ABSTRACT
The fees to obtain the patent were very high and became the source of great disquiet and the calls for reform. The beginning of the modern system of patents under the Patent Law Amendment Act 1852 also led to a radical change of practice with the introduction of renewal fees. A substantial part of the fees was made up of stamp duties, which had been introduced by the Stamps Act 1694. The private Acts usually included certain standard recitals as to what was required and the petitioner's failure. One of the revolutions of the Patent Law Amendment Act 1852 was changing the system from front-loading to a renewal basis. The basic standard for confirming a lapsed patent appears to have been "inadvertence". Almost all petitioners pleaded hardship by explaining they had expended time, money or both in perfecting the invention. The Select Committee appears to have set very strict rules for when a patent could be restored by private Act.
