RULE
3 CANCELLATION
OF PATENTS
Section 1.
Cancellation of patents; Grounds.
(a)
Any interested
party may, upon payment of the required fee, petition to cancel the
patent
or any claim thereof, or parts of the claim, on any of the
following:
(i) that
what is
claimed as the invention is not patentable;
(ii)
that the patent
does not disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and
complete
for it to be carried out by any person skilled in the art;
(iii)
that the patent
is contrary to public order or morality;
(iv)
that the patent
includes matters outside the scope of the disclosure contained in
the application as filed.
(b) Cancellation
by person having right to the patent. A person declared by
final
court order or decision as having the right to the patent may, within
three
(3) months after the decision has become final, seek cancellation of
the
patent, if one has already been issued.
(c)
Interested
party. A party interested in the patent shall include any
person
including a person declared by final court order or decision to be the
true and actual inventor.
Section 2.
Partial
cancellation. Where the grounds for the cancellation relate
to
some of the claims or parts of the claim, cancellation may be effected
to such extent only in which case, the Office shall reissue the amended
patent.
Section 3. Requirement
of the petition. The petition for cancellation shall be in
writing,
verified by the petitioner or by any person in his behalf who knows the
facts, specify the grounds upon which it is based, include a statement
of the facts relied upon, and filed in triplicate with the Bureau.
Copies
of printed publications or of patents of other countries, and other
supporting
documents mentioned in the petition shall be attached thereto, together
with the translation thereof in English, if not in the English
language.
Section 4. Notice
of hearing. The Hearing Officer shall serve in the name of
the
Director, notice of the filing of the petition upon the patentee and
all
persons having grants or licenses, or any other right, title or
interest
in and to the patent and the invention covered thereby, as
appears
of record in the Office, and of notice of the date of hearing thereon
on
such persons and the petitioner. Notice of the filing of the
petition
shall be published in the IPO Gazette.
Section 5.
(a)
The Committee of Three. In cases involving highly technical
issues,
on motion of any party, the Director may order that the petition
be heard and decided by a committee composed of the Director as
chairman
and two (2) members who have the experience or expertise in the field
of
technology to which the patent sought to be cancelled relates.
(b) Cancellation
of the patent by the Committee. If the Committee finds that a
case for cancellation has been proved, it shall order the patent or any
specified claim or claims thereof cancelled.
(c) Amendment
made by the patentee during the cancellation proceedings. If
the Committee finds that, taking into consideration the amendment made
by the patentee during the cancellation proceedings, the patent and the
invention to which it relates meet the requirement of the IP
Code,
it may decide to maintain the patent as amended : Provided, that the
fee
for printing of a new patent is paid within one (1) month from the date
of the decision of the committee. If the fee for the printing of
the new patent is not paid in due time, the patent shall be revoked at
the expiration of the period for payment.
(d) Publication
of the amended patent. If the patent is amended per decision of the
committee, the Bureau shall, at the same time as it publishes the
mention
of the cancellation decision, publish the abstract, representative
claims
and drawings indicating clearly what the amendments consist of.
Section 6.
Effect
of cancellation of patent or claim. The rights conferred by
the
patent or any specified claim or claims cancelled shall
terminate.
Notice of the cancellation shall be published in the IPO
Gazette.
Section 7. Patent
found invalid may be cancelled. If, in an action for
infringement
filed before the court, the court finds the patent or any claim to be
invalid,
it shall cancel the same. Such order of cancellation shall be
forwarded
to the Director who shall cause the recording and publication of notice
of such order in the IPO Gazette upon receipt of the final judgment of
cancellation by the court. Such recording shall be made in the
appropriate
register of the Office. | 
