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Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Belize

Title:Article 38 of the Patent Act, Chapter 253, of 21/06/2000
Field of IP:Patents
Type of flexibility:Compulsory licenses and government use
Summary table:PDF

Provisions of Law

Non-Voluntary Licences

38. (1) At any time after the expiration of four years from the date of filing of a patent application or three years from the date of the grant of a patent, whichever happens later, any interested person may apply to the Court for the grant of a non-voluntary licence under the patent on the grounds that the patented invention is not being exploited or is being insufficiently exploited by working the invention in Belize, or by importation into Belize.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a non-voluntary licence shall not be issued if the owner of the patent satisfies the Court that circumstances exist which justify the non-exploitation or insufficient exploitation of the patented invention in Belize.

(3) The Court shall, where it grants a non-voluntary licence, fix:-

(a) the scope and function of the licence;

(b) the time limit within which the licensee must begin to exploit the patented invention; and

(c) the amount of the remuneration to be paid to the owner of the patent, and the conditions of the payment thereof.

(4) The beneficiary of the non-voluntary licence shall:-

(a) have the right to exploit the patented invention in Belize in accordance with the Court's order;

(b) commence the exploitation of the patented invention within the time stipulated in the said order; and

(c) thereafter, exploit the patented invention sufficiently.

(5) Where the invention claimed in a patent (referred to in this section as a "later patent") cannot be exploited in Belize without infringing a patent granted on the basis of an application benefiting from an earlier filing, or, where appropriate, priority date (referred to in this section as an "earlier patent"), and provided that the invention claimed in the later patent involves an important technical advance of considerable economic importance in relation to the invention claimed in the earlier patent, the Court may, upon the application of the owner of the later patent, issue a non-voluntary licence to the extent necessary to avoid infringement of the earlier patent.

(6) Where a non-voluntary licence is issued in accordance with subsection (5), the Court shall, upon the application of the owner of the earlier patent, issue a non-voluntary licence in respect of the later patent.

(7) In the case of an application for the issuance of a non-voluntary licence in accordance with subsections (5) and (6), subsection (3) shall apply mutatis mutandis, except that no time limit need be fixed by the Court.

(8) In the case of a non-voluntary licence issued under subsection (1), the transfer may be made only with the later patent, or, in the case of a non-voluntary licence issued under subsection (5), only with the earlier patent.

(9) An application for a non-voluntary licence shall be subject to payment of the prescribed fee.

(10) No licence shall be granted under this section in respect of a patented invention in the field of semi-conductor technology.

(11) Section 35(2) to (12), and 62 (2) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

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