Proposed bill amending the Patents and Designs Act published

A bill has been presented in Parliament to amend the Patents and Designs Act (the “Act”). Of key note is the inclusion of a new article 58A establishing a Patents Tribunal which will have the jurisdiction to hear and determine claims concerning the revocation of a patent, infringement claims, as well as declarations of non-infringement and issuance of precautionary warrants. Claims for damages arising from any infringement will remain with the remit of the First Hall Civil Court.

Other suggested amendments include:

an amendment to Article 10(2) on the manner in which an application is determined to have an earlier filing date when priority is claimed;
substitution of Article 23 on the examination of the formalities of the patent application;
the introduction of a new Article 23A granting the Comptroller the authority to oblige the applicant to provide a search report; and
substitution of Article 44 and introduction of a new Article 44A relating to the manner in which a patent is revoked and the procedure to be followed when the Comptroller receives a notification for revocation.

A more detailed analysis of the proposed amendments to the Act will be published shortly.
The Bill presented in Parliament can be accessed here.