GIBRALTAR Law and Practice Contributed by: Emma Lejeune, Stuart Dalmedo, Adrian Pilcher, Nicholas Isola, Danielle Victor, James Castle, Louise Anne Turnock and Danielle Curtis, ISOLAS LLP
decision that the conduct infringes the prohibition, it may give to such a person or persons as it considers appropriate such directions as it considers appropri - ate to bring the infringement to an end. A direction may, in particular, include provision requiring the per - son concerned to modify the conduct in question or require them to cease that conduct. If a person fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a direction, the GCMA may apply to the court for an order requiring the defaulter to make good their default within a time specified in the order, and if the direction relates to anything to be done in the management or administration of an undertaking, to require the undertaking or any of its officers to do so. If the GCMA is satisfied that an infringement has been committed intentionally or negligently by an undertak - ing, it may require the undertaking concerned to pay the GCMA a penalty not exceeding 10% of the turno - ver of the undertaking in respect of the infringement. A patent is a form of intellectual property which grants the inventor the right to exclude others from making or selling their invention for a period of time, thus being able to take legal action against anyone who makes, uses, sells or imports the invention without their permission. The invention must not be specifi - cally excluded from protection. Original applications to register a patent in Gibraltar cannot be made; the Gibraltar Registry will only rep - licate successful registrations made in the UK Intel - lectual Property Patent Office. 7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents The grantee of a UK patent may apply within three years from the date of issue of the patent to have such a patent registered in Gibraltar in accordance with Section 2 of the Patents Act 1924. As part of the registration process, the following docu - ments must be submitted to the Gibraltar Registry in accordance with Section 3 of the Patents Act 1924 together with the application for registration of a pat -
ent (Form 1) and a filing fee of GBP30 in accordance with the Patent Rules: • certified copies of the specification(s) (including drawings, if any) of the UK patent; and • certificate of the Comptroller-General of the UK Patent Office giving full particulars of the issue on such specification(s) and, in the case of a patent treated as being granted in the UK by virtue of the provisions of Section 2 of the Patents Act 1924, a certificate by an officer duly authorised under the Patents Act that the UK has accepted the Euro - pean Patent (UK) designating the patent as being effective in the UK and that the particulars of the application are true. Upon such an application being received, together with the documents mentioned in Section 3, the Reg - istrar of Patents shall issue a certificate of registration in accordance with Section 4 of the Patents Act 1924. The protection of a patent will remain valid for as long as the UK patent is valid; the time period is 20 years from the date of issue of the UK patent, provided that the applicable renewal fees have been paid accord - ingly. Patent rights are able to be enforced against a party through the UK or Gibraltar courts. The remedies for patent infringement include the seizure/destruction of the infringing goods, monetary damages and injunc - tive relief. Section 7 of the Patents Act 1924 outlines the powers of the Supreme Court of Gibraltar and states that: “The Supreme Court shall have power upon the appli - cation of any person who alleges that his interests have been prejudicially affected by the issue of a cer - tificate of registration, to declare that the exclusive privileges and rights conferred by such certificate of registration have not been acquired on any of the grounds upon which the United Kingdom patent might be revoked under the law for the time being in force in the United Kingdom. Provided that such grounds shall be deemed to include the manufacture, use or sale of the invention in Gibraltar before the priority date applicable to the patent in the United Kingdom, but not to include the
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