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3.10.2.2.5 Death of Patentee

Date Published

If a patentee died before the grant of a patent, the Commissioner can amend the Register under section 215 to substitute the name of the person to whom a patent should have been granted.  Regulation 22.9 specifies that suitable evidence must be filed to support such an amendment.

Where a patentee dies after the grant of a patent, the ownership of the patent will be devolved according to the will of the patentee.

A patent cannot proceed in the name of "the estate of X".  See Trivett Classic Pty Ltd v Estate of Trivett (dec'd) (1999) 44 IPR 437.

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