12. Applications for the grant of patents under sections 14 and 15
(1) A request for the grant of a patent must be made on Patents Form 1.
(2) Where the documents filed at the Patent Office to initiate an application for a patent do not include the applicant's name and address, the comptroller shall notify the applicant that his name and address are required.
(3) Where the applicant has been so notified, he must, before the end of the period of two months beginning immediately after1 the date of the notification, file his name and address; otherwise the comptroller may refuse his application.
(4) The specification mentioned in section 14(2)(b) must be preceded by the title of the invention and must be set out in the following order-
- (a) description;
- (b) the claim or claims; and
- (c) any drawing or photograph referred to in the description or any claim2.
(5) But paragraph (4) does not apply where an application is delivered in electronic form or using electronic communications.
(6) The title of the invention must be short and indicate the matter to which the invention relates.
(6A)3 The claim or claims must not rely in respect of the technical features of the invention on references to the description or any drawing or photograph unless the feature cannot otherwise be clearly and concisely defined in words, by a mathematical or chemical formula or by any other written means [does not apply to an application in respect of which the compliance period expired before 6 April 2017]
(7) Where the specification includes drawings or photographs, the description must include a list of drawings and photographs briefly describing each of them4.
(8) Where-
- (a) the documents filed at the Patent Office to initiate an application for a patent include something which is or appears to be a description of the invention in a language other than English or Welsh; and
- (b) the applicant has not filed a translation into English or Welsh of that thing,
the comptroller shall notify the applicant that a translation is required.
(9) Where the applicant has been so notified, he must, before the end of the period of two months beginning immediately after5the date of the notification, file a translation; otherwise the comptroller may refuse his application.
