No. 4907 Government Gazette 23 March 2012 Act No. 1, 2012 53 INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ACT, 2012 National processing 82. The Office as designated office or elected office may not commence processing of the national phase of an international application designating or electing Namibia for the purposes of a national patent before the expiration of the time limit referred to in section 79 except if the applicant complies with the requirements of that section and files with the Office an express written request for early commencement of such processing. Entering national phase 83. (1) The applicant in respect of an international application designating Namibia for the purposes of a national patent must, regardless of the provisions of Articles 22 and 39 of the Treaty, before the expiration of 31 months from the priority date or of such later time limit as may be prescribed (a) pay the prescribed national fee to the Office; and (b) if the international application was not filed in, or has not been published under the Treaty as a translation into English, file with the Office, within the prescribed period, a translation of the international application, containing the prescribed contents, into English. (2) When processing the national phase of an international application, the Office must apply the provisions of this Act applicable to patent applications as well as the Treaty, the Regulations made thereunder, and the Administrative Instructions issued thereunder, subject to the following provisions – (a) the applicant must be represented by an agent as contemplated in Chapter 5, which agent must be appointed within the prescribed time; (b) if the international application is a convention application and the applicant has complied with rule 17.1 of the Regulations made under the Treaty, the applicant is deemed to have complied with section 29(2); (c) the filing date accorded to the international application in terms of the Treaty is the filing date of the national phase application for purposes of sections 45 and 46; (d) any amendment or correction of any document forming part of an international application in accordance with the Treaty or the Regulations made thereunder is deemed to be an amendment or correction under section 28, section 36(4) or section 40, as the case may be, and may be set aside as provided for in section 220(3)(b) or 222(1)(c). (3) The Registrar may upon application made either before or after the expiry of the time limit or the further time limit contemplated in subsection (1), extend the time limit for a further period not exceeding three months.