- before the Controller; or
b. an advocate, not being a patent agent, from taking part in any proceedings under this Act otherwise than by way of drafting any specification.
CHAPTER XXII
INTERNATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
133. Notification as to convention countries
(1) With a view to the fulfillment of a treaty, convention or arrangement with any country outside India which affords to applicants for patents in India or to citizens of India similar privileges as are granted to its own citizens in respect of the grant of patents and the protection of patent rights, the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare such country to be a convention country for the purposes of this Act.
(2) A declaration under sub-section (1) may be made for the purposes either of all or of some only of the provisions of this Act, and a country in the case of which a declaration made for the purposes of some only of the provisions of this Act is in force shall be deemed to be a convention country for the purposes of those provisions only.
134. Notification as to countries not providing for reciprocity
Where any country specified by the Central Government in this behalf by notification in the Official Gazette does not accord to citizens of India the same rights in respect of the grant of patents and the protection of patent rights as it accords to its own nationals, no national of such country shall be entitled, either solely or jointly with any other person,-
- a. to apply for the grant of a patent or be registered as the proprietor of a patent;
- b. to be registered as the assignee of the proprietor of a patent; or
- c. to apply for a licence or hold any licence under a patent granted under this Act.
135. Convention applications
(1) Without prejudice to the provisions contained in section 6, where a person has made an application for a patent in respect of an invention in a convention country (hereinafter referred to as the "basic application"), and that person or the legal representative or assignee of that person makes an application under this Act for a patent within twelve months after the date on which the basic application was made, the priority date of a claim of the complete specification, being a claim based on matter disclosed in the basic application, is the date of making of the basic application.
Explanation. – Where applications have been made for similar protection in respect of an invention in two or more convention countries, the period of twelve months referred to in this sub-section shall be reckoned from the date on which the earlier or earliest of the said applications was made.
(2) Where applications for protection have been made in one or more convention countries in respect of two or more inventions which are cognate or of which one is a modification of another, a single convention application may, subject to the provisions contained in section 10, be made in respect of those inventions at any time within twelve months from the date of the earliest of the said applications for protection:
