MACAU SAR Law and Practice Contributed by: João Nuno Riquito, Bruno Almeida, Bernice Kwok and Kimberley Cheong, Riquito Advogados
2.9 Special Limitation Provisions There are no special limitation provisions appli- cable to intellectual property matters. In the event of patent infringement, a civil action must be filed within the limitation period of three years and criminal liability must be sought within two to five years, depending on the type of crime in question. 2.10 Mechanisms to Obtain Evidence and Information Certain mechanisms are available to obtain evi- dence and information from the counterparty or from a third party after formal proceedings have begun, such as depositions, interroga- tories, requests for production of documents, and expert reports and testimony. In principle, any person aware of any facts or in possession of any evidence relevant to the proceedings is legally bound to co-operate with the court upon request. This includes providing witness state- ments and producing documents. Requests for production of documents may be addressed to the other party or to a third party. The requested documents must be clearly identified and their relevance to the matter established before the court issues the order to surrender the docu- ment. Hence, this mechanism does not work as a general means of obtaining evidence and information. Any person, including the opposing party, may be called to testify before the court. Except for limitation as to the number of witnesses allowed, the court will not exercise any prior control on the witnesses or on their relevance to the case. Wit- nesses who reside in Macau may be compelled by the court, including by force if necessary, to attend the hearing and provide their deposition, without prejudice to certain individuals’ right to refuse to testify (eg, by virtue of their personal relationship with any of the parties). Should, at
any moment during the hearing, a party become aware that any additional person may have knowledge of facts relevant to the proceedings, it may request that the court add that individual to the list of witnesses, in which case the admis- sion will be at the court’s discretion. As a general rule, each party has the burden to both state the relevant facts and adduce sup- porting evidence in their pleadings. Amend- ments to the parties’ pleadings are subject to significant limitations and therefore they are obliged to provide as much detail and to adduce as much supporting evidence as possible. 2.11 Initial Pleading Standards As alluded to in 2.10 Mechanisms to Obtain Evidence and Information , each party has the burden to both state all the relevant facts and adduce, or request the adducing of, support- ing evidence in its entirety in their written plead- ings, with few exceptions admitted to this rule. Only facts arising from supervening events or new evidence (including evidence not known to the parties at the time of the pleadings) may be stated and adduced after the written pleadings and only until the trial is complete. Considering the inquisitorial nature of the Macau legal sys- tem, the court may request that the parties state the facts or adduce the evidence that the court deems pertinent to the discovery of the truth and necessary for a fair trial and judgment. 2.12 Representative or Collective Action Associations or foundations whose purpose is related to the interests in dispute, the Public Prosecutions Office, and Macau SAR citizens are entitled to initiate lawsuits against any pub- lic authority for the protection of collective or representative interests such as public health, cultural heritage, or the environment. Should any intellectual property matter fall under these inter-
341 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook