An Act for amending the Law for granting Patents for Inventions.

15 & 16 Vict., c. 83 (1st July 1852)

WHEREAS it is expedient to amend the law concerning letters patent for inventions: Be it enacted by the Queen’s most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

I. The Lord Chancellor, the Master of the Rolls, Her Majesty’s Attorney General for England, Her Majesty’s Solicitor General for England, the Lord Advocate, Her Majesty’s Solicitor General for Scotland, Her Majesty’s Attorney General for Ireland, and Her Majesty’s Solicitor General for Ireland, for the Time being respectively, together with such other Person or Persons as may be from Time to Time appointed by Her Majesty, as herein-after mentioned, shall be Commissioners of Patents for Inventions; and it shall be lawful for Her Majesty from Time to Time, by Warrant under Her Royal Sign Manual, to appoint such other Person or Persons as She may think fit to be a Commissioner or Commissioners as aforesaid; and every Person so appointed shall continue such Commissioner during Her Majesty’s Pleasure; and all the Powers hereby vested in the Commissioners may be exercised by any Three or more of them, the Lord Chancellor or Master of the Rolls being One.

II. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners to cause a Seal to be made for the Purposes of this Act, and from Time to Time to vary such Seal, and to cause to be sealed therewith all the Warrants for Letters Patent under this Act, and all Instruments and Copies proceeding from the Office of the Commissioners, and all Courts, Judges, and other Persons whomsoever shall take notice of such Seal, and receive Impressions thereof in Evidence, in like Manner as Impressions of the Great Seal are received in Evidence, and shall also take notice of and receive in Evidence without further Proof or Production of the Originals, all Copies or Extracts, certified under the Seal of the said Office, of or from Documents deposited in such Office.

III. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners from Time to Time to make such Rules and Regulations (not inconsistent with the Provisions of this Act) respecting the Business of their Office, and all Matters and Things which under the Provisions herein contained are to be under their Control and Direction, as may appear to them necessary and expedient for the Purposes of this Act; and all such Rules shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within Fourteen Days after the making thereof, if Parliament be sitting, and if Parliament be not sitting then within Fourteen Days after the next Meeting of Parliament; and the Commissioners shall cause a Report to be laid annually before Parliament of all the Proceedings under and in pursuance of this Act.

IV. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury to provide and appoint from Time to Time proper Places or Buildings for an Office or Offices for the Purposes of this Act.

V. It shall be lawful for the Commissioners, with the Consent of the Commissioners of the Treasury, from Time to Time to appoint for the Purposes of this Act such Clerks and Officers as the Commissioners may think proper; and it shall be lawful for the Commissioners from Time to Time to remove any of the Clerks and Officers so appointed.

VI. Every Petition for the Grant of Letters Patent for an Invention, and the Declaration required to accompany such Petition, shall be left at the Office of the Commissioners, and there shall be left therewith a Statement in Writing, herein-after called the Provisional Specification, signed by or on behalf of the Applicant for Letters Patent, describing the Nature of the said Invention; and the Day of the Delivery of every such Petition, Declaration, and Provisional Specification shall be recorded at the said Office, and endorsed on such Petition, Declaration, and Provisional Specification, and a Certificate thereof given to such Applicant or his Agent; and all such Petitions, Declarations, and Provisional Specifications shall be preserved in such Manner as the Commissioners may direct, and a Registry thereof and of all Proceedings thereon kept at the Office of the Commissioners.

VII. Every Application for Letters Patent made under this Act shall be referred by the Commissioners, according to such Regulations as they may think fit to make, to One of the Law Officers.

VIII. The Provisional Specification shall be referred to the Law Officer, who shall be at liberty to call to his Aid such scientific or other Person as he may think fit, and to cause to be paid to such Person by the Applicant such Remuneration as the Law Officer shall appoint; and if such Law Officer be satisfied that the Provisional Specification describes the Nature of the Invention, he shall allow the same, and give a Certificate of his Allowance, and such Certificate shall be filed in the Office of the Commissioners, and thereupon the Invention therein referred to may, during the Term of Six Months from the Date of the Application for Letters Patent for the said Invention, be used and published without Prejudice to any Letters Patent to be granted for the same, and such Protection from the Consequences of Use and Publication is herein-after referred to as Provisional Protection: Provided always, that in case the Title of the Invention or the Provisional Specification be too large or insufficient, it shall be lawful for the Law Officer to whom the same is referred to allow or require the same to be amended.

