- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As made)
This is the original version (as it was originally made). This item of legislation is currently only available in its original format.
Statutory Instruments
Intellectual Property
Patents
Made
19th August 2011
Laid before Parliament
22nd August 2011
Coming into force
1st October 2011
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Patents Act 1977 (Amendment) Regulations 2011 and come into force on 1st October 2011.
2. After section 118 of the Patents Act 1977(3) insert—
118A.—(1) This section applies to documents made available for inspection under section 118(1).
(2) Any copyright in the documents is not infringed by—
(a)the making available to the public of the documents by electronic transmission in such a way that members of the public may access the documents from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, or
(b)copying the documents for the purpose of facilitating the making available to the public of the documents as mentioned in paragraph (a).
(3) Nothing in this section is to be read as affecting the generality of any provision made by Chapter 3 of Part 1 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.”.
Judith Wilcox
Parliamentary Secretary for Business, Innovation and Skills
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
19th August 2011
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Patents Act 1977 (“the Act”).
Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society (OJ L17 22/6/2001, p 10) (“the Directive”) is concerned with the legal protection of copyright and related rights in the framework of the internal market. Article 5(3)(e) permits a Member State to provide for exceptions and limitations to the authors’ rights of reproduction and communication to the public of their works provided for by articles 2 and 3 of the Directive to ensure the proper performance of administrative proceedings. Any such limitation must comply with the three step test set out in article 5(5).
Regulation 2 inserts a new section 118A into the Act which contains an exception from copyright. This provides that copyright is not infringed in a copyright work when a document is copied or made available electronically to the public for the purpose of inspection in accordance with section 118 of the Act. The exception from the right to communicate the work to the public does not extend to broadcasting the work.
A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Patents Legal Section, Intellectual Property Office, Concept house, Cardiff Road, Newport, NP10 8QQ and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum (together with a transposition note) which is available alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
Explanatory Memorandum sets out a brief statement of the purpose of a Statutory Instrument and provides information about its policy objective and policy implications. They aim to make the Statutory Instrument accessible to readers who are not legally qualified and accompany any Statutory Instrument or Draft Statutory Instrument laid before Parliament from June 2004 onwards.
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
Impact Assessments generally accompany all UK Government interventions of a regulatory nature that affect the private sector, civil society organisations and public services. They apply regardless of whether the regulation originates from a domestic or international source and can accompany primary (Acts etc) and secondary legislation (SIs). An Impact Assessment allows those with an interest in the policy area to understand:
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including: