No. 4907
Act No. 1, 2012
Government Gazette 23 March 2012
41
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ACT, 2012
the Minister may, on submission to him or her of an application as contemplated in
subsection (3), decide that, even without the consent of the owner of the patent, a third
person designated by the Minister may be authorised by way of a compulsory licence to
exploit a patented invention, including by the importation of the patented invention, on
such terms and conditions as determined by the Minister.
(2)
The exploitation of the patented invention under a licence granted
under this section is limited to the purpose for which it was authorised and is subject
to the payment to the owner of the patent of an adequate compensation therefor, taking
into account the economic value of the Minister’s authorisation, as determined in the
said decision, and, where a decision has been taken under subsection (1)(c), the need to
correct the restrictive business practices.
(3)
An application may be submitted by any interested party for the
Minister’s authorisation under subsection (1), which application must be accompanied
by evidence that the owner of the patent has received, from the person seeking the
authorisation, a written request for a voluntary licence, but that that person has been
unable to obtain such a licence on reasonable terms and conditions and, in the case of
an application under subsection (1)(d), within a period of six months from the written
request.
(4)
Where importation takes places pursuant to the Decision of the
General Council of the WTO of August 30, 2003 or Article 31 bis of TRIPS whichever
is applicable as contemplated in subsection (1)(e), and the exporting country issues a
compulsory licence for the same patented invention, no compensation is payable to the
owner of the patent as contemplated in subsection (2).
(5)
The provisions of subsection (3) with regard to a prior request for a
voluntary licence do not apply in cases of –
(a)
national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency as
contemplated in subsection (1)(b);
(b)
public non-commercial use; and
(c)
restrictive business practices determined as such by the Commission in
accordance with subsection (1)(c),
except that, in such cases the owner of the patent must be notified of the Minister’s
decision as soon as is reasonably practicable.
(6)
The exploitation of a patented invention in the field of semi-conductor
technology may only be authorised under this section either for public non-commercial
use or where the Commission has determined that the manner of exploitation of the
patented invention, by the owner of the patent or his or her licensee, is a restrictive
business practice prohibited under the Competition Act and if the Minister is satisfied
that the issuance of the non-voluntary licence would remedy such practice.
(7)
Any authorisation under this section is non-exclusive and in particular
does not exclude –