What is a patent?
A patent grants exclusive rights for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem. A patent protects the invention itself, ensuring that the inventor has the legal rights to control who makes, uses, or sells the invention during the patent’s validity period. To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the public in a patent application.
Ownership of Intellectual Property and Patents
The legal right excludes all other competitors from using the same patent. This right prevents others from commercially exploiting the patented invention. Patents are, therefore, granted to natural persons and not to companies. A patent is subject to all other existing patents that arose before its registration and is ruled by a ‘first come, first serve’ basis: the first to file the patent application gets the patent right.
Patent applications can be granted in Cyprus in one of three ways:
The Cypriot government itself
The European Patent Organisation (EPO)
An internationally recognised institution.
Cypriot law and registration procedures
In Cyprus, as amended, the Patents Law of 1998 is the primary source of patency law on the island. For a valid Certificate of Patent, national laws require that an invention must be:
(1) novel (existing nowhere else);
(2) not a direct result of the existing state of art; and
(3) it must have the potential to be used for industrial application.
The procedure to obtain a patent from the Patent Registrar (the “Registrar“) in Cyprus is initiated by a formal request for the patent to be granted, highlighting the title and description of the invention, accompanied by legal claims regarding the specific invention and any drawings together with an abstract of the invention of no more than 150 words. A certified translation of the relevant documents into English, German, or French is essential for the application process and must be submitted alongside other required forms and fees.
The Registrar then forwards the application to the European Patent Organization for review. Once approval is communicated to the applicant, the applicant must prepare and submit a search report. A search report is essentially a list of existing and pending patents similar to the proposed patent. This will provide information about the novelty of the patent. The search report will also help identify any prior art that may affect the patent’s eligibility. Additionally, applicants must submit the search report within 16 months from the application’s filing date or the claimed priority date.
Once the search report is received, the Registrar publishes it together with the issued Patent Certificate of Registration in the Official Gazette of Cyprus.
European and International law patent protection
On 01 April 1998, Cyprus became a Member State of the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Convention on the Grant of European Patents (EPC).
EU patent applications are administered by the European Patent Office (EPO) via a free online filing system. The EPO grants patents within the economic bloc as a whole or countries specified by the applicant. The efficiency of the EPO’s online system makes it the preferred method of registering patents in the Republic of Cyprus directly.
Under international law, the Republic of Cyprus is a signatory of the Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970 (PCT), which is the instrument through which patent protection is granted. Patents are normally disclosed to the global community about 18 months after the patent application has been submitted to the international body. Once completed, the patent is enforceable against all signatories. The entire process takes about two and a half years.
Disputes
Normally, infringements of patents arise when third parties create patent-protected products which do not have the necessary authorisation from the owner of the patent. Cypriot courts have jurisdiction to determine the outcome of any dispute relating to any patent infringements. Once a court has determined that the defendant is guilty of an infringement, the successful plaintiff is entitled to damages normally accompanied by an order preventing the defendant from any further infringement.
How can we help you with patents in Cyprus?
Regarding our services, we can provide legal advice on patents and all other intellectual property and copyright matters, including possible copyright infringement, copyright registration, transfer of ownership, litigation, and international commercial arbitration.