(3) Any change in the ownership of a trade name shall be made with the transfer of the
enterprise or the part thereof identified by that name and shall be in writing.
(4) A change in the ownership of the registration of a mark or in the ownership of a
collective mark shall, however, be invalid if it is likely to deceive or cause confusion,
particularly in regard to the nature, origin, manufacturing process, characteristics, or
suitability for their purpose, of the goods or services in relation to which the mark or
collective mark is intended to be used or is being used.
(5) Any licence contract concerning a patent, a utility model certificate, a registered
industrial design or a registered mark, or an application therefor, shall, on pain of invalidity,
be submitted to the Registrar who shall keep its contents confidential but record it and publish
the fact of having recorded such licence contract.
(6) Where the Registrar, after consultation with the Minister, is of the opinion that any
clause in a licence contract or relating to such a contract imposes unjustified restrictions on
the licensee, with the consequence that the contract, taken as a whole, is harmful to the
economic interests of Lesotho, the Registrar shall notify the parties to the contract accordingly
and invite them, several times if he deems it necessary, to modify the contract so that it does
not contain any such clause and, if they fail to do so, he shall declare the clause to be null and
void.
(7) For the purposes of this Order, “unjustified restrictions” are restrictions which entail
for the licensee, in the industrial or commercial field, restrictions not deriving from the rights
conferred by the grant of a patent or a utility model certificate or the registration of an
industrial design or a mark or restrictions unnecessary for the safeguard of those rights.
(8) In the examination of contracts under subsection (6), the Registrar, with regard to
licence contracts relating to patents and utility model certificates, shall take into
consideration, in particular, any clause contained in a contract the effect of which would be,
(a) to import technology from abroad when substantially similar or equivalent
technology may be obtained on the same or more favourable conditions without any
importation of the technology from abroad;
(b) to oblige the licensee to give consideration which is disproportionate to the value of
the technology to which the contract relates;
(c) to oblige the licensee to acquire any materials from the licensor or from sources
designated or approved by the licensor unless it is otherwise impossible, for all practical
purposes, to ensure the quality of the products to be produced and provided that the said
materials are supplied at a reasonable price;
(d) to restrict the licensee’s freedom to acquire any materials from any source, unless it
is otherwise impossible, for all practical purposes, to ensure the quality of the products to be
produced;
LESOTHO
Industrial Property Order, 1989 (Order No. 5 of 1989, as last amended by Act No. 4 of 1997)
[LS 1-001]
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