STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS. 
S.I. No. 580 of 2015
 
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REGISTER OF PATENT AGENT RULES 2 [580]
 
S.I. No. 580 of 2015
 
REGISTER OF PATENT AGENT RULES
 
I, RICHARD BRUTON, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, in 
exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 99, 109 and 114 of the 
Patents Act 1992 (No. 1 of 1992) and in relation to said section 99, with the 
sanction of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform hereby make the 
following Rules: 
Citation and commencement 
1. (1) These Rules may be cited as the Register of Patent Agent Rules 2015. 
(2) When these Rules come into force, any person whose name was, immedi­
ately prior to the coming into force of these Rules, entered in the Register of 
Patent Agents kept under the Register of Patent Agents Rules 1992 shall be 
construed to be entered in the Register of Patent Agents kept under these Rules. 
Interpretation 
2. In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires:­
“the Act” means the Patents Act 1992; 
“patent agent” shall be construed as including a reference to a “patent 
attorney”; 
“Register of Patent Agents” means the register kept under section 106(1) of the 
Patents Act 1992 as amended; 
“registered patent agent” means a person whose name is entered in the Register 
of Patent Agents. 
Fees 
3. The fees to be paid in relation to the registration of patent agents shall be 
those specified in the Schedule to these Rules and shall be paid in such manner 
as may be approved by the Controller from time to time and published in the 
Patents Office Journal. 
Application by an individual for entry in Register of Patent Agents 
4. An application by an individual for entry in the Register of Patent Agents 
shall be in writing in a form approved by the Controller and shall state— 
(a) the full name and home address of the person making the application 
and the name or style under which the person proposes to carry on 
business as a patent agent (if other than his or her full name), 
Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in 
“Iris Oifigiúil” of 1st January, 2016. [580] 3
 
(b) the address at which the person proposes to carry on business as a 
patent agent, 
(c) the date of birth and the nationality of the person, and 
(d) full particulars of the education and professional qualifications of the 
person, including the name of any patent agent acting in accordance 
with the law of the State or another Member State of the European 
Economic Area, under whom the person has trained or by whom the 
person has been employed and the duration of such training or 
employment, 
and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee set out in item1 of the Schedule. 
Eligibility for registration in the Register of Patent Agent of a body corporate, an 
unincorporated body or partnership 
5. A body corporate, unincorporated body or partnership may be eligible to 
be entered in the Register of Patent Agents if the board established under Rule 
7 is satisfied that— 
(a) the body or partnership undertakes, inter alia, the provision of patent 
agent services including, but not limited, to the business of acting as 
agent for others for the purpose of: 
(i) applying for or obtaining patents in the State or elsewhere; and/or 
(ii) conducting proceedings before the Controller or the Court relat­
ing to applications for, or otherwise in connection with patents 
described above; 
and 
(b) at least one of its directors, partners, managers or employees is regis­
tered as a patent agent in the State. 
Application by a body corporate, unincorporated body or partnership for entry 
in Register of Patent Agents 
6. An application by a body corporate, unincorporated body or partnership 
for entry in the Register of Patent Agents shall be in writing in a form approved 
by the Controller and shall state— 
(a) the name of each director, manager, partner and employee of the body 
corporate, unincorporated body or partnership who is registered as a 
patent agent in the State, 
(b) the date of birth and nationality of each director, manager, partner 
and employee who is registered as a patent agent in the State, 
(c) the name or style under which the body corporate, unincorporated 
body or partnership proposes to carry on business as a patent agent, 4 [580]
 
(d) the address at which the body proposes to carry on business as a pat­
ent agent, 
(e) full particulars of the education and professional qualifications of each 
director, manager, partner and employee who is registered as a patent 
agent in the State, 
and shall be accompanied by: 
(f) the prescribed fee set out in item1 of the Schedule, and 
(g) a copy of a certificate of incorporation, an entry in a relevant register 
or other proof of legal personality. 
Consideration of applicants 
7. (1) An application in accordance with Rule 4 or Rule 6 of these Rules 
shall be considered by a board consisting of the person who is the Controller 
for the time being, and such other persons as may be nominated for the purpose 
by the Minister. 
(2) The board shall consider the fitness of the applicant to perform the pro­
fessional duties of a patent agent in the light of the educational and professional 
qualifications set out in Rule 8 which the applicant possesses. If the board is in 
doubt as to the fitness of the person making the application, it may require the 
person to undergo written or oral examinations or tests in such subjects as it 
considers necessary. The board may allow exemptions in respect of particular 
subjects on the basis of the results achieved at previous examinations in those 
subjects. 
(3) In the case of an application by a body corporate, unincorporated body 
or partnership the board will consider the fitness of the body or partnership to 
carry on the business of a patent agent having regard to the educational and 
professional qualifications, set out in Rule 8, of the directors, managers, partners 
and employees intending to provide patent agent services in the State. If the 
board is in doubt as to the fitness of the body or partnership making the appli­
cation to carry on the business of a patent agent, it may require some or all of 
the persons intending to provide patent agent services in the State to undergo 
written or oral examinations or tests in such subjects as it considers necessary. 
(4) The board shall fix the time and place for the holding of any examination, 
shall appoint examiners to conduct examinations or tests and shall make such 
other arrangements as may be necessary in relation to such tests or exam­
inations. 
(5) The consideration of applications, including the holding of any necessary 
tests or examinations, shall be carried out as expeditiously as is practicable hav­
ing regard to the number of applications received. 
(6) The board shall cause a report to be made to the Minister on the appli­
cations considered by it and shall furnish to him the names of individuals or [580] 5
 
