“Intellectual Property” is the legal term used to portray the compilation of Laws which protect various legal entitlements that manifest from human endeavours. It gives the right to the right owner of the subject matter, which is the product of intellect, to own this intangible property in a similar way to owning physical property.

By securing the protection of such intangible property, the right owner has the right to initiate legal proceedings against any physical or legal person in order to prevent the unauthorized use of this intangible property.

In a few simple words, what “Intellectual Property Law” does is to encourage further innovation and creativity by providing ways to protect such ideas and information that are of commercial value.

(I) WHY SEEK PROTECTION?

The expansion of trade competition and the ever increasing technical innovations, including but not limited to, word-wide electronic communication through the internet and similar services, have resulted in the extensive loss of revenue for the right owners through the pirate market exploitation which is implicit in unauthorized electronic dissemination of such ideas and information.

Imitations of consumer products bearing well known marks, the distribution and sale of such pirate goods, parallel imports and the unauthorized downloading of films and music are continuously threatening any future attempts for further innovation and creativity.

Taking this into consideration it is imperative that a business must be aware of its IP assets and ensure for their protection as much as it ensures for their marketing and financial exploitation.

1. The Berne Convention for the International Protection of Literary and Artistic Works [Ratifying Law 86/1979].
2. The Universal Copyright Convention [Ratifying Law 51/1990]
3. European Convention relating to Questions on Copyright Law and Neighbouring Rights in the Framework of Transfrontier Broadcasting by Satellite [Ratifying Law 29(III)/1995].
4. The Rome Convention for the protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations [Ratifying Law 14(III)/1999];
5. The Geneva Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorised Duplication of their Phonograms [Ratifying Law 21(III)/1992];
6. Trade Mark Law Treaty [Ratifying Law 12(III)/1996];
7. The Uruguay Round (TRIPS) [Ratifying Law 16(III)/1995];
8. The International Convention of Paris for the Protection of Industrial Property [Ratifying Laws, 63/1965, 66/1983];
9. The European Patent Convention [Ratifying Law, 26(III)/1997];
10. The European Patent Convention 2000 [expected to be ratified ];
11. The Patent Co-operation Treaty [Ratifying Law, 27(III)/1997];
12. The Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks [Ratifying Law, 3(III)/2003]. The Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks [Ratifying Law, 4(III)/2003];
13. The Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization on the Copyright and Agreed Statements [Ratifying Law 23(III)/2002];
14. The Convention which establishes the World Intellectual Property Organization [Ratifying Law 36/1984].
15. European Agreement concerning Program Exchanges by Means of Television films [Ratifying Law 83/1969]
16. European Agreement for the Prevention of Broadcasts Transmitted from Stations Outside National Territories [Ratifying Law, 36/1971]
17. The WIPO Copyright Treaty [Ratifying Law 23(III)/2002].
18. The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty [Ratifying Law 37(III)/2004]
19. The Nairobi Treaty for the Protection of the Olympic Symbol [Ratifying Law 9/1985].
    
    

Lellos P Demetriades Law Office was established in 1955 and has over the last 20 years developed an expertise in Intellectual Property and in particular matters relating to copyright, patents and trade marks.

It has successfully provided advice in relation to amendments of the Copyright and Patents laws. It acts on behalf of international associations representing the Film, Software and Music industries and has been utilizing traditional causes of action in intellectual property in a creative combination, within the existing legal and administrative framework, to fight piracy. Within the above-mentioned set up it has provided consultancy services in co-operation with local and international interests as well as Diplomatic Delegations to Cyprus. It has thus developed an expertise in public affairs and in particular lobbying of the Government and Members of Parliament.

The Office advises on protection under copyright and undertakes anti piracy actions as well litigation on all IP related matters as well as unfair competition and the registration of Trademarks, Patents, Industrial Design on a local, European and International level. It also assists Customs and border control of IP rights and provides training on anti-piracy matters.

(VI) TYPES OF IP PROTECTION

1. Literary, artistic and scientific works (Copyright);
2. Performances of performing artists, phonograms and broadcasts (Copyright);
3. Inventions in all fields of human endeavour (Patents);
4. Scientific discoveries (Patents);
5. Industrial Designs (Industrial Designs);
6. Trade marks, service marks, and commercial names and designations (Trade Marks);
7. Protection against unfair competition; and
8. All other rights resulting from Intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields.

