Statutory Instruments

2007 No. 276

patents

The Patents (Convention Countries) Order 2007

Made

7th February 2007

Laid before Parliament

14th February 2007

Coming into force

6th April 2007

At the Court at Buckingham Palace the 7th day of February 2007

Present,

The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council

Her Majesty by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, in exercise of the powers conferred upon Her by sections 90(1) and 124(3) of the Patents Act 1977(1), makes the following Order:

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Patents (Convention Countries) Order 2007 and shall come into force on 6th April 2007.

(2) The Patents (Convention Countries) Order 2006 is revoked (2).

2.—(1) The countries specified in the Schedule are declared to be convention countries for the purposes of section 5 of the Patents Act 1977.

Christine Cook

Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council

Article 2

SCHEDULE CONVENTION COUNTRIES

• Albania

• Algeria

• Andorra

• Angola

• Antigua and Barbuda

• Argentina

• Armenia

• Australia

• Austria

• Azerbaijan

• Bahamas

• Bahrain

• Bangladesh

• Barbados

• Belarus

• Belgium

• Belize

• Benin

• Bhutan

• Bolivia

• Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Botswana

• Brazil

• Brunei Darussalam

• Bulgaria

• Burkina Faso

• Burundi

• Cambodia

• Cameroon

• Canada

• Central African Republic

• Chad

• Chile

• China

• Columbia

• Comoros

• Congo

• Congo, Democratic Republic of the

• Costa Rica

• Cote d’Ivoire

• Croatia

• Cuba

• Cyprus

• Czech Republic

• Denmark

• Djibouti

• Dominica

• Dominican Republic

• Ecuador

• Egypt

• El Salvador

• Equatorial Guinea

• Estonia

• Faeroe Islands

• Fiji

• Finland

• France (including Overseas Departments and Territories)

• Gabon

• Gambia

• Georgia

• Germany

• Ghana

• Greece

• Grenada

• Guatemala

• Guinea

• Guinea-Bissau

• Guyana

• Haiti

• Holy See

• Honduras

• Hong Kong

• Hungary

• Iceland

• India

• Indonesia

• Iran, Islamic Republic of

• Iraq

• Ireland

• Israel

• Italy

• Jamaica

• Japan

• Jordan

• Kazakhstan

• Kenya

• Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of

• Korea, Republic of

• Kuwait

• Kyrgyzstan

• Lao People’s Democratic Republic

• Latvia

• Lebanon

• Lesotho

• Liberia

• Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

• Liechtenstein

• Lithuania

• Luxembourg

• Macao

• Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of

• Madagascar

• Malawi

• Malaysia

• Maldives

• Mali

• Malta

• Mauritania

• Mauritius

• Mexico

• Moldova, Republic of

• Monaco

• Mongolia

• Montenegro

• Morocco

• Mozambique

• Myanmar

• Namibia

• Nepal

• Netherlands

• Netherlands Antilles and Aruba

• New Zealand (including the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau)

• Nicaragua

• Niger

• Nigeria

• Norway

• Oman

• Pakistan

• Panama

• Papua New Guinea

• Paraguay

• Peru

• Philippines

• Poland

• Portugal

• Qatar

• Romania

• Russian Federation

• Rwanda

• Saint Kitts and Nevis

• Saint Lucia

• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

• San Marino

• Sao Tome and Principe

• Saudi Arabia

• Senegal

• Serbia

• Seychelles

• Sierra Leone

• Singapore

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Solomon Islands

• South Africa

• Spain

• Sri Lanka

• Sudan

• Suriname

• Swaziland

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Syrian Arab Republic

• Taiwan

• Tajikistan

• Tanzania, United Republic of

• Thailand

• Togo

• Tonga

• Trinidad and Tobago

• Tunisia

• Turkey

• Turkmenistan

• Uganda

• Ukraine

• United Arab Emirates

• United States of America (including Puerto Rico and all territories and possessions)

• Uruguay

• Uzbekistan

• Venezuela

• Viet Nam

• Yemen

• Zambia

• Zimbabwe

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order, pursuant to section 90(1) of the Patents Act 1977 (c.37), declares the countries specified in the Schedule to be convention countries for the purpose of section 5 of the Patents Act 1977. Section 5 of that Act affords certain rights of priority to applicants for patents, and this Order provides those rights of priority to applications filed in the countries specified in this Order. In this Order the term ‘country’ includes colonies, protectorates and territories by reason of section 90(3) of that Act.

The majority of the countries specified in the Order have acceded to the International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (“the Paris Convention”) (as revised at Stockholm in 1967) (Cmnd. 4431) or the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation (including the Agreement on Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) (Cm 3044-6, 3080, 3263-4, 3268-9, 3271, 3275-7 and 3282).

This Order revokes the Patents (Convention Countries) Order 2006 (SI 2006/315) (“the 2006 Order”). This Order provides a consolidated list of countries that are convention countries for the purposes of section 5 of the Patents Act 1977 and the only substantive change from the 2006 Order is the addition of Yemen to the Schedule. Following Montenegro’s Declaration of Independence from Serbia adopted by the National Assembly of Montenegro on 3rd June 2006, Serbia and Montenegro are dealt with separately in this Order.

(1)

1977 c.37.

(2)

SI 2006/315.