STATUTORY RULES.

1916. No. 140.

REGULATIONS UNDER THE WAR PRECAUTIONS ACT 1914-1916.

I, SIR ARTHUR STANLEY, Governor of the State of Victoria and its Dependencies in Commonwealth of Australia, acting as the Deputy of the Governor-General, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the War Precautions Act 1914-1916, to come into operation forthwith.

Dated this twelfth day of July, One thousand nine hundred and sixteen.

A. L. STANLEY,

Deputy of the Governor-General.

By His Excellency’s Command,

G. F. PEARCE,

Minister of State for Defence.

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War Precautions (Patents) Regulations 1916.

Short title and citation.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the War Precautions (Patents) Regulations 1916.

Establishment of Patents Inquiry Board.

2. There shall be a Board, called the Patents Inquiry Board, consisting of three persons appointed by the Minister for Defence.

Board to investigate inventions.

3. (1) Every application for the grant of a patent in the Commonwealth lodged at the Patent Office on or after the date of the making of these Regulations (other than an application the publication of which in the opinion of the Commissioner of Patents is obviously not likely to be detrimental to the public safety or the defence of the Commonwealth or otherwise to assist the enemy or endanger the successful prosecution of the war) shall be referred by the Commissioner of Patents to the Patents Inquiry Board.

(2) Where the Commissioner of Patents is of opinion that the publication of the invention forming the subject of any application for a patent lodged at the Patent Office before the date of the making of these Regulations might be detrimental to the public safety or the defence of the Commonwealth or might otherwise assist the enemy or endanger the successful prosecution of the war, the Commissioner shall if the Complete Specification of the application has not been accepted, refer the application to the Patents Inquiry Board.

(3) The Board shall investigate the invention in regard to which any application referred to it in pursuance of sub-regulation (1) or (2) of this Regulation is made with a view to determining whether the publication of the invention might be detrimental to the public safety or the defence of the Commonwealth or might otherwise assist the enemy or endanger the successful prosecution of the war.

(4) The determination of the Board shall forthwith be communicated to the Commissioner of Patents.

(5) If the Board determines that the publication of the invention might be detrimental to the public safety or the defence of the Commonwealth or might otherwise assist the enemy or endanger the successful

C.9160.—Price 3d.

prosecution of the war, the Commissioner of Patents shall notify the applicant of such determination, and shall, unless the Attorney-General otherwise directs, decline to proceed further with the application.

(6) Upon receipt of the notification referred to in the last preceding sub-regulation, the applicant shall not, except with the permission in writing of the Attorney-General, during the continuance of the present state of war—

(a) publish or communicate in any way his invention whether within or beyond the Commonwealth or

(b) apply for a patent for the invention in any country outside the Commonwealth.

Applications for patents in countries outside the Commonwealth.

4. (1) No person in the Commonwealth, or in a territory of the Commonwealth in which the Patents Act 1903-1909 is in force, shall apply, either on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person, for a patent in any country outside the Commonwealth unless he has lodged at the Patent Office, at least thirty days before posting his application or any instructions with regard thereto, a notice of his intention so to apply, together with a Provisional Specification describing the nature of the invention:

Provided that in the case of any person who, more than six months before the date of the making of these Regulations, applied for a patent for an invention, may with the consent in writing of the Attorney-General apply under International or International arrangements for a patent for that invention in any country outside the Commonwealth.

(2) The Commissioner of Patents shall forthwith refer every such notice of intention to apply for a patent and every such Provisional Specification to the Patents Inquiry Board.

(3) The Board shall investigate the invention in regard to which the application is made with a view to determining whether the publication of the invention in any country outside the Commonwealth might be detrimental to the public safety or the defence of the Commonwealth or might otherwise assist the enemy or endanger the successful prosecution of the war.

(4) The determination of the Board shall forthwith be communicated to the Commissioner of Patents.

(5) If the Board determines that the publication of the invention as aforesaid might be detrimental to the public safety or the defence of the Commonwealth or might otherwise assist the enemy or endanger the successful prosecution of the war, the Commissioner of Patents shall, before the expiration of thirty days from the time when notice was given in accordance with sub-regulation (1) of this Regulation, notify the applicant of such determination and direct him not to proceed with his application.

(6) Upon receipt of the notification referred to in the last preceding sub-regulation, the applicant shall not, except with the permission in writing of the Attorney-General, publish or communicate in any way his invention.

Contraventions of Regulations

5 Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of these Regulations or of any notification issued in pursuance of them shall be guilty of an offence against the War Precautions Act 1914-1916.

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Printed and Published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by Albert J. Mullett, Government Printer for the State of Victoria.