Mauritius – New IP Law
A new law, The Industrial Property Act 2019, has been recently passed by the Mauritius Parliament. The new Act received approval on 9th August 2019 from the Interim President of the Republic of Mauritius and was published in the Mauritius Government Gazette on 10th August 2019. It will come into effect from the date of its proclamation (as decided by the Parliament), although the various section of the Act may come into force on different dates.
The new Act consolidates all IP-related matters in a single statute, and its enactment will repeal the Patents, Industrial Designs and Trademarks Act 2002. Inter alia, the new Act:
- introduces organisational changes at the Industrial Property Office;
- specifically excludes computer programmes from patent protection;
- allows for third party oppositions to be filed against patent applications;
- extends the maximum term available for registered designs from 15 years to 20 years;
- incorporates the Hague Agreement concerning the Application for International Registration of Industrial Designs;
- allows for the filing of divisional trade mark applications;
- extends the grace period available for the renewal of trade marks from 3 months to 6 months; and
- makes provision for the filing of trade marks under the Madrid Protocol.
Whilst both the previous law and the new Act provide for the filing and processing of PCT applications in Mauritius, this jurisdiction has not yet acceded to the PCT.
