MACAU SAR Law and Practice Contributed by: João Nuno Riquito, Bruno Almeida, Bernice Kwok and Kimberley Cheong, Riquito Advogados
1.5 Rights and Obligations of Owners of Intellectual Property Rights For invention and utility patents, the owner has the exclusive right to use the patent in Macau SAR and the right to oppose any acts that con- stitute a breach of patent rights. In particular, this includes the right to prevent third parties, with- out their consent, from manufacturing, offering, storing, marketing or using a product covered by the patent; or from importing or holding such products for any of those purposes. The title holder has the obligation to use the pat- ent in Macau SAR; otherwise, the Chief Execu- tive of Macau can grant a mandatory, non-exclu- sive licence of that patent. For industrial models and designs, the regis- tration shall grant its title-holder the exclusive right to use the model or design and to prevent its use by third parties without their consent. In particular, third parties are prevented from offer- ing, placing on the market, importing, exporting or using any product into which that industrial model or design is incorporated, or to which it is applied, as well as from storing any such products. Contrary to what is stipulated in the patents, the lack of use of industrial models or designs does not entail a potential grant in favour of third parties without the title holder’s consent. At present, there is no comprehensive platform or database that catalogues applicable patents to specific products or processes. Instead, the DSEDT website offers a search engine that facili- tates general searches for patents registered in Macau.
1.6 Further Protection After Lapse of the Maximum Term According to the Legal Regime of Industrial Property, there is no protection after the maxi- mum term of an intellectual property right has lapsed. 1.7 Third-Party Rights to Participate in Grant Proceedings Refer to 1.2 Grant Procedure . Upon publication of the application in the official gazette, and until the date when the rights are granted, third parties have the right to approach the DSEDT in writing with objections to the patentability of the invention subject to regis- tration. This opposition shall be notified to the applicant, who may reply within two months in the case of an industrial model or design, and four months in the case of an invention or utility patent. Two decisions are possible in light of an opposi- tion: either the objection is founded, or not. In the first case, the DSEDT shall dismiss the reg- istration or proceed to partial granting in accord- ance. In the latter case, the DSEDT will grant the intellectual property right in full, as requested. 1.8 Remedies Against Refusal to Grant an Intellectual Property Right In cases of dismissal of an application to grant intellectual property rights, the applicant may, in accordance with the Macau Administrative Pro- cedure Code ( Código de Procedimento Admin - istrativo , or CPA), submit an administrative claim to the DSEDT, requesting a review of the deci- sion. However, such a claim does not suspend the deadline for the applicant to appeal to the courts.
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