On 23/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 23/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 23/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 08/04/2013.
PART XI
LICENCES OF RIGHT AND COMPULSORY LICENCES
53.
—(1) At any time after the grant of a patent, its proprietor may apply to the Registrar for an entry to be made in the register to the effect that licences under the patent are to be available as of right.
(2) Where an application under subsection (1) is made, the Registrar shall give notice of the application to any person registered as having a right in or under the patent and, if satisfied that the proprietor of the patent is not precluded by contract from granting licences under the patent, the Registrar shall make that entry.
(3) Where an entry under subsection (2) is made in respect of a patent —
(a)
any person shall, at any time after the entry is made, be entitled as of right to a licence under the patent on such terms as may be settled by agreement or, in default of agreement, by the Registrar on the application of the proprietor of the patent or the person requiring the licence;
(b)
the Registrar may, on the application of the holder of any licence granted under the patent before the entry was made, order the licence to be exchanged for a licence of right on terms so settled;
(c)
if, in proceedings for infringement of the patent, the defendant undertakes to take a licence on such terms, no injunction shall be granted against him and the amount (if any) recoverable against him by way of damages shall not exceed twice the amount which would have been payable by him as licensee if such a licence on those terms had been granted before the earliest infringement; and
(d)
the renewal fee payable in respect of the patent after the date of the entry shall be half the fee which would be payable if the entry had not been made.
(4) An undertaking under subsection (3)(c) may be given at any time before final order in the proceedings, without any admission of liability.
(5) The licensee under a licence of right may (unless, in the case of a licence the terms of which are settled by agreement, the licence otherwise expressly provides) request the proprietor of the patent to take proceedings to prevent any infringement of the patent.
(6) If the proprietor refuses or neglects to take proceedings under subsection (5) within 2 months after being so requested, the licensee may institute proceedings for the infringement in his own name as if he were the proprietor, making the proprietor a defendant.
(7) A proprietor so added as defendant shall not be liable for any costs or expenses unless he enters an appearance and takes part in the proceedings.
[UK Patents 1977, s. 46]
Cancellation of entry made under section 53
54.
—(1) At any time after an entry has been made under section 53 in respect of a patent, the proprietor of the patent may apply to the Registrar for cancellation of the entry.
(2) Where an application under subsection (1) is made and the balance paid of all renewal fees which would have been payable if the entry had not been made, the Registrar may cancel the entry if satisfied that there is no existing licence under the patent or that all licensees under the patent consent to the application.
(3) Within the prescribed period after an entry had been made under section 53 in respect of a patent, any person who claims that the proprietor of the patent is, and was at the time of the entry, precluded by a contract in which the claimant is interested from granting licences under the patent may apply to the Registrar for cancellation of the entry.
(4) Where the Registrar is satisfied, on an application under subsection (3), that the proprietor of the patent is and was so precluded, he shall cancel the entry.
(5) The proprietor shall be liable to pay, within a period specified by the Registrar, a sum equal to the balance of all renewal fees which would have been payable if the entry had not been made, and the patent shall cease to have effect at the expiration of that period if that sum is not so paid.
(6) Where an entry is cancelled under this section, the rights and liabilities of the proprietor of the patent shall after the cancellation be the same as if the entry had not been made.
(7) Where an application has been made under this section —
(a)
in the case of an application under subsection (1), any person; and
(b)
in the case of an application under subsection (3), the proprietor of the patent,
may, within the prescribed period, give notice to the Registrar of opposition to the cancellation.
(8) The Registrar shall, in considering the application made under this section, determine whether the opposition is justified.
[UK Patents 1977, s. 47]
55.
—(1) Any interested person may apply to the court for the grant of a licence under a patent on the ground that the grant of the licence is necessary to remedy an anti-competitive practice.
[19/2004]
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the court may determine that the grant of a licence is necessary to remedy an anti-competitive practice if —
(a)
there is a market for the patented invention in Singapore;
(b)
that market —
(i)
is not being supplied; or
(ii)
is not being supplied on reasonable terms; and
(c)
the court is of the view that the proprietor of the patent has no valid reason for failing to supply that market with the patented invention, whether directly or through a licensee, on reasonable terms.
[19/2004]
(3) Subject to this section, if the court is satisfied that the ground referred to in subsection (1) is established, the court may make an order for the grant of a licence in accordance with the application upon such terms as the court thinks fit.
[40/95; 19/2004]
(4) A licence granted under this section —
(a)
is not exclusive; and
(b)
shall not be assigned otherwise than in connection with the goodwill of the business in which the patented invention is used.
[40/95; 19/2004]
(5) Any licence granted under this section may, on the application of any interested party, be terminated by the court where the court is satisfied that the ground upon which the licence was granted has ceased to exist and is unlikely to recur.
[40/95; 19/2004]
(6) Where a licence is granted under this section to any person, the person shall pay such remuneration to the patentee as may be agreed, or as may be determined by a method agreed between the person and the patentee or, in default of agreement, as is determined by the court on the application of the person or the patentee.
[40/95]
(7) The powers of the court on an application under this section shall be exercised with a view to securing that the inventor or other person beneficially entitled to a patent shall receive reasonable remuneration having regard to the economic value of the licence.
[40/95]
(8) No order shall be made in pursuance of any application under this section which would be at variance with any treaty or international convention relating to patents to which Singapore is a party.
[40/95]