Patents

The Registry office based in Stanley, Falkland Islands is the Registry for Births for the Falklands Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Registration of United Kingdom Patents in the Falkland Islands

The relevant legislation for registration of United Kingdom Patents in the Falkland Islands is the Registration of United Kingdom Patents Ordinance 1930 (“the ordinance”) which can be found here

 Who is entitled to apply for registration in the Falkland Islands?

Section 2 of the Ordinance states;

‘Any person being the grantee of a United Kingdom patent (which expression shall in this Ordinance include a patent treated under any Patent Act in force in the United Kingdom as being granted under such Act by reason of its being a European Patent (UK)) or any person deriving his right from such grantee by assignment, transmission or other operation of law may apply within three years from the date of issue of the patent to have such patent registered in the Falkland Islands. Where any partial assignment or transmission has been made, all proper parties shall be joined in the application for registration.’

What is required to apply for registration?

Every application for a registration of a patent shall be addressed to the Registrar General and shall include;

1. A certificate of the Comptroller General of the United Kingdom Patent Office giving full particulars of the issue of the patent; and
2. 2 x certified copies of the complete specification(s) and in the case of a patent treated as being granted in the United Kingdom by virtue of the provisions of section 2, a certificate by an officer duly authorized under the Patent Act that the United Kingdom has accepted the European Patent (UK) designating the United Kingdom as being effective in the United Kingdom and that the particulars of the application are true (including the drawing, if any) in relation to any patent; and
3. In the case of an assignment, an affidavit that the applicant is the assignee in respect of the Falkland Islands if the registered proprietor of the patent; and
4. The fee.

The documentation required for initial registration must be posted to the Registrar General at Town Hall, Ross Road, Stanley, Falkland Islands, FIQQ 1ZZ. An electronic copy of the documentation will not be accepted for initial registration.

How long does the certificate last?

The registration of a patent in the Falkland Islands shall date from the commencement of the term of the patent in the United Kingdom and shall continue in force only so long as the patent remains in force in the United Kingdom. Where a certificate of registration in the Falkland Islands has been issued not more than six months after the grant of the patent in the United Kingdom an action for infringement may also be brought in respect of any manufacture, use or sale of the invention in the Falkland Islands after the date of publication of the application for the patent in the United Kingdom in like manner and subject to the same conditions and restrictions applying to proceedings in the United Kingdom by virtue of section 69 of the Patents Act 1977.

Renewal of Registration of Patents

Relevant legislation is the Registration of United Kingdom Patents Ordinance 1930 (“The Ordinance”).

Renewal Process

Section 7 of the Ordinance states:

‘All renewals of letters patent in the United Kingdom of a patent registered under this Ordinance shall be notified to the Registrar General, who shall, on sufficient evidence thereof and on payment of a fee … enter the same in the Register in the prescribed manner.’

In order to renew a patent registered in the Falkland Islands a copy of the IPsum report from the Intellectual Property Office must be sent to the Registrar General (via post or email) evidencing that the patent has been renewed in the United Kingdom. Once registered in the Falkland Islands, the renewal will commence from the date of renewal in the United Kingdom.

Fees