(I) TRADE MARKS/ SERVICE MARKS

A) National Trade Marks

Nature
The Cyprus Trade Mark Legislation comprises the Cyprus Trade Mark Law, Cap. 268, and the Trade Mark Regulations of October 1951 as amended (by Regulations P.I No. 969 of 1971 and P.I 282 of 1990)

The Trade Mark Law and Regulations govern trade marks (and service marks) and their registration in Cyprus. The amending Laws of Cap. 268 are: 63/1962, 69/1971, 206/1990 and Law 176/2000 which has brought Cypriot trademark legislation in line with European trademark legislation.

A Trade Mark may be comprised of names, words, logos, symbols, numbers, designs, images, the shape of goods, colours*, sounds* and smells* (*non conventional trade marks) or the combination of a number of these elements that create a sign. This sign must be able to be represented graphically and its primary purpose is to be able (due to its distinctive character) to distinguish goods and/ or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.

1. It is an asset with goodwill attached to it;
2. It ensures the exclusive right to its owner to use it, for the goods and/ or services applied and protected for;
3. It helps the avoidance of confusion of goods and/ or services sold in the market;
4. Offers legal protection to its proprietor as legal proceedings may be commenced in order to prevent its unauthorized use from third parties;
5. Ability to license the mark to third parties in return of financial profit;
6. Ability to assign the trade mark to third parties in return of financial profit;
7. Block third parties from registering an identical or similar mark for the same goods or services;
8. Block third parties from importing goods that bear the same or similar mark which has not been authorized.

Classes
In Cyprus the Nice International Classification system is used under which goods are categorized into 34 classes (Trade Marks) and services are categorized into 11 classes (Service Marks).

Unlike other countries, Trade Mark applications concerning different classes are submitted individually, thus a different application form must be filed for each different class applied for, even if the mark is the same.

Application- Registration Procedure
Such applications are received by the Registrar of Trade Marks’ Office (division of the Cyprus Registrar of Companies’ Office and Official Receiver) and must be filed by an advocate who is a member to the Cyprus Bar Association or a Law firm licensed to practice law in Cyprus.

Application- Registration Procedure
Such applications are received by the Registrar of Trade Marks’ Office (division of the Cyprus Registrar of Companies’ Office and Official Receiver) and must be filed by an advocate who is a member to the Cyprus Bar Association or a Law firm licensed to practice law in Cyprus.

Documents and necessary Information in order to proceed with the application

1. Power of Attorney Form (T.M 1) – signed by the owner of the Trade Mark. If the applicant is a legal entity then the company’s rubber stamp must be affixed next to the signature of a director of such company.
2. Full details of the applicant’s name, address, nationality and nature of the business of the applicant must be provided;
3. Copies of the mark (at least five);
4. Description of the goods and services to be covered by the application
5. Forms T.M 1, 2 and 3 are filed with the Registrar of Trademarks’ Office in order for the application to be successfully filed and for an application number to be allocated to the application.

Examination
The Cyprus Registrar of Trademarks’ Office examines the marks on both absolute and relative grounds.

A mark may be unconditionally accepted, may be conditionally accepted or may be rejected. The applicant, in case the mark in not accepted, has the opportunity to proceed with the filing of a written address and affidavit proving use and/ or proceed directly with a hearing.

Publication, Opposition and Judicial review
After examination and when such application is accepted for registration by the competent Office, the mark in question is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus. Any person within two months of such publication may give notice of opposition to such registration; such notice of opposition is filed with the Registrar’s Office that in turn informs the applicant. The applicant may wish to proceed with the filing of a counterstatement and both parties will have the opportunity to present their case through written addresses and affidavits. After hearing both parties and considering all evidence filed, the Registrar will determine whether the mark in question must proceed to registration or not.

Any party may apply to the Supreme Court of Cyprus (revisional jurisdiction) for judicial review of the Registrar’s decision.

Registration and duration of validity
When an application is accepted for registration, a Trade Mark Certificate will be issued by the Registrar’s Office. The date of the Certificate, and thus the protection of the mark, is back dated to the date of the initial application.

The mark must be renewed seven years after the initial application and thereafter every fourteen years.

The right to the protection of a registered Trade mark is the only IP right that confers an indefinite period of protection to its proprietor(s) assuming that the mark is renewed as appropriate.

b) COMMUNITY TRADE MARKS (CTM)

Following the accession of Cyprus to the European Union on 1 May 2004, it also became a member of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM).

OHIM is based in Alicante Spain and it is the Office where applications are accepted for the Registration of Community Trade Marks (CTM) and Community Industrial Designs (RCD).

A Community Trade Mark registration grants to its proprietor a uniform right valid in all Member States of the European Union by means of one procedural system. Thus once a Trade Mark is registered as a Community Trade Mark, its proprietor is protected to use such Trade Mark in all 27 country members of the European Union and may prohibit others from using same in any of those 27 EU countries.