IX. The Applicant for Letters Patent for an Invention, instead of leaving with the Petition and Declaration a Provisional Specification as aforesaid, may, if he think fit, file with the said Petition and Declaration an Instrument in Writing under his Hand and Seal (herein-after called a complete Specification), particularly describing and ascertaining the Nature of the said Invention, and in what Manner the same is to be performed, which Complete Specification shall be mentioned in such Declaration, and the Day of the Delivery of every such Petition, Declaration, and Complete Specification shall be recorded at the Office of the Commissioners, and endorsed on such Petition, Declaration, and Specification, and a Certificate thereof given to such Applicant or his Agent, and thereupon, subject and without Prejudice to the Provisions herein-after contained, the Invention shall be protected under this Act for the Term of Six Months from the Date of the Application, and the Applicant shall have during such Term of Six Months the like Powers, Rights, and Privileges as might have been conferred upon him by Letters Patent for such Invention, issued under this Act, and duly sealed as of the Day of the Date of such Application; and during the Continuance of such Powers, Rights, and Privileges under this Provision, such Invention may be used and published without Prejudice to any Letters Patent to be granted for the same; and where Letters Patent are granted in respect of such Invention, then in lieu of a Condition for making void such Letters Patent in case such Invention be not described and ascertained by a subsequent Specification, such Letters Patent shall be conditioned to become void if such Complete Specification, filed as aforesaid, does not particularly describe and ascertain the Nature of the said Invention, and in what Manner the same is to be performed; and a Copy of every such Complete Specification shall be open to the Inspection of the Public, as herein-after provided, from the Time of depositing the same, subject to such Regulation as the Commissioners may make.

X. In case of any Application for Letters Patent for any Invention, and the obtaining upon such Application of Provisional Protection for such Invention, or of Protection for the same, by reason of the Deposit of a Complete Specification as aforesaid in fraud of the true and First Inventor, any Letters Patent granted to the true and First Inventor of such Invention shall not be invalidated by reason of such Application, or of such provisional or other Protection as aforesaid, or of any Use or Publication of the Invention subsequent to such Application, and before the Expiration of the Term of such provisional or other Protection.

XI. Where any Invention is provisionally protected under this Act, or protected by reason of the Deposit of such Complete Specification as aforesaid, the Commissioners shall cause such Provisional Protection or such other Protection as aforesaid to be advertised in such Manner as they may see fit.

XII. The Applicant for Letters Patent, so soon as he may think fit after the Invention shall have been provisionally protected under this Act, or where a Complete Specification has been deposited with his Petition and Declaration, then so soon as he may think fit after such Deposit, may give Notice at the Office of the Commissioners of his Intention of proceeding with his Application for Letters Patent for the said Invention, and thereupon the said Commissioners shall cause his said Application to be advertised in such Manner as they may see fit; and any Persons having an Interest in opposing the Grant of Letters Patent for the said Invention shall be at liberty to leave Particulars in Writing of their Objections to the said Application at such Place and within such Time and subject to such Regulations as the Commissioners may direct.

XIII. So soon as the Time for the Delivery of such Objections shall have expired, the Provisional Specification or Complete Specification (as the Case may be) and Particulars of Objection (if any) shall be referred to the Law Officer to whom the Application has been referred.

XIV. It shall be lawful for the Law Officer to whom any Application for such Letters Patent is referred, if he see fit, by Certificate under his Hand, to order by or to whom the Costs of any Hearing or Inquiry upon any Objection, or otherwise in relation to the Grant of such Letters Patent, or in relation to the Provisional (or other) Protection acquired by the Applicant under this Act, shall be paid, and in what Manner and by whom such Costs are to be ascertained; and if any Costs so ordered to be paid be not paid within Four Days after the Amount thereof shall be so ascertained, it shall be lawful for such Law Officer to make an Order for the Payment of the same, and every such Order may be made a Rule of One of Her Majesty’s Superior Courts at Westminster or Dublin, and may be recorded in the Books of Council and Session in Scotland, to the Effect that Execution may pass thereupon in common Form.

