RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/64
12May1997
ORGANIZATION(97-1988)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
REVIEW OFLEGISLATION INTHE FIELDS OFPATENTS, LAYOUT-DESIGNS
(TOPOGRAPHIES) OFINTEGRATED CIRCUITS, PROTECTION OF
UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION AND CONTROL OF
ANTI-COMPETITIVE PRACTICES IN
CONTRACTUAL LICENCES
Replies from Iceland toquestions posed by
theEuropean Communities andtheirMember States andJapan
Thefollowingcommunication,dated6May1997,hasbeenreceivedfromthePermanentMission
ofIceland.
_______________
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND THEIR
MEMBER STATES
1. Could theGovernment ofIceland clarify itssystem ofpatent protection? Isitthecasethat
nopatent protection isavailable forfilings between 1January 1996, thedateoftheapplication ofthe
TRIPS Agreement byIceland and1June1996? Furthermore, regarding inventions made inthesector
ofpharmaceutical andagricultural chemical products, doesthelegislation ofIceland provide fora
"mailbox andmarketing system" pursuant toArticles 70.8and70.9oftheTRIPS Agreement tocover
theperiod between 1January 1995 and1June1996? Please explain.
Iceland assumes thatthePatents ActNo.17/1991 asamended byActNo.67/1993,
ActNo.36/1996 andActNo.91/1996 hasbeenavailable toallWTO Members (seeIP/N/1/ISL/P/1,
IP/N/1/ISl/I/1).
ItmaybesaidthattheIcelandicpatentsystemisidenticaltothesysteminotherNordiccountries.
Thelegislation isvery similar totheDanish legislation, except fortheprovisions concerning
pharmaceutical andagricultural chemical products andtheentry intoforce ofthose provisions.
TheIcelandic Patents ActNo.17/1991 entered intoforce on1January 1992. Inatemporary
provision, Section 75,itwasstated thatpatents forpharmaceuticals should notbegranted untilafter
fiveyears fromtheentry intoforce oftheAct.However, itwaspossible togrant apatent foraprocess
formanufacturing suchmaterial. Itwasthuspossible togetaprocess patent butnotaproduct patent.
DuetotheTRIPS Agreement thedateforthistemporary provision waschanged with
ActNo.36/1996. With Section 27ofActNo.36/1996, paragraph 2ofSection 75wasamended
andnowreads asfollows: "After June1,1996, patents forpharmaceuticals maybegranted onthe
basis ofapplications filedafter1January, 1995."IP/C/W/64
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Asconcerns patent protection forfilings between 1January and1June1996, thequestion asked
bytheEuropean Communities appears tobebased onmisunderstanding. Patent protection hasofcourse
beenavailable forfilings between 1January and1June1996. Aspreviously stated, thetemporary
provision regarding patents forpharmaceuticals inpara. 2ofSection 75wasamended withActNo.
36/1996. ThisActentered intoforce on1June1996anditprovides thatpatents forpharmaceuticals
maybegranted after1June1996 onthebasis ofapplications filedafter1January 1995. Since the
Patents Actwasnotchanged induetimewithrespect totheapplication oftheTRIPS Agreement in
Iceland, theamendment isretroactive.
Itshould bepointed outthatthePatent Office wasaware oftheprovisions oftheTRIPS
Agreementandcouldthereforehandlepatentapplicationsforpharmaceuticalproductsasifthelegislation
hadalready beenamended.
Thelegislation ofIceland didnotprovide fora"mailbox andmarketing system" pursuant to
Section 70.8and70.9atthetimeofentryintoforceoftheAgreement Establishing theWTO. However,
Icelandic authorities haveinpractice respected theprovision inSection 70.8. Before 1June1996only
process-inventions inthefieldofpharmaceuticals werepatentable according toIcelandic legislation.
Patent applications claiming forpharmaceutical products aswellasprocess havehowever beenaccepted
from1January1995.Allapplicationsforpharmaceuticalprocessthathavebeenreceivedfrom1January
1995 include claims forproduct. Theexamination ofthese applications wasdelayed until1January
1996 inaccordance withart.70.8andnodecision wasmade untilafterActNo.36/1996 hadentered
intoforce. Allapplications forpharmaceutical products which were received in1995 andthefirst
halfof1996 will,asamatter offact,behandled inaccordance withart.70.8.
ActNo.36/1996 covers themailbox provision through itsretroactive character.
2. Howdoesthelegislation ofIceland implement Article 70.7oftheTRIPS Agreement which
provides thatinthecaseofintellectual property rights forwhich protection isconditional upon
registration, applications forprotection which arepending onthedateofapplication oftheTRIPS
AgreementfortheMemberinquestionshallbepermittedtobeamendedtoclaimanyenhancedprotection
provided under thisAgreement, except where anewmatter isconcerned? Please explain.
