STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS 
     
S.I.  No. 141 of 2006 
 
 
European Communities (Paten t Agents) Regulations 2006 
 
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S.I.  No. 141 of 2006 
     European Communities ( Patent Agents ) Regulations 2006 
 
 
I,  Micheá l Martin, Minister for Enterprise, Trade a nd Employment, in exercise of the powers 
conferred on me by section 3 of the Eur opean Communities Act 1972 ( No.27 of 1972 ) and 
for the purpose of – 
(a) giving full effect to Article 49 of the Treaty establishing the European  
     Community with regard to freed om to provide services to which the  
     following regulations relate, 
  and  
(b) making such incidental, supplemen tary and consequential provision as 
        appear to me to be necessary for the purposes of those regulations, 
hereby make the following regulations : 
 
Citation. 
 
1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities ( Patent Agents ) 
Regulations 2006. 
 
Definition. 
        
2. In these Regulations, “Act” means the Patents Act 1992 (No.1 of 1992). 
 
Amendment of section 94 of Act. 
 
      3.  Section 94 of the Act is amended by substituting the following subsection for  
           subsection (3) : 
                      “( 3) In this section ‘patent agent’ means – 
(a) a person registered as a pate nt agent in the register of  
patent agents, 
(b) a company or partnership lawf ully practising as a patent  
agent in the State, 
(c) a person to whom section 106(3) applies, 
 or 
(d) a person or partnership who satisfies the condition mentioned 
in subsection (1) or (3) of section 125.”. 
 
Amendment of section 106 of Act. 
 
4. Section 106 of the Act is amended by substituting the following subsections for  
subsection (3) : 
 
“(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2) but subject to subsections (3A) to (3D), a  
 
 
        person established in a Member St ate of the European Community ( other than 
the State ) and qualified under the law of that state to act as  a patent agent in that 
state – 
(a) may carry on the business of acti ng as patent agent for others in 
connection with a patent or any procedure relating to a patent or 
the obtaining thereof, and 
                                    
(b) may, accordingly, be the subject of an authorization referred to in  
section 105(1). 
               
  (3A)  On or before the first occa sion on which a person acts, in reliance on 
subsection (3), on behalf of another befo re the Controller in connection with a 
patent or any procedure re lating to a patent or the obtaining thereof, the person 
shall provide to the Controller such evid ence as may be prescribed relating to  – 
(a) the person’s being established in another Member State of the 
European Community,  
 (b) the person’s being qualified under the law of that state to act as a  
patent agent in that state, and 
 (c) whichever of the following is appropriate -  
(i)   the person’s nationality, or 
(ii)   the person’s falling within paragraph (b) of the definition  
        of ‘person’ in subsection (3E).              
              
             (3B)  In acting, in reliance on subsection (3), on behalf of another in connection with 
                       a patent or any procedure relating to a patent or the obtaining thereof, the  
                       person shall use the applicable professional title ( if any ) but its use in the  
                       State shall be subject to the following requirements - 
 
                       
(a) the title is to be expressed in the official language or one of the 
official languages of the Member State referred to in subsection 
(3), and 
                                         
(b) in a case where the language in which the title is expressed is  
also an official language of the St ate, the use of th e title is not  
such as is likely to be unders tood as indicating that the person 
is a patent agent registered under this Act. 
             
            (3C)   It shall be sufficient co mpliance with subsection (3B)(b) if the use of the title 
                      concerned is acco mpanied by an indication of the Member State in which the 
                      person concerned is established as a patent agent. 
 
            (3D)   If  there is no app licable professional title,  then the person, in acting 
as mentioned in subsection (3B), shall indicate that the person possesses the 
applicable qualifications and those qualifications shall be expressed in the 
official language or one of  the official languages of the Member State referred 
to in subsection (3). 
             
            (3E)    In this section – 
   ‘applicable professional title’ , in relation  to a person, means the professional title that , by virtue of  the person’s being qualified to act 
as a patent agent in the Mem ber Stat e  referred to in subsection (3), 
the person is  entitled to u se in th at state; 
                                    ‘applicable qualifica tions’ , in relation to a person, m eans the  
qualifications that the person m ust possess, under the law of the  
Mem ber State referred to in subsection (3), so as to be  qualified to act 
as a patent agent in that state; 
‘person ’ means – 
(a) in the case of an individu al, a national of a Mem ber State 
of the European Community, and 
                                                  
(b) in the case of a person which is not an individual, a  
company or firm  ( within the m eaning of Article 48 of the 
Treaty establishing the E uropean Community ) form ed in 
accordan ce with the law of a Me mber State of the European 
Community and having its re gistered office, central 
administration or principal place of business within the 
European Comm unity.”.    
 
Amendm ent of section 107 of Act. 
 
5. Section 107 of the Act is  amended, in s ubsection  (1), by subs tituting the following  
paragraph for paragraph (b) : 
     “(b) has a place of b usiness in th e State o r in such other state as m ay be  
             prescribed,”.  
  
      Given under my Official Seal, 
 
__29  March_2006 . 
 
         
  L.S.  
 
_____ Micheál Martin ___ 
Minister for Enterprise,  
Trade and E mploym ent  
  
 
Explanatory Note 
This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal 
interpretation 
 
These Regulations, made pursuant to th e European Communities Act, 1972, amend 
certain provisions of the Patents Act, 1992 in order to allow a person, established in 
another Member State of the European Comm unity and qualified under the law of that 
State to act as a patent agent, to act for another person  in relation to patent matters 
before the Controller of Patent s, Designs and Trade Marks.