XV. It shall be lawful for such Law Officer, after such Hearing, if any, as he may think fit, to acuse a Warrant to be made for the sealing of Letters Patent for the said Invention, and such Warrant shall be sealed with the Seal of the Commissioners, and shall set forth the Tenor and Effect of the Letters Patent thereby authorized to be granted, and such Law Officer shall direct the Insertion in such Letters Patent of all such Restrictions, Conditions, and Provisoes as he may deem usual and expedient in such Grants, or necessary in pursuance of the Provisions of this Act; and the said Warrant shall be the Warrant for the making and sealing of Letters Patent under this Act according to the Tenor of the said Warrant: Provided always, that the Lord Chancellor shall and may have and exercise such Powers, Authority, and Discretion in respect to the said Warrant, and the Letters Patent therein directed to be made under this Act, as he now has and might now exercise with respect to the Warrant for the Issue under the Great Seal of Letters Patent for any Invention, and with respect to the making and issuing of such Letters Patent; and the Writ of Scire facias shall lie for the Repeal of any Letters Patent issued under this Act, in the like Cases as the same would lie for the Repeal of Letters Patent which may now be issued under the Great Seal.

XVI. Provided also, That nothing herein contained shall extend to abridge or affect the Prerogative of the Crown in relation to the granting or withholding the Grant of any Letters Patent; and it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by Warrant under Her Royal Sign Manual, to direct such Law Officer to withhold such Warrant as aforesaid, or that any Letters Patent for the issuing whereof he may have issued a Warrant as aforesaid shall not issue, or to direct the Insertion in any Letters Patent to be issued in manner herein provided of any Restrictions, Conditions, or Provisoes which Her Majesty may think fit in addition to or in substitution for any Restrictions, Conditions, or Provisoes which would otherwise be inserted therein under this Act; and it shall also be lawful for Her Majesty, by like Warrant, to direct any Complete Specification which may have been filed under the Provision herein-before contained, and in respect of the Invention described in which no Letters Patent may have been granted, to be cancelled, and thereupon the Protection obtained by the filing of such Complete Specification shall cease.

XVII. All Letters Patent for Inventions granted under the Provisions herein-before contained shall be made subject to the Condition that the same shall be void, and that the Powers and Privileges thereby granted shall cease and determine, at the Expiration of Three Years and Seven Years respectively from the Date thereof, unless there be paid, before the Expiration of the said Three and Seven Years respectively, the Sum or Sums of Money and Stamp Duties in the Schedule to this Act annexed; and the Payment of the said Sums of Money and Stamp Duties respectively shall be endorsed on the Warrant for the said Letters Patent; and such Officer of the Commissioners as may be appointed for this Purpose shall issue under the Seal of the Commissioners a Certificate of such Payment, and shall endorse a Receipt for the same on any Letters Patent issued under the Authority of the said Warrant; and such Certificate, duly stamped, shall be Evidence of the Payment of the several Sums respectively.

XVIII. The Commissioners, so soon after the sealing of the said Warrant as required by the Applicant for the Letters Patent, shall cause to be prepared Letters Patent for the Invention, according to the Tenor of the said Warrant, and it shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor to cause such Letters Patent to be sealed with the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, and such Letters Patent so sealed shall extend to the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man; and in case such Warrant so direct, such Letters Patent shall be made applicable to Her Majesty’s Colonies and Plantations abroad, or such of them as may be mentioned in such Warrant; and such Letters Patent shall be valid and effectual as to the whole of such United Kingdom, and the said Islands and Isle, and the said Colonies or Plantations, or such of them as aforesaid, and shall confer the like Powers, Rights, and Privileges as might, in case this Act had not been passed, have been conferred by several Letters Patent of the like Purport and Effect passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, under the Seal appointed to be used instead of the Great Seal of Scotland, and under the Great Seal of Ireland respectively, and made applicable to England, the Dominion of Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, and the said Colonies and Plantations, or such of them as aforesaid, to Scotland, and to Ireland respectively, save as herein otherwise provided: Provided always, that nothing in this Act contained shall be deemed or taken to give any Effect or Operation to any Letters Patent to be granted under the Authority of this Act in any Colony in which such or the like Letters Patent would be invalid by the Law in force in the same Colony for the Time being: Provided always, that a Transcript of such Letters shall, so soon after the sealing of the same and in such Manner as the Commissioners shall direct, be transmitted to the Director of Chancery in Scotland, and be recorded in the Records of Chancery in Scotland, upon Payment of such Fees as the Commissioners shall appoint, in the same Manner and to the same Effect in all respects as Letters Patent passing under the Seal appointed by the Treaty of Union to be used in place of the Great Seal of Scotland have heretofore been recorded, and Extracts from the said Records shall be furnished to all Parties requiring the same, on Payment of such Fees as the Commissioners shall direct, and shall be received in Evidence in all Courts in Scotland to the like Effect as the Letters Patent themselves.