bodies considered suitable to be entered in the Register of Patent Agents, hav­
ing regard to their educational and professional fitness and their status as a fit 
and proper person to carry on business as a patent agent. 
Qualifications 
8. (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this Rule, a person shall not be entered in 
the Register of Patent Agents unless— 
(a) he or she has a knowledge of engineering, or chemistry, or physics 
(or such other scientific or technical subjects as the board may deem 
appropriate) of the minimum standard of Level 7 that is recognised 
within the Framework of Qualifications as defined by the Qualifi­
cations (Education and Training) Act 1999, 
(b) he or she has a knowledge of the law and practice of patents in the 
State, including the ability to prepare, interpret and criticise patent 
specifications and has passed the qualifying examinations required by 
the board, 
(c) he or she has under gone training under the supervision of a patent 
agent for not less than three years in the office of a patent agent in 
accordance with the law of the State or another Member State of the 
European Economic Area, or 
(d) he or she has been acting as a patent agent for not less than three 
years in the office of a patent agent acting in accordance with the law 
of another Member State of the European Economic Area. 
(2) The board may, for the purpose of establishing that an applicant possesses 
the required educational and professional qualifications specified in paragraph 
(1) of this Rule, 
(a) require that the applicant submit evidence to that effect, 
(b) require the submission of a statutory declaration attesting to the train­
ing specified in subparagraph (c) or to acting as a patent agent speci­
fied in subparagraph (d), and 
(c) may require such further particulars as are considered necessary. 
(3) The board may, however, waive or vary any of the requirements specified 
in subparagraphs (a), (c) and (d) of paragraph (1) of this Rule, if it is otherwise 
satisfied in light of the educational and professional qualifications which the 
applicant possesses, that the applicant is fit to perform the professional duties 
of a patent agent. 
Entry in Register of Patent Agents and certificates of registration 
9. (1) Subject to the provisions of section 106 of the Act and these Rules, a 
person who has applied in accordance with Rule 4 or Rule 6 of these Rules for 
registration in the Register of Patent Agents and whose name has been 
approved by the Minister to be entered in the Register of Patent Agents shall, 6 [580]
 
upon payment of the prescribed fee, be entered by the Controller in the Register 
of Patent Agents. 
(2) The Register of Patent Agents shall include the date of registration and, 
in case the entry is of a partnership, body corporate or unincorporated body, 
the business name and address thereof and the full name and home address of 
each director, manager, partner or employee registered as a patent agent in the 
State and in the case of an individual, the full name, the business name (if 
any), nationality and home and business address of the applicant and such other 
particulars as the Controller may require. 
(3) On request, the Controller shall provide a person entered in the Register 
of Patent Agents with a certificate of registration and this shall constitute evi­
dence of eligibility to practice as a registered patent agent. 
Refusal of entry in Register of Patent Agents 
10. (1) The board may decide not to include an applicant for entry in the 
Register of Patent Agents in the report provided under Rule 7(6) if: 
(a) an application has failed to provide the information required by Rules 
4 or rule 6; 
(b) an applicant has provided inadequate or misleading information; or 
(c) for any other reason, the board reasonably considers that it would be 
against the public interest to recommend registration to the Minister. 
(2) In reaching a decision under paragraph (1), the board may take into 
account: 
(a) any conduct on the part of an individual applicant or of any director, 
manager, partner and employee of an applicant body which calls into 
question their honesty, integrity or respect for the processes of law; 
(b) whether an individual applicant or any director, manager, partner and 
employee of an applicant body has been disqualified from being a 
company director; 
(c) whether an individual applicant or any director, manager, partner and 
employee of an applicant body has been the subject of disciplinary 
sanction by, or refused registration with, or authorisation by, another 
professional regulatory body, board or competent authority, in the 
State or elsewhere; 
(d) any failure or refusal to disclose, or attempt to conceal, a matter in 
relation to the application. 
(3) The board shall notify an applicant if it decides to refuse to include an 
applicant for entry in the Register of Patent Agents in the report provided under 
Rule 7 (6) and set out in the notice the reasons for the refusal. [580] 7
 
