Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

The proposal is to delete lines 27 to 46 and substitute the text as outlined in the amendment. The substance of the section remains the same, apart from subsection (3). For drafting reasons the Parliamentary Counsel found it necessary, in order to facilitate the introduction of the subsection, to set out the entire provision. The purpose of the section is to reflect Article 11 of the Patent Law Treaty relief in respect to time limits, which requires that a right to a one-off extension of a time limit fixed by an office — in this case the controller — must be allowed as a right and not subject to the exercise of discretion on the part of the controller's office. This is a most important provision.

Subsection (3) is being introduced to reflect that Article 11 of the Patent Law Treaty requires that a minimum length of extension be allowed from the date of expiration of the extended time limit. This limit will be prescribed in the patent rules. Subsection (1) is unchanged from that passed by Dáil Éireann. Subsection (2) provides that the controller shall grant the extension, as I explained. Subsection (4) provides that if an extension of time is granted, the legal consequences of the failure to observe the time limit shall be deemed not to have ensued. Subsection (5) provides that any further examination of time will be at the discretion of the controller. Subsection (6) provides that this section does not apply to proceedings before the controller.