(a)
an officer, to be styled the Controller of Patents, Trade Marks and
Industrial Designs, who shall exercise general supervision and direction of the Patent
Office; and
(b)
one or more registrars of patents who shall, subject to the control of
the Controller, have all the powers conferred by this Act upon the Registrar; and
(c)
such examiners and other officers as the Minister considers necessary
for the better carrying out of the provisions of this Act;
whose offices shall be public offices and form part of the Public Service.
(3) An examiner or other officer referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) shall, if
the Minister so directs, have the power to do any act or thing which may be lawfully
done by a registrar of patents under this Act or any other enactment.
4
Seal
There shall be a seal of the Patent Office and impressions thereof made for the
purposes of this Act or the repealed legislation shall be judicially noticed.
5
Register of Patents
(1) There shall be kept at the Patent Office a Register of Patents, in which shall be
entered—
particulars of patents in force, of assignments and transmissions of
(a)
patents and of licences under patents; and
(b)
notice of all matters which are required by or under this Act to be
entered in the Register and of such other matters affecting the validity or
proprietorship of patents as the Registrar thinks fit.
(2) All registers of patents established and kept under the repealed legislation shall,
under arrangements made by the Controller with the approval of the Minister, be
incorporated with and form part of the Register of Patents established under
subsection (1), so, however, that such arrangements shall in no way be deemed to
extend the term and effect of any patent registered in such registers beyond the term
and effect provided in respect of such patent by this Act.
(3) Subject to this Act, the Register shall, at all convenient times, be open to
inspection by the public and a certified copy, sealed with the seal of the Patent Office,
of any entry in the Register shall be given on payment of the prescribed fee to any
person requiring it.
(4) The Register shall be prima facie evidence of any matters required or authorized
by or under this Act to be entered therein or which were required or authorized by or
under the repealed legislation to be entered in a register of patents referred to in
subsection (2).
(5) No notice of any trust, whether expressed, implied or constructive, shall be
entered in the Register and the Registrar shall not be affected by any such notice.
PART III
APPLICATIONS GENERALLY
6
Persons entitled to make application
(1) An application for a patent for an invention may be made by any of the following
persons—
(a)
a person claiming to be the inventor of the invention who owns the
invention in respect of Zimbabwe; or
(b)
an assignee;
and may be made by that person either alone or jointly with any other person.
(2) Without prejudice to subsection (1), an application for a patent for an invention in
respect of which protection has been applied for in a Convention country may be
made by the person by whom the application for protection was made or by the
assignee of that person:
Provided that no application shall be made under this subsection after the expiration
of twelve months from the date of the application for protection in a Convention
country or, where more than one such application for protection has been made, from
the date of the first such application.