m) Failure to disclose prior art known to the applicant that is material to the patentability of a claimed
invention, or to comply with the requirements set out in subsections (f) (j) of this Section shall
result in the refusal of the patent or, if granted, its invalidation in whole or in part.
n) The applicant may withdraw the application at any time during its pendency.
§13.6. Unity of Invention; Amendment and Division of Application
a) An application for a patent shall relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked
as to form a single general inventive concept.
b) The applicant may, up to the time when the application is in order or grant, divide the application
into two or more applications (“divisional applications”), provided that each divisional application
shall not introduce matter not comprised in the disclosure of the initial application.
c) Each divisional application shall be entitled to the filing date and, where applicable, the priority
date of the initial application.
d) The fact that a patent has been granted on an application that did not comply with the requirement
of unity of invention under subsection (a) shall not be a ground for the invalidation of the patent.
e) The applicant may, up to the time when the application is in order for grant, amend the application,
provided that the amendment shall not result in the application disclosing matter extending beyond
what was disclosed in the initial application.
§13.7. Right of Priority
a) The application may, in accordance with Article 4 of the Paris Convention, contain a declaration
claiming the priority of one or earlier applications filed for the same invention by the applicant or
his predecessor in title in or for any State party to the said Convention or any Member of the
World Trade Organization. The period of priority shall be of twelve months and shall be computed
in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of the Paris Convention, that is from the date of
filing of the first application, but shall exclude the day of filing in the six months period, and shall
end on the last day of the period unless an official holiday or a day the Intellectual Property Office
is not opened in which case the period shall be extended until the next working day.
b) The effect of the claiming of priority shall be as provided in Article 4B of the Paris Convention. In
particular, an application filed within the priority period shall not be refused or invalidated by
reason of any acts occurring during that period, in particular, another filing or the publication or
exploitation of the invention, and such acts shall not give rise to any third–party right or any right
of personal possession.
c) Where the application contains a declaration claiming priority the Director General may request
the applicant to furnish, within the prescribed time limit which shall not be less than three months
following the date of filing, a copy of the earlier application or applications, certified as correct by
the foreign authority with which it was filed. The Director General may also request that the copy
be accompanied by a certificate from that authority showing the date of filing, and by a translation
into a prescribed language.
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