(1) Where a complete application is made, the applicant may, at any time during the prescribed period, by written request, ask the Commissioner to direct that the application be treated as a provisional application.
(2) A person is not entitled to make a request if the patent request and specification filed in respect of the application have been accepted or have become open to public inspection.
(3) On receiving a request, the Commissioner must give a direction as asked.
(4) Where the Commissioner gives a direction, the complete application is to be taken, for the purposes of this Act, to be, and to have always been, a provisional application.