Patents Act 1977

91 Evidence of conventions and instruments under conventions. U.K.

(1) Judicial notice shall be taken of the following, that is to say—

(a) the European Patent Convention, the Community Patent Convention [F1 , the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court] and the Patent Co-operation Treaty (each of which is hereafter in this section referred to as the relevant convention);

(b) any bulletin, journal or gazette published under the relevant convention and the register of European [F2 patents kept under the European Patent Convention]; and

(c) any decision of, or expression of opinion by, the relevant convention court on any question arising under or in connection with the relevant convention.

(2) Any document mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above shall be admissible as evidence of any instrument or other act thereby communicated of any convention institution.

(3) Evidence of any instrument issued under the relevant convention by any such institution, including any judgment or order of the relevant convention court, or of any document in the custody of any such institution or reproducing in legible form any information in such custody otherwise than in legible form, or any entry in or extract from such a document, may be given in any legal proceedings by production of a copy certified as a true copy by an official of that institution; and any document purporting to be such a copy shall be received in evidence without proof of the official position or handwriting of the person signing the certificate.

(4) Evidence of any such instrument may also be given in any legal proceedings—

(a) by production of a copy purporting to be printed by the Queen’s Printer;

(b) where the instrument is in the custody of a government department, by production of a copy certified on behalf of the department to be a true copy by an officer of the department generally or specially authorised to do so;

and any document purporting to be such a copy as is mentioned in paragraph (b) above of an instrument in the custody of a department shall be received in evidence without proof of the official position or handwriting of the person singing the certificate, or of his authority to do so, or of the document being in the custody of the department.

(5) In any legal proceedings in Scotland evidence of any matter given in a manner authorised by this section shall be sufficient evidence of it.

(6) In this section—

• “convention institution” means an institution established by or having functions under the relevant convention;

• “relevant convention court” does not include a court of the United Kingdom or of any other country which is a party to the relevant convention [F3 but does include the Unified Patent Court]; and

• “legal proceedings”, in relation to the United Kingdom, includes proceedings before the comptroller.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 91(1)(a) inserted (coming into force in accordance with art. 1(2)) by The Patents (European Patent with Unitary Effect and Unified Patent Court) Order 2016 (S.I. 2016/388), arts. 1(2), 2(7)(a) (with art. 3)

F2 Words in s. 91(1) substituted (1.1.2005) by Patents Act 2004 (c. 16), s. 17(1), Sch. 2 para. 20; S.I. 2004/3205, art. 2(k) (with art. 9)

F3 Words in s. 91(6) inserted (coming into force in accordance with art. 1(2)) by The Patents (European Patent with Unitary Effect and Unified Patent Court) Order 2016 (S.I. 2016/388), arts. 1(2), 2(7)(b) (with art. 3)