GIBRALTAR Law and Practice Contributed by: Emma Lejeune, Stuart Dalmedo, Nicholas Isola, James Castle and Louise Anne Turnock, ISOLAS LLP
7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents
the UK and that the particulars of the applica - tion are true. Upon such an application being received, together with the documents mentioned in Sec - tion 3, the Registrar of Patents shall issue a cer - tificate of registration in accordance with Sec - tion 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 accordingly. Patent rights are able to be enforced against a party through the UK or Gibraltar courts. The remedies for patent infringement include the sei - zure/destruction of the infringing goods, mon - etary damages and injunctive 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 application of any person who alleges that his interests have been prejudicially affected by the issue of a certificate 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 manufacture, use or sale of the invention in Gibraltar by some person or persons after the priority date applicable to the patent in the United Kingdom and before the
A patent is a form of intellectual property which grants the inventor the right to exclude oth - ers 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 specifically excluded from protection. Original applications to register a trade mark or patent in Gibraltar cannot be made; the Gibraltar Registry will only replicate successful registra - tions made in the UK Intellectual Property Patent Office. 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 documents must be submitted to the Gibraltar Registry in accordance with Section 3 of the Pat - ents Act 1924 together with the application for registration of a patent (Form 1) and a filing fee of GBP30 in accordance with the Patent Rules: • certified copies of the specification(s) (includ - ing 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 European Patent (UK) designating the patent as being effective in
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