PANAMA Law and Practice Contributed by: Rafael Rivera, Malvis Mina, Nicole Pérez and Carolina Lino, BDO Panama
6.3 Cartels Anti-competitive practices are regulated under Law No 5 of 2007 and include the following: • any intentional or wilful act that creates con - fusion regarding the services or commercial or industrial activities of a competitor; • any false statement made during trade that discredits the commercial or industrial activi - ties of a competitor; • any deceptive action intended to divert, for personal benefit or that of another, the clien - tele of a business or industry; • any misleading indication that may confuse or deceive consumers regarding the origin, characteristics, production process, method of use, or the quality, quantity, or cost of a seller’s goods or services; and • any other act that, by any means, results in a restriction of trade, a reduction in production aimed at increasing prices, or the establish - ment of uniform prices or rates for products and services, to the detriment of fair competi - tion and consumer welfare. Patents are granted to those inventions that are patentable subject matter and meet with the requirements of novelty and non-obviousness. The procedure is requested before the General Directorate of Intellectual Property (DIGERPI) accomplishing with all the required documents which, if the documents are issued abroad, must be duly apostilled and translated into Spanish by an authorised public translator. Panama is a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), therefore international applications are allowed. During the national phase from a 7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents
PCT application, the same requirements and procedure as with any other PCT member state will apply. There is no extension to the deadline for entering the national phase in Panama. Protection Term and Supplementary Protection Patents are granted for 20 years. This term is not extendible, unless the DIGERPI has incurred an imputable delay in the application process and the applicant files a request for supplementary protection within the six months of obtaining the patent. If the application procedure lasts more than five years from the filling date or three years from the date of the request for a substantive exami - nation, this will be considered an imputable delay to the PTO. Supplementary protection will depend on the specific case and delay and, in any case, will not be granted for more than seven years and six months. Remedies Patents grant the right to the rightsholder to pre - vent third parties from: • manufacturing the product; • promoting, offering for sale, using, importing or storing the product for any of these pur - poses, including when patented procedures are used to obtain a product; and • use the patented process. Panamanian law establishes civil and criminal remedies in the case of patent infringement. The civil procedure for patent infringement is han - dled under a special procedure established in the Industrial Property Law. The Criminal Code establishes a penalty of four to six years for pat - ent infringement. While cease and desist letters
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