(1) Every application for a patent shall be accompanied by either a complete specification or a provisional specification.
(2) Where an application for a patent is accompanied by a provisional specification, a complete specification shall be filed within 12 months from the date of filing of the application and if the complete specification is not so filed the application shall be deemed to be abandoned:
Provided that the complete specification may be filed at any time after 12 months but within 15 months from the date aforesaid if a request to that effect is made to the Registrar and the prescribed fee paid on or before the date on which the specification is filed.
(3) Where 2 or more applications accompanied by provisional specifications have been filed in respect of inventions which are cognate or of which one is a modification of another, a single complete specification may, subject to the provisions of this and the next following article be filed in pursuance of those applications, or, if more than one complete specification has been filed, may with the leave of the Registrar be proceeded with in respect of those applications.
(4) Where an application for a patent is accompanied by a specification purporting to be a complete specification, the Registrar may, if the applicant so requests at any time before the acceptance of the specification, direct that it shall be treated for the purposes of this Title as a provisional specification, and proceed with the application accordingly.
(5) Where a complete specification has been filed in pursuance of an application for a patent accompanied by a provisional specification or by a specification treated by virtue of a direction under the last foregoing paragraph as a provisional specification, the Registrar may, if the applicant so requests at any time before the acceptance of the complete specification, cancel the provisional specification and post-date the application to the date of filing of the complete specification.