XIX. Provided always, That no Letters Patent, save as hereinafter mentioned in the Case of Letters Patent destroyed or lost, shall issue on any Warrant granted as aforesaid, unless Application be made to seal such Letters Patent within Three Months after the Date of the said Warrant.

XX. Provided also, That no Letters Patent (save Letters Patent issued in lieu of others destroyed or lost) shall be issued or be of any Force or Effect unless the same be granted during the Continuance of the Provisional Protection under this Act, or, where a Complete Specification has been deposited under this Act, then unless such Letters Patent be granted during the Continuance of the Protection conferred under this Act by reason of such Deposit, save that where the Application to seal such Letters Patent has been made during the Continuance of such provisional or other Protection as aforesaid, and the sealing of such Letters Patent has been delayed by reason of a Caveat or an Application to the Lord Chancellor against or in relation to the sealing of such Letters Patent, then such Letters Patent may be sealed at such Time as the Lord Chancellor shall direct.

XXI. Provided also, That where the Applicant for such Letters Patent dies during the Continuance of the Provisional Protection, or the Protection by reason of the Deposit of a Complete Specification, (as the Case may be,) such Letters Patent may be granted to the Executors or Administrators of such Applicant during the Continuance of such Provisional or other Protection, or at any Time within Three Months after the Death of such Applicant, notwithstanding the Expiration of the Term of such Provisional or other Protection, and the Letters Patent so granted shall be of the like Force and Effect as if they had been granted to such Applicant during the Continuance of such Provisional or other Protection.

XXII. Provided also, That in case any such Letters Patent shall be destroyed or lost, other Letters Patent of the like Tenor and Effect, and sealed and dated as of the same Day, may, subject to such Regulations as the Commissioners may direct, be issued under the Authority of the Warrant in pursuance of which the original Letters Patent were issued.

XXIII. It shall be lawful (the Act of the Eighteenth Year of King Henry the Sixth, Chapter One, or any other Act, to the contrary notwithstanding,) to cause any Letters Patent to be issued in pursuance of this Act to be sealed and bear Date as of the Day of the Application for the same, and in case of such Letters Patent for any Invention provisionally registered under the “Protection of Inventions Act, 1851,” as of the Day of such Provisional Registration, or, where the Law Officer to whom the Application was referred, or the Lord Chancellor, thinks fit and directs, any such Letters Patent as aforesaid may be sealed and bear Date as of the Day of the sealing of such Letters Patent, or of any other Day between the Day of such Application or Provisional Registration and the Day of such sealing.

XXIV. Any Letters Patent issued under this Act sealed and bearing the Date as of any Day prior to the Day of the actual sealing thereof shall be of the same Force and Validity as if they had been sealed on the Day as of which the same are expressed to be sealed and bear Date: Provided always, that save where such Letters Patent are granted for any Invention, in respect whereof a Complete Specification has been deposited upon the Application for the same under this Act, no Proceeding at Law or in Equity shall be had upon such Letters Patent in respect of any Infringement committed before the same were actually granted.

