A. Services Offered

B. General

C. Applicable Laws

A. SERVICES OFFERED

• Advice on the acquisition, registration and protection of all intellectual property
• Franchising and licensing
• Restrictive trade practice

B. GENERAL

Intellectual Property is an evolving field and it dominates many areas, such as inter alia industry, trade and technology. Indeed Article 2 of the World Intellectual Property Convention of 1968 defines intellectual property as follows:

• Literary, artistic, and scientific works
• Performances of performing artists, phonograms, and broadcasts
• Inventions in all fields of human endeavour
• Scientific discoveries
• Industrial designs
• Trademarks, service marks, and commercial names and designations
• Protection against unfair competition; and
• All other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary, or artistic fields

As a full member of the European Union and in an endeavour to afford protection to local and international intellectual property rights, the Republic of Cyprus has amended its Intellectual Property laws so as to be in conformity with the acquis communautaire.

C. APPLICABLE LAWS

I. (a) COPYRIGHT

The applicable legislation in Cyprus regarding copyright is the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Law of 1976 to 2004 (CAP. 59, as amended (“the Copyright Law”).
The Copyright Law provides:

• Protection to literary (including computer software) musical, artistic, scientific works, and films affording protection for the duration life of author plus 70 years. Protection is also afforded to databases (duration 15 years), sound recordings and programs (duration 50 years), and publications of otherwise unpublished works (duration 25 years).
• Recognition of neighbouring rights
• Licensing and royalty payments
• Infringement leading to damages or even criminal penalties.

I. (b) LEGISLATION COMBATING PIRACY AND COMPUTER RELATED CRIME

1. Law for the Control of the Circulation of Goods Infringing Intellectual Property Rights of 2002 (“LCC”)
   
   The LCC generally prohibits the clearance of goods which infringe intellectual property rights, and affords the Customs Department the power to intervene and suspend the clearance of goods infringing intellectual property rights.
   
   
2. Law for the Combating of Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Exploitation of Children of 2000 (“LCT”)
   The LCT defines pornography in a very broad manner so as to include any audio or audio-visual material containing sexual performances and other pornographic material.
   
   
3. Law Ratifying the Cybercrime Convention of 2001 on 30 April 2004, as well as the Law Ratifying the Additional Protocol to the Cybercrime Convention of 2004 concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through cyber networks.

II.  TRADEMARKS

The Cyprus trademark legislation comprises the Trademark Law, Cap. 268, as amended, and the Trade Marks Regulations of October 1951, as amended.

The Trademark Law provides, inter alia, that trademarks are any signs capable of being represented graphically, particularly words, including personal names, designs, letters, numerals, the particular shape of goods, provided that such signs are capable of distinguishing goods and services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.

A registered trademark affords the proprietor a monopoly and its protection will prevent others from using it for their own business purposes at the expense of that proprietor’s business reputation. Thus registering one’s trademark(s) is imperative in order to ensure exclusivity of use and, in consequence, an increase in the value and reputation of the trademark.

The Cyprus Registrar of Trademarks Office (division of the Cyprus Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver) is the official governmental body which undertakes to register trademarks in Cyprus. The Cyprus Registrar of Trademarks Office will issue a trademark certificate of any sign/mark which has been filed and is capable of being presented graphically, and satisfies the examiners that it distinguishes the goods or service of one proprietor (the applicant) from those of another.

The Certificate of registration of a trademark in Cyprus is valid for 7 years from the application date, and can be renewed in accordance with the provisions of the Trademark Law.

III. PATENTS

A patent is the legal instrument which affords protection to inventions of new methods of production and/or manufacture. Its range covers industries such as pharmaceutical and devices for domestic or industrial use. The monopoly right given to the inventor of the patent is based on the idea that an inventor is rewarded for the work done and money expended in procuring the invention, and thus obtains the right to exclude others from using the information and technical merits of his invention.

The protection of a patent is territorial since it is protected nationally, however international free trade has forced this trend to change and thus international patent offices like The European Patent Office (“EPO”) have been created in order to provide an international framework for the protection and the harmonising of the market.

The Cyprus legislation concerning patents includes the Patent Law, Law 1998 -2000, as amended, as well as the Patent Regulations P.I No 46/1999 and P.I No. 320/2000.

The Patent Law makes provisions, inter alia, for:

• Applications for a patent, including issues of priority date and the appropriate examination by the Cyprus Patent Office (a division of the Department of the Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver)
• In order for a Patent to become accepted for registration, it must be novel (i.e. not anticipated); must involve an inventive step; it must be capable of industrial application; and must not be within the excluded categories (i.e. discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods etc).
• Registering and issuing a Patent Certificate for an invention that has already been granted by the EPO and indicates Cyprus as a designated state, if filed within the time limits set by the Law

The duration/life of a patent is 20 years from its filing date, with the exception of pharmaceuticals which may be granted a Supplementary Protection Certificate (“SPC”) for a further period of 5 (five) years maximum (depending on the first marketing licence of the medicament in Cyprus).

IV. INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

This is a newly-developed legal concept both at international as well as domestic level. Protection of industrial design is afforded to industrial objects or work of craftsmanship used or sold in industry.

In line with the efforts of the government of the Republic of Cyprus to harmonize with the acquis communautaire, the House of Representatives enacted the Legal Protection of Industrial Designs and Models Law 4(I) of 2002.

The Legal Protection of Industrial Designs and Models Law of 2002, as amended provides, inter alia, the following:

• A design will be protected a long as it is new; it shows individuality and is filed according to the legal provisions
• A person who seeks protection must file an application at the Office of the Registrar of Industrial Designs (division of the Cyprus Companies Office and Official Registrar)
• Upon examination of the application of the drawing and once deemed that the design merits protection, the Registrar will issue the relevant Certificate within four months from the date of filing of the application. The applicant secures the exclusive right to “use” and thus precludes others from the use of the design from the time of the filing of the application
• The design or model is protected for the period of 5 years from the date of  filing and it may be renewed every 5 years, upon the payment of the relevant fees, for a maximum period of 25 years
• There are provisions for a civil action in which injunctions, damages, and the destruction of infringing goods may be claimed.

V. INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

The Republic of Cyprus has ratified the following Conventions which pertain to intellectual property rights:

• The Berne Convention on the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
• The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
• The Paris Universal Copyright Convention
• The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and Regulations under PCT
• The Trademark Law Treaty
• The WIPO Convention
• The Convention on the Grant of European Patents (European Patent Convention)
• The Geneva Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of their Phonograms of 1971
• The European Agreement for the Protection of Television Broadcasts (Ratification Law 82/69), the Protocol, and the Additional Protocols thereto
• The European Agreement concerning Program Exchanges by Means of Television Films
• The European Agreement on the Prevention of Broadcasts from Stations outside National Territories
• The European Convention on the Transfrontier Television and the Amending Protocol thereto
• The European Convention Relating to Question on Copyright Law and Neighbouring Rights in the Framework of Tranfrontier Broadcasting by Satellite
• Law ratifying the Nairobi Treaty (Olympic Symbol)
• The Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

The Republic of Cyprus is also a member of, inter alia:

• Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) since September 1990
• TRIPS Agreement, member and signatory, since July 1995
• Trademark Law Treaty (TLT), since April 1997
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since April 1998
• European Patent Office (EPO), since April 1998