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Government Gazette 23 March 2012
Act No. 1, 2012
No. 4907
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ACT, 2012
(3)
In the case of an application for the issuance of a compulsory licence
under subsections (1) and (2), the provisions of sections 55(6), (7) and (8) relating to the
conditions for the grant of a compulsory licence do, with the necessary changes, apply,
except that no time limit needs to be determined for the exploitation to commence.
(4)
In the case of a compulsory licence issued under subsection (1), any
transfer of the licence may be made only with the transfer of the later patent, or, in the
case of a compulsory licence issued under subsection (2), only with the transfer of the
earlier patent.
(5)
A party who is aggrieved by the decision of the Tribunal made under
this section, may appeal against the decision to the court.
Compulsory licence in public interest
57.
(1)
(a)
the public interest, in particular national security, nutrition, health or
the development of other vital sectors of the national economy, so
requires;
(b)
a national emergency or circumstances of extreme urgency have arisen,
including a public health crisis, which requires the use of the patented
invention;
(c)
the Namibian Competition Commission (hereafter “the Commission”)
established in terms of the Competition Act, 2003 (Act No. 2 of 2003)
(hereafter “the Competition Act”) has determined that the manner of
exploitation, of the patent by the owner of the patent or his or her
licensee, constitutes a restrictive business practice prohibited under
Part I or Part II of Chapter 3 of the Competition Act, and the Minister
is satisfied that the exploitation of the invention in accordance with this
section would remedy such practice;
(d)
an interested party has unsuccessfully endeavoured at least for a period
of six months to obtain the patent owner’s licence for the use of the
patented invention on reasonable terms and conditions, and the refusal
of the patent owner to grant a licence has the effect that the trade or
industry or agriculture of Namibia, or the trade of a class of persons in
Namibia, or the establishment of any new trade or industry in Namibia
is being prejudiced and it is in the public interest that a licence should
be granted; or
(e)
a patented product relates to a pharmaceutical product in respect
of which Namibia has insufficient or no manufacturing capacity as
contemplated in the Decision of the General Council of the WTO of
August 30, 2003 or in Article 31bis of TRIPS, and a licence for the
importation of the patented product is required as contemplated in the
said decision or article,
Where –