PATENTS

I. General

Registration of Patents is regulated by the Patents Law, Cap. 266 as amended by a new Patents Law 16(I) 1998. The law as amended renders the registration of a patent in Cyprus independent from the registration of the same patents in the UK. The new law provides for a direct patent application in Cyprus.

This enables English patents, and patents granted under the European Patent Convention or under the International Corporation Treaty to be recognised in Cyprus.

II. Registration Procedure

a) Written application containing the following:

Name and address of the applicant
Name and address of the applicants representative if any
Registration number of basic patent and title of the invention
Registration number and date of the first authorization to place the product on the market and if this authorization is not the first authorization for placing the product on the market in the community, the number and date of that authorization

b) Copy of the authorization to place the product on the market, containing a summary of the product characteristics.

All registered patents must be published in the official gazette of the Republic of Cyprus.

III. After Registration

Once a patent has been registered and a certificate of registration is granted and published, any persons other than the patentee are expressly prohibited from manufacturing, selling, importing or otherwise commercially exploiting either the patented product or the product obtained by a patented process.

Currently, the time period for which the state agrees to prohibit third parties from using an invention is 20 years from the date of filing the application, provided that an annual renewal fee is paid. In the event of infringement the patentee may commence an action in Court to seek an injunction and/or damages.