1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Patents Act 2004 (Commencement No. 1 and Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Order 2004, and shall come into force on 22nd September 2004.
(2) In this Order—
“the 1977 Act” means the Patents Act 1977(1);
“the 2004 Act” means the Patents Act 2004;
“the Rules” means the Patents Rules 1995(2).
1977 c. 37. Sections 120 and 123 of that Act are amended by paragraphs 24 and 26(1), (3) and (4) of Schedule 2 to the Patents Act 2004 (which are brought into force by article 2 of this Order). Section 123 was previously amended by paragraph 29 of Schedule 5, paragraph 22 of Schedule 7, and Schedule 8 to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48). By article 3 of SI 1981/1670, the reference in section 123(5) to the Minister for the Civil Service is to be construed as if it were a reference to the Treasury.
SI 1995/2093, to which amendments relevant to this Order have been made by SI 1999/1092, 1999/3197, 2001/1412 and 2003/513.