Background Patents

The Reconstructed Patent Registry

of Mandate Palestine (1924-1948)

Background

Michael Birnhack, Mandate Palestine’s Reconstructed Patent Registry (1924-1948) (Tel Aviv University, 2025), available at https://en-law.tau.ac.il/MandatePalestineIP

The Mandate

The British Government of Palestine, known as Mandate Palestine, commenced after World War I and lasted until the establishment of the State of Israel. The British assumed responsibility for the region in late 1917 and early 1918, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule. Initially, the British established a military administration, replaced by a civil administration in the summer of 1920, when a High Commissioner was appointed. In 1922, the League of Nations officially entrusted the King of England with the Mandate, lasting until May 14, 1948.

The region covered by the Mandate is depicted in the map below. Initially, it included Transjordan––today’s Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan––but this eastern part of the region was separated administratively in 1923. Mandate Palestine covered today’s State of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, excluding the Golan Heights.

The British Mandate of Palestine

Source: edmaps.com [https://www.edmaps.com/html/about.html]

British Patent Law in Palestine

The British established their laws in numerous fields, replacing most Ottoman laws. This was also the case with patent legislation.

There was no obligation to seek patent protection for an invention, and an inventor could opt for trying to maintain it as a secret or share it with all.

On May 1, 1924, the British enacted the Patents and Designs Ordinance, which took effect on January 1, 1925. Over the years, the Ordinance was amended several times, and many regulations and orders were promulgated, but the essence remained.

Here is a brief explanation about the patent system at the time, and some key legal concepts:

• According to the Ordinance, a ‘patent’ meant ‘letters patent for an invention’ (s. 53(d)).
• An ‘invention’ meant ‘a new product or commercial commodity or the application in some new manner for any purpose of industry or manufacture of any means already discovered, known or used’ (s. 53(g)).
• The applicant had to declare that he was the possessor of the invention (s. 4(2)), and submit a specification, containing a title, and a distinct statement of the invention claimed, and describing the nature of the invention and the manner in which it was performed (s. 5(1)).
• The Ordinance established the patent register, under the patent Registrar to be appointed by the High Commissioner (s. 2). The Registrar had the power to examine the specifications, to make sure that the invention had not been claimed, registered or described in any specification previously lodged (s. 7(2)).
• If accepted, the Registrar would publish the acceptance, the application and the specifications (s. 9(2)), enabling a two-month window for opposition (s. 10(1)). If no opposition was submitted, or such opposition was dismissed, the application was sealed (s. 11).
• The duration of protection commenced retroactively, from the date of application (s. 12), and lasted for 16 years (s. 14(1)), subject to paying fees (s. 16(2)).
• The Ordinance set additional rules regarding patents of addition, restoration of lapsed patents, amending specifications, compulsory licenses, and more.
• During the Mandate period, several amendments to the Ordinance were introduced (in 1930, 1934, 1935), as well as the Patents, Designs, Copyright, and Trade Marks (Emergency) Ordinance in 1939.
• In 1948, Israel continued all British legislation,[1] and in 1967 Israel introduced its own Patent Act.

Foreign patents?

The Ordinance allowed for registering in Palestine patents that were already granted in the United Kingdom, within one year from the date of issuance in the UK (s. 24). We found 272 such applications. Applications made in other countries that were parties to an international arrangement for mutual protection of patents, enjoyed a priority date if submitted in Palestine within one year (s. 51), but were subject to the regular examination process (s. 51(3)). We found 848 such applications that were granted a patent. The U.S. was first on this list, with 252 applications listing it as the priority country, followed by the UK with 175 patents, Switzerland with 162, Germany with 92, and the rest from various countries, mostly European.

 

Timeline

 

Data

You may wish to check the Methodology section.

The raw data is available here, for your free, non-commercial academic use.

 

Application options

Patent applications originated from three different places, submitted according to different legal paths (see above):

• 2509 Applications first submitted in Palestine.
• 848 Applications were submitted based on prior registration in other countries, party to international conventions.
• 272 Applications were submitted based on prior registration in the UK.

 

 

Overall trends

This section presents the main macro-data relating to Mandate Palestine’s patents.

Figure 1 – Mandate Palestine Patent Applications Over Time[3]

 

Note: This timeline is based on the first original application date, either in Palestine, in the UK, or in a country party to an international convention, hence it includes data also for pre-Mandate time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 2 – Mandate Palestine Patent Applications Over Time [4]

 

Note: This timeline is based on the application date in Palestine, regardless of the first original application in Palestine, in the UK, or in a country party to an international convention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 3: Mandate Palestine: Countries of Origin of Patent Applications

 

Figure 4: Palestine Patent Applications

 

Note: Patent owners were identified in the following manner: We examined local applications from Palestine and reviewed each for indications of the applicant’s identity. The first criterion was the applicant’s name, which usually sufficed. In case of doubt, we examined the city and address, which was a good indication for most applicants. For the remaining applications, we searched external sources for each application individually. Following these efforts, 90 applicants remained unidentified.