance of an application in respect of which directions have been given under this section or under section 26 of this Act, no renewal fees shall be payable in respect of any period during which those directions were in force.
(5) No person resident in New Zealand shall, except under the authority of a written permit granted by or on behalf of the Commissioner, make or cause to be made any application outside New Zealand for the grant of a patent for an invention unless—
(a) An application for a patent for the same invention or substantially the same invention has been made in New Zealand not less than 6 weeks before the application outside New Zealand; and
(b) Either no directions have been given under subsection (1) of this section or under section 26 of this Act in relation to the application in New Zealand, or all such directions have been revoked:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply in relation to an invention for which an application for protection has first been filed in a country outside New Zealand by a person resident outside New Zealand.
(6) If any person fails to comply with any direction given under this section or makes or causes to be made an application for the grant of a patent in contravention of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine not exceeding $1,000, or to both such imprisonment and such fine.
Compare: Patents Act 1949, s 18 (UK); 1921-22 No 18 s 33
