(ii) for any number of manufacturing processes for those products, and
(iii) for any number of applications of those products; and
(b) claims(i) for any number of processes, and
(ii) for the means of working those processes, for the resulting product or products and for the
application of those products.
(4) Where the applicant for a patent seeks to avail himself of a foreign priority in respect of an earlier
application made in a country outside Nigeria(a) he shall append to his application under subsection (1) of this section a written declaration showing(i) the date and number of the earlier application,
(ii) the country in which the earlier application was made, and
(iii) the name of the person who made the earlier application; and
(b) not more than three months after the making of the application under subsection (1) of this section,
he shall furnish the Registrar with a copy of the earlier application certified correct by the Industrial
Property Office (or its equivalent) in the country where the earlier application was made.
4. (1) The Registrar shall examine every patent application as to its conformity with section 3(1), (3) and (4)
of this Act, and(a) if section 3(1) of this Act has not been complied with, the Registrar shall reject the application;
(b) if section 3(3) of this Act has not been complied with, the Registrar shall(i) invite the applicant to restrict the application so that it relates to only one invention, and
(ii) notify the applicant that he may within, three months file in respect of the other inventions dealt
with in the original application subsidiary applications which shall benefit from the date of filing
of the original application and, if relevant, from the date of any foreign priority claimed under
section 3(4) of this Act, and, if the applicant does not comply with the invitation mentioned in
sub-paragraph (i) of this subsection, shall reject the application, and
(c) if section 3(4) of this Act has not been complied with, the Registrar shall disregard any claim for
foreign priority.
(2) Where the examination mentioned in subsection (1) of this subsection shows that a patent application
satisfies the requirements of section 3(1) and (3) of this Act, the patent shall be granted as applied for
without further examination and, in particular, without examination of the questions(a) whether the subject of the application is patentable under section 1 of this Act;
(b) whether the description and claims satisfy the requirements of section 3(2) of this Act; and
(c) whether a prior application, or an application benefiting from a foreign priority, has been made in
Nigeria in respect of the same invention, and whether a patent has been granted as a result of such an
application.
(3) Where the said examination shows that section 3(4) of this Act has been complied with as respects a
claim for a foreign priority, the foreign priority claimed shall be mentioned in the patent.
(4) Patents are granted at the risk of the patentee and without guarantee of their validity.