38
Government Gazette 23 March 2012
Act No. 1, 2012
No. 4907
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ACT, 2012
under which the licence was granted, or on which the patent, under which the licence
was granted, expires, is revoked or otherwise ceases to protect such invention.
(2)
Where a contract relates to licences under more than one application or
patent, such part of the contract as relates to any particular licence terminates when the
application or the patent under which it was granted is refused or expires, is revoked or
otherwise ceases to protect the invention concerned, and the contract as a whole must
terminate when all the patents under which all such licences were granted and which
were in force at the time when the contract became operative, expire, are revoked or
otherwise cease to protect the relevant inventions.
(3)
Nothing in this section affects any right to terminate a contract or a
condition in a contract independently of this section.
PART 9
COMPULSORY LICENCES
Compulsory licence for non-working or insufficient-working
55.
(1)
Any person may, after the expiration of a period of four years
from the date of filing of the patent application or three years from the date of the grant
of the patent, whichever period expires last, in the prescribed form and manner make an
application to the Tribunal to exploit a patented invention in Namibia.
(2)
On receipt of an application made under made subsection (1), the
Tribunal may grant such person a compulsory licence to exploit the patent on such
terms and conditions as determined by the Tribunal, if the patented invention was not
adequately exploited in Namibia by the owner of the patent or his or her licensee by
working the invention locally.
(3)
Despite subsection (2), a compulsory licence may not be granted if the
owner of the patent satisfies the Tribunal that circumstances exist which justify the lack
of adequate exploitation of the invention.
(4)
On request made to the Tribunal of any person who proves that the rights
in a patent are being abused, the Tribunal may grant such a person a compulsory licence
to exploit the patent on such terms and conditions as determined by the Tribunal.
(5)
The person to whom a compulsory licence is granted under subsection
(2) or (4) has the right to exploit the patented invention in Namibia, otherwise than by
importing the patented invention, according to the terms and conditions set out in the
determination by the Tribunal, and must commence the exploitation of the patented
invention within the time limit fixed in that determination and, thereafter, must exploit
the patented invention to an adequate extent.
(6)
A compulsory licence granted under this section is non-exclusive and
in particular does not exclude
(a)
the exploitation by the owner of the patent of his or her rights under
section 41;