MAURITIUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Sameer K. Tegally, Sonia Xavier and Ashvan Luckraz, Venture Law
the only breaches for which financial penalties can be levied by the CCM. 6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position Section 46 of the Act relating to monopoly situations states that the CCM will have regard to whether a monopolist’s actions “have or are likely to have an adverse effect on the efficiency, adaptability and com - petitiveness of the economy of Mauritius, or are or are likely to be detrimental to the interests of consumers”. This clause relates only to adverse effects arising from the monopolist’s actions. Under Sections 60 and 61 of the Act, the CCM may also take action to remedy, prevent or mitigate detri - mental effects on consumers and users. Where it is necessary to consider such adverse and detrimental effects, the CCM will generally seek to protect and promote consumer interest by fostering greater com - petition. The CCM will not, in general, intervene to provide consumers with a better product offering or price than might reasonably be expected to arise in a competitive market. The CCM can intervene only when there is a competition problem – and only to pro - mote the interests of affected consumers and users. The Industrial Property Act 2019 (IPA) came into operation on 31 January 2022. Under the IPA, a pat - ent will be registered if it relates to an invention that is new, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable. The length of statutory protection granted to regis - tered patents is 20 years, after the filing date of the application, subject to payment of the annual pre - scribed fee. 7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents The application for a patent has to be filed with the Director of the Industrial Property Office in the form set out in the administrative procedures, and accom - panied by the payment of a non-refundable fee. The application has to include: • the name, address and nationality of the applicant;
• the name and address of the inventor; • the name and address of the agent of the applicant (if any) and the signature of the applicant or their agent (if any), or a common representative where it is a joint application; • the title, a description of the invention and the claims, including any drawing and an abstract; • where the applicant is not the inventor, a statement justifying the applicant’s right to the patent; and • where the applicant’s ordinary residence or prin - cipal place of business is outside Mauritius, an address within Mauritius for service of any docu - ment. Mauritius acceded to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) on 15 March 2023. Applicants and inventors in Mauritius can now file patent applications under the PCT to secure patent protection in PCT contracting states. Similarly, foreign innovators and companies can now use the PCT system to obtain patent pro - tection for their inventions in Mauritius. The Customs Act 1988 was amended to provide that any owner or authorised user of a patent may apply in writing to the Director-General of the MRA to sus - pend the clearance of any goods imported or being exported and detain any goods on the local market on the grounds that his or her patent, industrial design, collective mark, mark, copyright, utility model, lay-out design, breeder’s right, trade name or geographical indication is being or is likely to be infringed. For enforcement, please see 7.3 Industrial Design . 7.2 Trade Marks A mark is a distinctive sign that differentiates par - ticular goods and services provided by one entity from those of its competitors. In practice, any sign that helps distinguish one’s goods or services from another may amount to a mark. This includes words, letters, numerals, drawings, pictures, audible signs, three-dimensional signs and olfactory marks as well as a combination of colours, the shape of the goods or parts of the goods, or the packaging or other con - ditioning of the goods. The length of statutory protection granted to regis - tered marks is ten years, starting from the filing date
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