TNAG-2890-FCO40-4162-Reform-and-localisation-of-the-Hong-Kong-Patent-System-1993 — Page 200

Clause

(a)

Patents are granted for inventions which are :

(i)

new,

(ii)

involve an inventive step, and

Notes

Cl:

70

67.

(b)

(c)

Novelty

(iii) capable of industrial application.

Certain things as specified in EPC Articles 52(2) and (3) are not to be considered inventions.

Inventions which are contrary to morality or which are animal or plant varieties or any essentially biological process for the production of plants or animals except a micro-biological process shall not be considered as patentable.

This clause will contain provisions based on EPC Article 54 and 1977 Act s.1 to provide that inventions are new if they do not form part of the state of the art. It will provide that the state of the art is to comprise any matter which has, at any time before the priority date, been made available to the public anywhere in the world, including earlier filed European patent applications. It will also contain provisions based on EPC Article 55 dealing with disclosures which can be disregarded for the purposes of novelty.

1977 Act s.2 EPC Art. 55 and 59

71

72

7.

68.

Inventive step

1977 Act s.3

This clause will contain provisions, based on EPC Article 56 to state that an invention shall be considered as involving an inventive step if having regard to the state of the art it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art.

EPC Art. 56

69.

Industrial application

This clause will contain provisions based on EPC Article 57 that inventions are considered to be industrially applicable if it can be used in any kind of industry including agriculture.

1977 Act s.4 EPC Art. 57

128

7