ICELAND
National applications from foreign applicants went up from 528 to 617, while applications from Icelandic applicants increased from 634 in 2010 to 689 in 2011. International trademark applications through WIPO increased in 2011 by nearly 7 percent, after declines in 2009 and 2010. The total number of trademark registrations in 2011 was 3665, up from 3205 in 2010.
Designs
Applications for the registration of designs increased in 2011, as they have done in previous years. In all, 133 applications were submitted to the Icelandic Patent Office (IPO). There was an increase in applications from foreign applicants, while there was a slight decrease from Icelandic applicants. Iceland has been a member of the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement for the International Registration of Industrial Designs since 2004.
International conference
More than 160 delegates participated in a conference on The Importance of Intellectual Property Rights, which took place in Reykjavík on August 18, 2011. The conference was held to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the IPO. Speakers came from various sources, both Icelandic and foreign, including Francis Gurry, director general of WIPO.
International co-operation
IP rights and the protection of IP are substantially dependent on international co-operation. Iceland is a party to a number of international agreements:
• The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property; • The Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement;
www.worldipreview.com • The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT);
• The Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs; and
• The EPC.
Moreover, Iceland, as a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has adapted Icelandic legislation to the provisions of TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of IP Rights). Furthermore, the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA), together with additions, has led to several legislative amendments in Iceland to accord with the directives and regulations of the European Union.
Obtaining IP protection in Iceland
Patents protect the technical realisation of an idea, such as equipment and products, as well as methods or applications. Basic requirements for granting a patent for an invention are that it be new, inventive and capable of industrial application.
New: The invention must be new, not only in Iceland but worldwide. The invention may not have been publicised in speech, or in writing, before an application for a patent is filed.
Inventive: The invention must differ essentially from prior art, ie, the solution to the problem it resolves may not be obvious to a person skilled in the art.
Capable of industrial application: The invention must be of practical economic use, ie, it must be possible to manufacture and sell it.
Patents granted by the IPO protect inventions for up to 20 years in Iceland. T e exclusive rights established in patent legislation (see Patents Act No 17/1991, as amended) allow the proprietor to prohibit others from manufacturing, importing and selling an invention protected by a patent.
World Intellectual Property Review e-Digest 2012 153
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