PATENTS ACT (as amended) (a) particulars of patents in force, of assignments and transmissions of 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 (2) All registers of patents established and kept under the repealed legislation shall, under arrangements made by the Controller with the approval of the Minister, be incorporated with and form part of the Register of Patents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required or authorized by or under this Act to be entered therein or which were required or authorized by or under the repealed legislation to be entered in a register of patents referred to in subsection (2).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. (3) An application for a patent may be made under subsection (1) or (2) by the legal representative of— (a) a deceased person who, immediately before his death, was entitled to make such an application; or (b) a person under disability who, had it not been for such disability, would himself have been entitled to make such application. 7 Form of application (1) An application for a patent shall— (a) be made in the prescribed form; and (b) be lodged at the Patent Office in the prescribed manner; and (c) state an address for service in Zimbabwe to which all notices and communications may be sent; and ss 1–2 (d) in so far as they are not already stated for the purposes of paragraph (c), state the full postal, residential and business addresses of the applicant. (2) An assignee or legal representative making or joining in an application shall furnish such proof of title or authority as the Registrar may require or as may be prescribed. (3) An application form shall— (a) state that the applicant owns the invention in respect of Zimbabwe; and (b) give the full name of the inventor; and (c) where the inventor is not the applicant or one of the applicants, contain a declaration that the applicant believes him to be the inventor. (4) A Convention application, in addition to the requirements set out in subsection (3), shall state— (a) the Convention country in which such application for protection was made; and (b) the number of such application; and (c) the effective date of such application; and (d) in which respect the applicant in the Convention country and in Zimbabwe qualifies. 8 Complete and provisional specifications (1) An application for a patent— (a) which is not a Convention application, shall be accompanied by either a complete specification or a provisional specification; (b) which is a Convention application, shall be accompanied by a complete specification. (2) Subject to this section, where an application referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) is accompanied by a provisional specification a complete specification shall be lodged within twelve months from the date that the application was lodged and if the complete specification is not so lodged the application shall be deemed to be abandoned: Provided that the complete specification may be lodged at any time after the expiration of the twelve months but within fifteen months from the date the application was lodged if a request to that effect is made to the Registrar and the prescribed fee is paid on or before the date on which the complete specification is lodged. (3) Where two or more applications accompanied by provisional specifications have been lodged in respect of matters which are cognate or of which one is a modification of another, a single complete specification may, subject to this section and section nine, be lodged in pursuance of those applications or, if more than one complete specification has been lodged, may, with the leave of the Registrar, be proceeded with in respect of those applications. (4) Where applications for protection have been made in one or more Convention countries in respect of two or more matters which are cognate or of which one is a modification of another, a single Convention application may, subject to this section and section nine, be made in respect of those matters at any time within twelve months from the effective date of the earliest of the said applications for protection. (5) In considering the validity of applications made in terms of subsection (3) or (4) and in determining other relevant matters under this Act the Registrar shall have regard to the effective dates of the applications or the Convention applications concerned relating to the several matters claimed in the specification, and the requirements of subsection (4) of section seven shall, in the case of any such application, apply separately to the applications for protection in respect of each of the said matters.