XXV. Where, upon any Application made after the passing of this Act, Letters Patent are granted in the United Kingdom for or in respect of any Invention first invented in any Foreign Country or by the Subject of any Foreign Power or State, and a Patent or like Privilege for the Monopoly or exclusive Use or Exercise of such Invention in any Foreign Country is there obtained before the Grant of such Letters Patent in the United Kingdom, all Rights and Privileges under such Letters Patent shall (notwithstanding any Term in such Letters Patent limited) cease and be void immediately upon the Expiration or other Determination of the Term during which the Patent or like Privilege obtained in such Foreign Country shall continue in force, or where more than One such Patent or like Privilege is obtained abroad, immediately upon the Expiration or Determination of the Term which shall first expire or be determined of such several Patents or like Privileges: Provided always, that no Letters Patent for or in respect of any Invention for which any such Patent or like Privilege as aforesaid shall have been obtained in any Foreign Country, and which shall be granted in the said United Kingdom after the Expiration of the Term for which such Patent or Privilege was granted or was in force, shall be of any Validity.

XXVI. No Letters Patent for any Invention (granted after the passing of this Act) shall extend to prevent the Use of such Invention in any Foreign Ship or Vessel, or for the Navigation of any Foreign Ship or Vessel, which may be in any Port of Her Majesty’s Dominions, or in any of the Waters within the Jurisdiction of any of Her Majesty’s Courts, where such Invention is not so used for the Manufacture of any Goods or Commodities to be vended within or exported from Her Majesty’s Dominions: Provided always, that this Enactment shall not extend to the Ships or Vessels of any Foreign State of which the Laws authorize Subjects of such Foreign State, having Patents or like Privileges for the exclusive Use or Exercise of Inventions within its Territories, to prevent or interfere with the Use of such Inventions in British Ships or Vessels, or in or about the Navigation of British Ships or Vessels, while in the Ports of such Foreign State, or in the waters within the Jurisdiction of its Courts, where such Inventions are not so used for the Manufacture of Goods or Commodities to be vended within or exported from the Territories of such Foreign State.

XXVII. All Letters Patent to be granted under this Act (save only Letters Patent granted after the filing of a Complete Specification) shall require the Specification thereunder to be filed in the High Court of Chancery, instead of requiring the same to be enrolled, and no Enrolment shall be requisite.

XXVIII. Every Specification to be filed in pursuance of the Condition of any Letters Patent shall be filed in such Office of the Court of Chancery as the Lord Chancellor shall from Time to Time appoint, and every Provisional Specification and Complete Specification left or filed at the Office of the Commissioners on the Application for any Letters Patent shall forthwith after the Grant of the Letters Patent, or if no Letters Patent be granted then immediately on the Expiration of Six Months from the Time of such Application, be transferred to and kept in the said Office appointed for filing Specifications in Chancery; and in case Reference is made to Drawings in any Specification deposited or filed under this Act, an extra Copy of such Drawings shall be left with such Specification.

XXIX. The Commissioners shall cause true Copies of all Specifications (other than Provisional Specifications), Disclaimers, and Memoranda of Alterations filed under or in pursuance of this Act, and of all Provisional Specifications after the Term of the Provisional Protection of the Invention has expired, to be open to the Inspection of the Public at the Office of the Commissioners, and at an Office in Edinburgh and Dublin respectively, at all reasonable Times, subject to such Regulations as the Commissioners may direct; and the Commissioners shall cause a Transcript of the said Letters Patent to be transmitted for Enrolment in the Court of Chancery, Dublin, and shall cause the same to be enrolled therein, and the Transcript or Exemplification thenceforward shall have the like Effect to all Intents and Purposes as if the original Letters Patent had been enrolled in the Court of Chancery in Dublin, and all Parties shall have all their Remedies by Scire facias or otherwise, as if the Letters Patent had been granted to extend to Ireland only.

XXX. The Commissioners shall cause to be printed, published, and sold, at such Prices and in such Manner as they may think fit, all Specifications, Disclaimers, and Memoranda of Alterations deposited or filed under this Act, and such Specifications (not being Provisional Specifications), Disclaimers, and Memoranda respectively shall be so printed and published as soon as conveniently may be after the filing thereof respectively, and all such Provisional Specifications shall be so printed and published as soon as conveniently may be after the Expiration of the Provisional Protection obtained in respect thereof; and it shall be lawful for the Commissioners to present Copies of all such Publications to such public Libraries and Museums as they may think fit, and to allow the Person depositing or filing any such Specification, Disclaimer, or Memorandum of Alteration to have such Number, not exceeding Twenty-five, of the Copies thereof so printed and published, without any Payment for the same, as they may think fit.

