In a successful action relief may be given by damages and an injunction against infringement of the patent, but a defendant who proves that at the date of the infringement he was not aware nor had reasonable means of making himself aware of the existence of the patent is not liable to damages.
At common law a person who, alleging that he has a patent, threatens his rivals in trade, is liable to an action for damages, but the plaintiff cannot succeed without showing that the threats were made maliciously. The Patents Act 1907 s. 36 provides an other remedy in what is known as "the threats action." The statute makes the good faith of the patentee threatening legal proceedings no answer to an action brought against him by any person aggrieved by his threats if the acts complained of are not in fact an infringement of the patent; but if an action for in fringement is commenced and prosecuted with due diligence, the section does not apply.
The patent when sealed has effect in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. The patent business of the United Kingdom is transacted at the Patent Office in Lon don under the superintendence of the comptroller, an officer ap pointed by the Board of Trade, under whose direction he performs his duties. At this office is kept a register of all patents issued, of assignments of patents, licences granted under them, etc. An illustrated journal of patent inventions is published at the same office, where printed copies of all specifications can also be ob tained. The fees payable to government on patents are those laid down by the Patents Rules and are as follows :—On application accompanied by provisional specification Li ; on filing complete specification thereafter £3 ; on application accompanied by com plete specification 14; on sealing of patent LI. Before the expira tion of the fourth year from the date of the patent is; of the fifth year £6; of the sixth year £7, and so on increasing by LI every year, each such payment being in respect of the following year. Where an extension of time is given, extra fees are payable.
The official publications of the Patent Office deserve some notice, as, apart from official investigation into novelty, the onus of search rests with the applicant or his agent. The procedure has been greatly simplified by the publication, on a uniform system and at a low rate, of illustrated abridgments of specifi cations. From 1877 practically to date the searcher obtains a chronological digest of all specifications falling within a given class. To these classes there is a reference index, known as the "abridgment class and index key," which at once directs the searcher to his proper class and index heading. The office also
publishes reports of Patent, Design and Trade Mark Cases, the reference to which is R.P.C.
Patents are usually, although not necessarily, obtained through the intervention of "patent agents" who de vote themselves to this branch of business. Their position has for many years been regulated by statute. The existing enact ment which is more stringent than that which it displaced is the new s. 84 of the Patents and Designs Act, 1907, substituted for the original section 84 by s. 18 of the Act of 1919. It provides that no person shall practise, describe himself, or hold himself out, or permit himself to be described or held out, as a patent agent, unless:—(a) In the case of an individual he is registered as a patent agent in the register of patent agents; (b) in the case of a firm every partner of the firm is so registered; (c) in the case of a company which commenced to carry on business as a patent agent after Nov. 17, 1917, every director and the manager (if any) of the company is so registered; (d) in the case of a com pany which commenced to carry on business as a patent agent before that date, a manager or a director of the company is so registered. In the last mentioned case the name of such manager or director must be mentioned as being a registered patent agent in all professional advertisements, circulars or letters in which the name of the company appears. There is a provision which enabled any individual not registered as patent agent before July 15, 1919, to be registered on proof that before Aug. 1, 1917, he was bona fide practising as a patent agent. The penalty for contra vention of the provisions is a maximum sum of £20, and in the case of a company any officer knowingly a party to the contra vention is liable. "Patent Agent" means a person, firm or com pany carrying on for gain in the United Kingdom the business of applying or obtaining patents in the United Kingdom or else where. Unless registered before July 15, 1919, a person cannot be registered unless he is a British subject. The Board of Trade has power under s. 86 to make rules for regulating the keeping of the register of Patent Agents and has delegated this duty to the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents. Notwithstanding these provisions an ordinary agent duly authorized to the satisfaction of the comptroller may be employed in some matters (but not including the signing of applications for patents and certain other documents which must be signed by the applicant himself ; see s. 85 and Rule 9).