Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails.・Read the official text ↗
SEC. 14. A patent shall be null and void in any of the following cases: (a) When it is not for a new discovery or invention; (b) When a patent has been issued previously for the same invention or discovery; (c)When the person in whose favor a patent has been issued has obtained possession fraudulently of the invention or discovery of another.
SEC. 15. A patent shall lapse: (a) Upon the termination of the period of seventeen years from and after the date of the application; (b) If, five years after a patent has issued, the invention or discovery for which it was granted has not yet been put to profit; (c) If the tax for two consecutive years has not been paid in the case referred to in the second paragraph of section four.
SEC. 16. Any action for the annulment or cancellation of a patent shall be brought at the domicile of the plaintiff or of the defendant, at the option of the former, and shall be prosecuted the same as any ordinary action. Courts of First Instance shall have original jurisdiction t to try these cases and from their decision an appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court. The action for annulment shall prescribe five years from and after the date of the issue of the patent.
SEC. 17. In case a patent is declared null and void for the reason mentioned in subsection (c) of section fourteen, the judge shall direct in the final decision that the patent cancelled be transferred to the plaintiff. In case the courts have declared that a patent has expired, the discovery or invention shall become public property and no one shall be prevented from putting it to profit. Every patent declared null and void or expired shall be published in the Official Gazette.
Provisions on this page are reproduced verbatim from official open data. See the attribution line.
Source: Supreme Court E-Library, Republic of the Philippines. Philippine laws are public documents (works of the government).