XXXI. It shall be lawful for the Lord Chancellor and the Master of Rolls to direct the Enrolment of Specifications, Disclaimers, and Memoranda of Alterations heretofore or hereafter enrolled or deposited at the Rolls Chapel Office, or at the Petty Bag Office, or at the Enrolment Office of the Court of Chancery, or in the Custody of the Master of the Rolls as Keeper of the Public Records, to be transferred to and kept in the Office appointed for filing Specifications in Chancery under this Act.

XXXII. The Commissioners shall cause Indexes to all Specifications, Disclaimers, and Memoranda of Alterations heretofore or to be hereafter enrolled or deposited as last aforesaid to be prepared in such Form as they may think fit, and such Indexes shall be open to the Inspection of the Public at such Place or Places as the Commissioners shall appoint, and subject to the Regulations to be made by the Commissioners, and the Commissioners may cause all or any of such Indexes, Specifications, Disclaimers, and Memoranda of Alterations to be printed, published, and sold in such Manner and at such Prices as the Commissioners may think fit.

XXXIII. Copies, printed by the Printers to the Queen’s Majesty, of Specifications, Disclaimers, and Memoranda of Alterations shall be admissible in Evidence, and deemed and taken to be prima facie Evidence of the Existence and Contents of the Documents to which they purport to relate in all Courts and in all Proceedings relating to Letters Patent.

XXXIV. There shall be kept at the Office appointed for filing Specifications in Chancery under this Act a Book or Books, to be called “The Register of Patents,” wherein shall be entered and recorded in chronological Order all Letters Patent granted under this Act, the Deposit or Filing of Specifications, Disclaimers, and Memoranda of Alterations filed in respect of such Letters Patent, all Amendments in such Letters Patent and Specifications, all Confirmations and Extensions of such Letters Patent, the Expiry, Vacating, or Cancelling such Letters Patent, with the Dates thereof respectively, and all other Matters and Things affecting the Validity of such Letters Patent as the Commissioners may direct, and such Register, or a Copy thereof, shall be open at all convenient Times to the Inspection of the Public, subject to such Regulations as the Commissioners may make.

XXXV. There shall be kept at the Office appointed for filing Specifications in Chancery under this Act a Book or Books, entitled “The Register of Proprietors,” wherein shall be entered, in such Manner as the Commissioners shall direct, the Assignment of any Letters Patent, and the District to which such Licence relates, with the Name or Names of any Person having any Share or Interest in such Letters Patent or LIcence, the Date of his or their acquiring such Letters Patent, Share, and Interest, and any other Matter or Thing relating to or affecting the Proprietorship in such Letters Patent or Licence; and a Copy of any Entry in such Book, certified under such Seal as may have been appointed or as may be directed by the Lord Chancellor to be used in the said Office, shall be given to any Person requiring the same, on Payment of the Fees herein-after provided; and such Copies so certified shall be received in Evidence in all Courts and in all Proceedings, and shall be prima facie Proof of the Assignment of such Letters Patent, or Share or Interest therein, or of the Licence or Proprietorship, as therein expressed: Provided always, that until such Entry shall have been made the Grantee or Grantees of the Letters Patent shall be deemed and taken to be the sole and exclusive Proprietor or Proprietors of such Letters Patent, and of all the Licences and Privileges thereby given and granted; that certified Duplicates of all Entries made in the said Register of Proprietors shall forthwith be transmitted to the Office of the Commissioners in Edinburgh and Dublin, where the same shall also be open to the Inspection of the Public; and any Writ of Scire facias to repeal such Letters Patent may be issued to the Sheriff of the County or Counties in which the Grantee or Grantees resided at the Time when the said Letters Patent were granted; and in case such Grantee or Grantees do not reside in the United Kingdom it shall be sufficient to file such Writ in the Petty Bag Office, and serve Notice thereof in Writing at the last known Residence or Place of Business of such Grantee or Grantees; and such Register or a Copy shall be open to the Inspection of the Public at the Office of the Commissioners, subject to such Regulations as the Commissioners may make: Provided always, that in any Proceeding in Scotland to repeal any Letters Patent Service of all Writs and Summonses shall be made according to the existing Forms and Practice; provided also, that the Grantee or Grantees of Letters Patent to be hereafter granted may assign the Letters Patent for England, Scotland, or Ireland respectively as effectually as if the Letters Patent had been originally granted to extend to England or Scotland or Ireland only, and the Assignee or Assignees shall have the same Rights of Action and Remedies, and shall be subject to the like Actions and Suits as he or they should and would have had and been subject to upon the Assignment of Letters Patent granted to England, Ireland, or Scotland before the passing of this Act.

