Patent registration in Fiji. Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. Endowed with forest, mineral, and fish resources, Fiji is one of the most developed of the Pacific island economies, though still with a large subsistence sector. Natural resources include timber, fish, gold, copper, offshore oil, and hydropower. Economic liberalization created a boom in the garment industry and a steady growth rate despite growing uncertainty regarding land tenure in the sugar industry. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Fiji.
Patent in Fiji
According to Fiji Patent Law, a patent in Fiji is a grant of a property right given by the Government to an inventor. With a patent, the inventor, or the patentee will have the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling the invention in a country, or importing the invention into a country, along with other rights to protect their best interests.
To be patentable in Fiji, an invention must satisfy the new, nonobvious, inventive, and industrially applicable requirements.
In addition, an invention that is patentable can also be an improvement on existing items or methods.
On the other hand, the unpatentable subjects in Fiji are:
- Discoveries, laws of nature, and mathematical methods;
- Aesthetic designs;
- Systems, rules, and methods for the performance of mental labor, games or management, computer programs;
- Presentation of data and abstract ideas.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Fiji
The necessary documents for patent registration in Fiji include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s and inventor’s names, addresses, citizenships, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
Novelty grace period
A grace period of up to 1 year or 12 months is provided for certain instances of prior disclosure.
This means that, within 12 months from the disclosure of the information relating to the invention, if the applicant files the patent application for that invention in Fiji, the patent application will still be considered valid.
On the other hand, if the 12 months period has passed, the patent application will then be considered invalid.
The procedure of patent registration in Fiji
To obtain a patent in Fiji, the applicant must file their patent application to the Fiji IP Office.
In addition, if the applicant has previously registered their patent in the UK, they can use that patent as a basis to register the patent in Fiji, with considerably fewer procedures.
After receiving the patent application, the examiners will conduct a formality examination to check if the application complies with the requirements in the Fiji Patent Law.
The patent application will then undergo a substantive examination which will happen in Australia. It should be noted that the UK-based application does not need to undergo substantive examination.
If there are no issues, the application will be published publicly for 2 months in the Official Gazette.
If there are no oppositions or the opposition action ends in favor of the applicant, the patent will be granted to the applicant within 3 months.
Rights of the patentee
At the moment, the patent term in Fii is extended from 14 years (from the date of the letters patent) to 20 years (from the patent date).
Once a patent is obtained by the patentee, that invention can not be used, manufactured, duplicated, or sold without the patentee’s authorization.
Patent rights can be enforced in court against third-party infringers who practice the invention without the permission of the inventor or the patentee.
You can see a list of Fiji IP firms here.