From 1857 To 2022 ' Jamaica Takes A Quantum Leap Into A 21st Century Patent System

Published date18 January 2022
Subject MatterIntellectual Property, Patent
Law FirmFoga Daley
AuthorMs Dianne Daley McClure

After several years of exhaustive consultations, protracted deliberations and draft laws, a new Patents and Designs Act was passed by the Jamaican Parliament in January 2020, (the New Law) in compliance with Jamaica's obligations under the 1995 World Trade Organization's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS Agreement).

The implementation of the new law has been delayed by certain formalities but when the new law comes into effect in February of this year, designers, inventors, innovators and other stakeholders, will finally have access to the benefits of a modern patent and designs system.

The New Law, which repeals the existing Patents Act of 1857 and the Designs Act of 1937 (both of which had only undergone minor amendments up to 1975), represents a complete overhaul of the existing patent system and a significant upgrade for industrial designs. Here are some of the highlights of the new regimes.

The New Patent regime

Patents have been governed in Jamaica by the following statutes:

  • Patent Law 30 of 1857, Chapter 283
  • Patent (Amendment) Act No. 42 of October 1974
  • Patent (Amendment) Act No. 8 of March 1975

The New Law repeals the statutes ("the old law") and brings Jamaica's patent legislative framework in line with modern standards and consequentially into compliance with the following international treaties:

  • World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement (1995) signed by Jamaica in 1995
  • The Paris Convention on Industrial Property (1883) to which Jamaica acceded on September 24, 1999
  • The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) (as modified on October 3 2021) to which Jamaica acceded on November 9, 2021
  • Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (Geneva Act, 1999) to which Jamaica acceded on November 9, 2021

The new law introduces several significant changes including:

  • NOVELTY - The invention must be new to the world and not just new to Jamaica.
  • EXPANDED EXCLUSIONS - Software and Business Methods are expressly excluded from patentability.
  • UTILITY MODELS - A Petty Patent (Utility Model) is now available for inventions which do not meet the high patentability threshold.
  • PRIORITY FILINGS - Priority claims may now be made under the Paris Convention.
  • OWNERSHIP OF INVENTIONS BY EMPLOYEES - Employees will now have a legal entitlement to compensation for inventions made in specific circumstances.
  • THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY (PCT) - International applications through the PCT will now be possible in Jamaica.
  • DURATION - Protection will last for 20 years from filing date up from 14 years.

Novelty

Jamaica's old patent system has granted patents based on local novelty in that the invention must not have been known or used in the island prior to the filing of the application. Under the new law it must not be known or used anywhere in the world (i.e. it must be universally novel). However, there is a grace period of 12 months within which certain disclosures will not erode the novelty of the invention.

Under the new...

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