(3)
The patentee or any other person appearing from the register to be
interested in the patent may in the prescribed manner oppose the
application.
(4)
(a)
The commissioner shall consider the application on its merits
and may order the grant to the applicant of a licence on such
conditions as he or she may deem fit, including a condition
precluding the licensee from importing into the Republic any
patented articles.
[Para. (a) substituted by s. 45 (c) of Act No. 38 of 1997.]
(b)
If the commissioner is of the opinion that an order directing the
grant of a licence is not justified, he may refuse the application.
(c)
A licence granted under this section shall include a provision
that, subject to adequate protection of the legitimate interests
of the licensee, the licence shall, on application by the
patentee, be terminated if the circumstances which led to its
grant cease to exist and, in the opinion of the commissioner,
are unlikely to recur.
[Para. (c) added by s. 45 (d) of Act No. 38 of 1997.]
(5)
Any licence granted under this section shall be non-exclusive and
shall not be transferable except to a person to whom the business or
part of the business in connection with which the rights under the
licence were exercised has been transferred.
[Sub-s. (5) substituted
(6)
by s. 45 (e) of Act No. 38 of 1997.]
......
[Sub-s. (6) deleted by s. 45 ( f ) of Act No. 38 of 1997.]
(7)
In determining the conditions on which any licence is granted the
commissioner shall have regard to any relevant facts, including the
risks to be undertaken by the licensee, the research and development
undertaken by the patentee and the terms and conditions usually
stipulated in licence agreements in respect of the subject-matter of the
invention, between persons who voluntarily enter into such
agreements.
(7A)
The commissioner may order that a licence granted in terms of this
section shall be deemed to have been granted on the date on which
the application has been received by the registrar.
[Sub-s. (7A) inserted by s. 2 (b) of Act No. 76 of 1988.]
(8)
Any order of the commissioner under this section shall be made with a
view to avoiding the abuse found by the commissioner to have been
established.
(9)
The commissioner may amend or revoke any licence granted under
this section.
(10)
Subject to the conditions that may be attached to the licence, a
licensee under this section shall have the same rights and obligations
as any other licensee under a patent.
[Sub-s. (10) substituted by s. 45 (g) of Act No. 38 of 1997.]