Ipr in Mauritius
Intellectual Property Rights in Mauritius:Current Status and Constraints
Abstract
The world is changing at a rapid pace and technology is evolving every day, hence the traditional copyrights and patent rights are no longer adequate to confer rights to the owners of the creations. An urgent need to protect the Intellectual Property Rights is being felt both at domestic and international level .With the adoption of the Trade Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights, it is now increasingly considered as an essential tool for developing countries. Unfortunately, to date, Mauritius is lagging far behind. This paper is an attempt to outline the current status of IPR in Mauritius, some important constraints faced, as well as how policy makers are planning to make Mauritius up to date with the international norms .
Introduction
The enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Mauritius is conferred by the Patents Act 1875, the Trademarks Act 1868 and the Copyright Act 1956 being the oldest legislation. Our IPR enforcement mechanism took a new turn in 1995 when the TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights)
Agreement of the World Trade Organisation came into effect. In order to conform our legislation with the principles and obligations laid down in the TRIPS, new pieces of legislations were adopted, namely:
1. The Copyright Act 1997
2.The Patent, Industrial Designs and Trademarks Act 2002
3.The Protection Against Unfair Practices (Industrial Property Rights) Act 2002
4.The Layout Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits Act 2002
5.The Geographical Indications Act 2002
The Copyright Act covers protection of artistic, literary and scientific works created or published by an author who is a citizen of Mauritius or having his habitual residence in Mauritius or in any country party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
The Act guarantees protection of the economic and moral rights of the
Abstract
The world is changing at a rapid pace and technology is evolving every day, hence the traditional copyrights and patent rights are no longer adequate to confer rights to the owners of the creations. An urgent need to protect the Intellectual Property Rights is being felt both at domestic and international level .With the adoption of the Trade Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights, it is now increasingly considered as an essential tool for developing countries. Unfortunately, to date, Mauritius is lagging far behind. This paper is an attempt to outline the current status of IPR in Mauritius, some important constraints faced, as well as how policy makers are planning to make Mauritius up to date with the international norms .
Introduction
The enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Mauritius is conferred by the Patents Act 1875, the Trademarks Act 1868 and the Copyright Act 1956 being the oldest legislation. Our IPR enforcement mechanism took a new turn in 1995 when the TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights)
Agreement of the World Trade Organisation came into effect. In order to conform our legislation with the principles and obligations laid down in the TRIPS, new pieces of legislations were adopted, namely:
1. The Copyright Act 1997
2.The Patent, Industrial Designs and Trademarks Act 2002
3.The Protection Against Unfair Practices (Industrial Property Rights) Act 2002
4.The Layout Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits Act 2002
5.The Geographical Indications Act 2002
The Copyright Act covers protection of artistic, literary and scientific works created or published by an author who is a citizen of Mauritius or having his habitual residence in Mauritius or in any country party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
The Act guarantees protection of the economic and moral rights of the