Patents Act 1990

Where it is necessary to establish, for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence under this Act, the state of mind of a person other than a company in relation to particular conduct, it is sufficient to show:

that the conduct was engaged in by a servant or agent of the person within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority; and

that the servant or agent had the state of mind.

Any conduct engaged in on behalf of a person other than a company by the person’s servant or agent within the scope of his or her actual or apparent authority is to be taken, for the purposes of a prosecution for an offence under this Act, to have been engaged in also by the person, unless the person establishes that he or she took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to avoid the conduct.

A reference in this section to an offence under this Act includes a reference to an offence created by:

section 6 of the Crimes Act 1914 that relates to this Act or the regulations; or

section 11.1, 11.2, 11.2A, 11.4 or 11.5 of the Criminal Code that relates to this Act or the regulations.

Where:

a person other than a company is convicted of an offence under this Act; and

the person would not have been convicted of the offence but for subsections (3) and (4);

A reference in subsection (3) to the state of mind of a person includes a reference to:

the knowledge, intention, opinion, belief or purpose of the person; and

the person’s reasons for the intention, opinion, belief or purpose.

A reference in this section to engaging in conduct includes a reference to failing or refusing to engage in conduct.

For provisions relating to proof of offences by bodies corporate, see Part 2.5 of the Criminal Code.