Guidance and notes on the Directions given under section 120(1)

Hours of business and excluded days

a) These notes are not part of the Directions. They are intended to provide background and additional information.

b) The Interpretation Act 1978 applies to these Directions. Therefore, all the definitions set out in the Patents Act apply to these Directions. Further, amongst other things, generally any words importing the masculine gender include the feminine and words in the singular include the plural and words in the plural include the singular.

c) Section 120(1) of the Patents Act allows the comptroller to give directions specifying the hours during which the Office is closed for the transaction of business under the Patents Act, and the days that are excluded for any such purposes.

d) These Directions replace the Directions that were given in December 2007 and came into force on 17 December 2007.

e) The hours of business have been revised to allow the Office to be open at all times for the filing of new applications in respect of which no declaration for the purposes of section 5(2) of the Act is made. This will mean that new applications which do not contain a declaration of priority from an earlier application will be awarded the date they are received in the Office as their official filing date.

f) Any queries about these Directions should be addressed to Patents Legal Section:

Intellectual Property Office
Concept House
Cardiff Road
Newport
South Wales
NP10 8QQ
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)1633 814140