Protecting Industrial Property Rights

Amendment

The applicant may amend the application, provided that the amendment does not go beyond the disclosure in the initial application. A request for amendment or division of an application should be in Form IP 5. If the request is to amend a name, address or other contact information, the request should be in Form IP 6.

The Managing Director may require proof that it is appropriate to make the requested amendment to a name, address or other contact information.

The following apply with respect to an amendment

1. the amendment should be in the form of a letter of explanation and pages to replace pages of the application;
2. the letter of explanation should draw attention to the differences between any new pages and the pages being replaced; and
3. the letter of explanation should specify any pages that are to be removed from the application without being replaced.

Division of a patent application

The applicant may divide the initial application into one or more applications (referred to as “divisional applications”) provided that each divisional application does not go beyond the disclosure in the initial application.

If an application is divided,

1. the filing date for each divisional application will be considered to be the filing date of the initial application;
2. any declaration of priority in the initial application is deemed to be included in each divisional application; and
3. the applicant pays the application fee and any other fees payable in respect of the additional applications resulting from the division