Schedule 2paragraph 19
105.This paragraph amends section 75 in order to allow a patent proprietor to propose amendments during the course of any proceedings in which it is possible for the validity of his patent to be put in issue. Therefore it is no longer necessary for validity actually to have been put in issue before the proprietor can apply to amend under section 75.
106.This paragraph removes uncertainty in the situation, which arose in Norling v Eez-Away [1997] RPC 160, where a proprietor who is involved in proceedings in which validity could be, but has not actually been, put in issue seeks to amend his patent under either section 75 or section 27. The proceedings in which validity may be put in issue are set out in section 74(1): infringement proceedings, proceedings concerning groundless threats, proceedings to obtain a declaration of non-infringement, revocation proceedings and disputes over Crown use.