XXXVI. Notwithstanding any Proviso that may exist in former Letters Patent, it shall be lawful for a larger Number than Twelve Persons herafter to have a legal and beneficial Interest in such Letters Patent.

XXXVII. If any Person shall wilfully make or cause to be made any false Entry in the said Register of Proprietors, or shall wilfully make or forge, or cause to be made or forged, any Writing falsely purporting to be a Copy of any Entry in the said Book, or shall produce or tender, or cause to be produced or tendered, in Evidence any such Writing, knowing the same to be false or forged, he shall be guilty of a Misdemeanor, and shall be punished by Fine and Imprisonment accordingly.

XXXVIII. If any Person shall deem himself aggrieved by any Entry made under colour of this Act in the said Register of Proprietors, it shall be lawful for such Person to apply, by Motion, to the Master of the Rolls, or to any of the Courts of common Law at Westminster in Term Time, or by Summons to a Judge of any of the said Courts in Vacation, for an Order that such Entry may be expunged, vacated, or varied; and upon any such Application the Master of the Rolls, or such Court or Judge respectively, may make such Order for expunging, vacating, or varying such Entry, and as to the Costs of such Application, as to the said Master of the Rolls or to such Court or Judge may seem fit; and the Officer having the Care and Custody of such Register, on the Production to him of any such Order for expunging, vacating, or varying any such Entry, shall expunge, vacate, or vary the same, according to the Requisitions of such Order.

XXXIX. All the Provisions of the Acts of the Session holden in the Fifth and Sixth Years of King William the Fourth, Chapter Eighty-three, and of the Session holden in the Seventh and Eighth Years of Her Majesty, Chapter Sixty-nine, respectively, relating to Disclaimers and Memoranda of Alterations in Letters Patent and Specifications, except as herein-after provided, shall be applicable and apply to any Letters Patent granted, and to any Specification filed under the Provisions of this Act: Provided always, that all Applications for Leave to enter a Disclaimer or Memorandum of Alteration shall be made, and all Caveats relating thereto shall be lodged at the Office of the Commissioners, and shall be referred to the respective Law Officers in the said first-recited Act mentioned: Provided also, that every such Disclaimer or Memorandum of Alteration shall be filed in the Office appointed for filing Specifications in Chancery under this Act, with the Specification to which the same relates, in lieu of being entered or filed and enrolled as required by the said first-recited Act, or by the Act of the Session holden in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Years of Her Majesty, Chapter One hundred and nine, and the said Acts shall be construed accordingly: Provided also, that such filing of any Disclaimer or Memorandum of Alteration, in pursuance of the Leave of the Law Officer in the first-recited Act mentioned, certified as therein mentioned, shall, except in Cases of Fraud, be conclusive as to the Right of the Party to enter such Disclaimer or Memorandum of Alteration under the said Acts and this Act; and no Objection shall be allowed to be made in any Proceeding upon or touching such Letters Patent, Specification, Disclaimer, or Memorandum of Alteration, on the Ground that the Party entering such Disclaimer or Memorandum of Alteration had not sufficient Authority in that Behalf: Provided also, that no Action shall be brought upon any Letters Patent in which or on the Specification of which any Disclaimer or Memorandum of Alteration shall have been filed in respect of any Infringement committed prior to the filing of such Disclaimer or Memorandum of Alteration, unless the Law Officer shall certify in his Fiat that any such Action may be brought, notwithstanding the Entry or Filing of such Disclaimer or Memorandum of Alteration.

XL. All the Provisions of the said Act of the Fifth and Sixth Years of King William the Fourth, for the Confirmation of any Letters Patent, and the Grant of new Letters Patent, and all the Provisions of the said Act,