Inthesummer of1995acommittee wasappointed bytheMinister ofIndustry andCommerce
toconsider Article 70.7andtheobligations setouttherein. Thecommittee concluded thatapplications
foraprocess patent could notbetransformed tocover product patents. According totheArticle an
amendment oftheapplications cannotinclude "new matter". Thedistinction between process of
manufacture andproduct isclear. When theoriginal application wasfileditwasnotpossible tohave
apatent protection forpharmaceutical products. Amendments tocover theproducts would therefore
beconsidered newmatter. Adifferent understanding would imply aretroactive influence notapparently
intended, asArticle 70.1indicates.
REPLIES TOQUESTIONS POSED BYJAPAN
1. Inyourcountry, arethefollowing subject matters protectable bypatent: (1)Plants andanimals,
and(2)Plant andanimals varieties?
Iceland assumes thatthePatents ActNo.17/1991 asamended byActNo.67/1993, ActNo.
36/1996 andActNo.91/1996 hasbeen available toallWTO Members (seeIP/N/1/ISL/P1,
IP/N/1/ISl/I/1).IP/C/W/64
Page3
According toSection 1(4)(2) oftheIcelandic Patents ActNo.17/1991, apatent shallnotbe
granted forplant oranimal varieties oressentially biological processes fortheproduction ofplant or
animals.
Itisnotdirectly prohibited inthePatents Acttogrant apatent forindividual plants andanimals.
However, theprovision ofSection 1(4)(1) regarding inventions which would becontrary tomorality
orpublic order might leadtothatconclusion.
2. Inyourcountry, istheactofoffering forsaleincluded intheexclusive rights ofpatent?
Theexclusive rights conferred byapatent aredescribed inSection 3oftheIcelandic Patents
Act. Theactof"offering forsale" iscovered asstipulated inSection 3(1).
3. Inyourcountry, whatkindsofactsarerecognised asexceptions totheexclusive rights conferred
byapatent right?
Exceptions totherights conferred byapatent arelisted inSection 3(3)oftheIcelandic Patents
Act. They are:
1. usewhich isnotcommercial;
2. useoftheproduct protected bythepatent which isputonthemarket within the
European Economic Area bytheproprietor ofthepatent orwithhisconsent;
3. useoftheinvention forexperiments which relate totheinvention itself;
4. preparation inapharmacy ofamedicine inaccordance withaphysician 'sprescription
inindividual cases oractswiththemedicine soprepared.
4. Inyourcountry, inwhich caseisusewithout theauthorization oftherightholder permitted,
including usebythegovernment orbythird parties authorised bygovernment?
InPartVIoftheIcelandic Patents Actthere areprovisions regarding licensing, transfer etc.
Section 45stipulates thatifapatented invention isnotworked toareasonable extent inIceland
when three years havelapsed fromthegrant ofthepatent andfouryears haveelapsed fromthefiling
ofthepatent application, anyperson wishing towork theinvention inIceland mayobtain acompulsory
license todosounless there areshown legitimate reasons forthefailure towork theinvention.
According toSection 46,theproprietor ofapatent foraninvention, theexploitation ofwhich
isdependent onapatent heldbyanother person, mayobtain acompulsory license toexploit theinvention
protected bythelatter patent iftheformer invention isconsidered torepresent animportant technical
advance,whichhasconsiderableeconomicsignificance.Ifsuchacompulsorylicenseisgrantedpursuant
totheabove, theproprietor oftheinvention shall beentitled toobtain, upon reasonable terms, a
compulsory license toexploit theother invention.
Section 47stipulates thatwhen required byimportant public interests, anyperson whowishes
toexploit aninvention commercially forwhich another person holds apatent mayobtain acompulsory
license todoso.
Section 48reads asfollows:
"Any person who, inthiscountry, atthetimewhen apatent application wasmade
available tothepublic, wascommercially exploiting theinvention forwhich apatent isappliedIP/C/W/64
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for,may, iftheapplication results inapatent, obtain acompulsory license toexploit the
invention ifveryspecial circumstances make itdesirable andhehadnoknowledge andcould
notreasonably haveobtained anyknowledge oftheapplication. Sucharightshallalso,under
similar conditions, beenjoyed byanyperson whohadmade substantial preparations for
commercial exploitation oftheinvention inthiscountry.
Acompulsory license inaccordance withParagraph 1mayinclude thetimepreceding
thegrant ofthepatent."
Section 49wasamended byActNo.36/1996 duetotheprovisions inArticle 31oftheTRIPS
Agreement.
5. Inyourcountry, howistheobligation under TRIPS Articles 34.1and34.2regarding theshift
oftheburden ofproof incivilproceedings forpatent infringement related toaprocess patent
implemented?
Theobligation under Articles 34.1and34.2oftheTRIPS Agreement isimplemented by
Section 64aoftheIcelandic Patents Act,which reads asfollows:
“Should apatent involve amethod forproducing anovel product, thenifthissame
product isproduced byaperson other thantheholder ofthepatent, itshallbeconsidered as
having beenproduced bymeans ofthepatented method unless proved otherwise. Inpresenting
proof ofthecontrary, thelegitimate interests oftheparties toprotect production andcommercial
secrets shallberespected."