Publication of entries in Register of Patent Agents 
11. (1) The Controller shall make available to the public a copy of the Regis­
ter and the entries therein by means of electronic or printed publication and 
shall maintain an up-to-date list in alphabetical order of the names entered in 
the Register of Patent Agents. 
(2) The Register of Patent Agents shall be available for public inspection at 
such times and in such form and manner as the Controller may direct. 
Annual registration fee 
12. The prescribed annual fee in respect of each registration shall be payable 
on or before the 31st day of December in each year in respect of the following 
year, and in case it is not paid within one month from that date the Controller 
shall send to the registered patent agent, at his registered business address, a 
notice in writing requesting payment of the fee on or before a date to be men­
tioned in the notice, and, in the case of failure to pay the fee within the time 
specified in the notice, the Controller may cause the name of the agent to be 
erased from the Register of Patent Agents. 
Request for removal from Register of Patent Agents 
13. Upon request in writing by a registered patent agent, the Controller shall 
remove the name of the registered patent agent from the Register of Patent 
Agents. 
Removal from Register of Patent Agents on death 
14. The Controller may remove from the Register of Patent Agents the name 
of a person who has died. 
Notice to Controller of application to the Court under section 108 (4) 
15. Any person who applies to the Court under section 108 (4) of the Act for 
cancellation of a decision of the Controller under that section shall, at the same 
time, give notice to the Controller of his application. The notice shall be 
accompanied by a copy of the application. 
Action following decision of Court 
16. Any decision of the Court under section 108 of the Act shall provide for 
service of notice of the decision on the Controller and on receipt of any such 
notice the Controller shall amend the Register of Patent Agents in accordance 
with the terms of the decision to which the notice relates. 
Restoration to Register of Patent Agents 
17. Where the name of a individual, body corporate, unincorporated body or 
partnership has been erased from the Register of Patent Agents that person 
shall, if desirous of having his name restored to the Register of Patent Agents, 
apply in writing to the Controller for restoration. 
Alteration of address and amendment and correction of Register of Patent Agents 
18. (1) Where the address or other particulars of an individual, body corpor­
ate, unincorporated body or partnership which have been entered in the Regis­
ter of Patent Agents changes, the Controller shall record the new address or 8 [580]
 
amend the Register of Patent Agents accordingly on receipt of a written request 
from the individual or body concerned. 
(2) Any individual, body corporate, unincorporated body or partnership may 
apply to the Controller for correction of an entry in the Register of Patent 
Agents and the Controller, on being satisfied that such entry has been made in 
error or that any entry is incorrect, may correct the entry in whatever manner 
seems most appropriate. 
(3) No correction of any entry under subparagraph (2) shall be made unless 
the Controller has— 
(a) first notified the proposed correction to the individual, body corpor­
ate, unincorporated body or partnership appearing to the Controller 
to be affected, 
(b) given that individual, body corporate, unincorporated body or part­
nership the opportunity to make written representations regarding 
same, and 
(c) taken into account any such representations. 
Revocations 
19. The Register of Patent Agents Rules 1992 (S.I. No. 180 of 1992) are 
revoked. [580] 9
 
SCHEDULE
 
FEES PAYABLE IN RELATION TO THE REGISTRATION OF PATENT
 
AGENTS. 
Reference Item Amount 
Number € 
(1)	 (2) (3) 
1.	 On application for entry in the Register of Patent Agents 50 
(Rule 4 and Rule 6) 
2.	 To sit a written examination in Irish patent law and practice 200 
pursuant to a requirement under Rule 7 
2A.	 On application for a review of marks obtained in the written 70 
examination in Irish patent law and practice 
2B.	 To undergo any test in any subject, other than a written 290 
examination in Irish patent law and practice, pursuant to a 
requirement under Rule 7 
3.	 On entry in the Register 125 
4.	 Annual fee payable by a registered patent agent (payable 250 
before 31st December in each year in respect of the following 
year) 
GIVEN under my official Seal, 
17 December 2015. 
RICHARD BRUTON, 
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. 
BRENDAN HOWLIN, 
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. 10 [580]
 
EXPLANATORY NOTE.
 
(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal 
interpretation.) 
These Rules prescribe the procedures and fees connected with the registration 
of Patent Agents pursuant to Part X of the Patents Act 1992. 
BAILE ÁTHA CLIATH
 
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