When a CTM is registered, its date of registration is backdated to the date of the initial application. A CTM to stay in force must be renewed every 10 years.

Anyone can apply for the registration of their mark as a Community Trade Mark as long as they have their domicile or principal place of business or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the European Community or have appointed a legal practitioner that is qualified in a Member State who is entitled to act in that Member State as a representative in Trade Mark matters and who has his/her place of business in the European Union.

As with national Trade Marks, a Trade Mark application (form Mod.009) must be filed with the Office of OHIM together with an Authorization form. The Office proceeds to the examination of the mark on absolute grounds and especially the correct classification of the goods and/ or services, in turn the Office proceeds with the publication of the mark and then to its registration.

A significant difference between the examination procedure carried out in relation to the registration of Cyprus National Trade Mark applications and Community Trade Mark applications is that OHIM only examines the Community Trade Mark application on absolute grounds but not relative grounds. This means that the Office does not examine whether other similar or identical Trade Marks are registered and thus proceeds to the publication and/ or registration of marks that may be similar, confusingly similar or even identical to Trade Marks registered within the European Union or even as Community Trade Marks, resulting to the filing of many oppositions for the registration of Community Trade marks.

c ) INTERNATIONAL TRADE MARKS

International Trade Mark registrations can also be acquired from the filing of an International Trademark application from Cyprus. Such applications are filed through the Cyprus Registrar of Trademarks’ Office and are forwarded directly to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

WIPO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that administers a system of International registration of marks. The system is governed by two treaties, the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol. Any physical or legal person that is a national, has its domicile or commercial establishment in one of the country members to one or both of the aforementioned treaties can apply for the International registration of his/ her Trade Mark having effect to some or all of the Country members of the Madrid Union.

Cyprus is a member of the both the Madrid Agreement and Protocol meaning that anyone that has a registered national Trade mark in Cyprus will be able to apply for its registration to all Country members of the Madrid Union (more than 60 countries).

An application is filed with the Registrar of Trademarks’ Office in Cyprus with the filing of a specific form (form MM3) that will be forwarded directly to WIPO by our National Office.

WIPO will just examine the application form in relation to any irregularities but it will not examine the application on absolute or relative grounds. WIPO will then forward copies of such application to all the National Offices, for which protection is claimed, for examination of the application on absolute and relative grounds.

If a national Office after examining such application, decides that the mark cannot (for any absolute and/or relative ground) be registered in that Country, then it notifies WIPO of such provisional refusal and then in turn WIPO will notify the applicant. The applicant can either decide to abandon the application in that Country or decide to defend the registration of his/ her mark by appointing an advocate in the Country that provisionally refused to register such mark.

(II)TRADE/ BUSINESS NAMES

NATURE
A Trade or Business Name is the term used to denote a trading name. Such a name may be registered and used by a sole trader or a company. For example Mr. Brown that owns a garage may register the business name “Browns’ garage” and he may issue invoices using his Trade or Business name.

Business names are registrable in Cyprus and the provisions for such registrations are set out by Cap. 116 (as amended by Law No. 77/1977) “Partnerships and Business Names Law”.

PROCEDURE
A person that wants to register a Business name must first file an application at the Registrar of Companies’ Office in Cyprus for the name to be approved. The Registrar of Companies searches through its database of registered Business names, Company names and Trade Marks in order to make sure that the name applied for is not identical or similar to a name and/ or mark already registered.

As soon as the name is approved, the applicant has six months to file the appropriate form (Form B.N 1) duly completed and signed.

A business name can only be registered if the applicant is a single person or a legal entity.

A.NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS

NATURE
Industrial Designs are considered to be objects with aesthetic properties that can be used in Industry. Patterns for the manufacture of industrial products, shapes of articles applied to other articles and, in general, work of craftsmanship that is appealing to the eye in terms of aesthetics, and can be used or sold in industry, may be eligible to be protected under the IP right of Industrial Designs.

Industrial designs are usually manufactured in large numbers as they are objects used and/ or sold in industry and they are protected for they are considered to increase the marketability and the value of a product which they form part of.

In accordance with the Cyprus Legislation “Legal protection of Industrial Designs and Models Law” (“Law” No. 4(I)/2002 as amended by Laws 70(I)/2003 and 119(I)/2006): one can apply for the protection of such a design as long as this is novel, has an individual character and it is filed in accordance to the provision of this Law.

Novel: According to Section 4(2) of the Law a design is considered to be “new” if no other identical design (which differs only in minor details) has been disclosed to the general public.

Individual Character: Means that the overall impression, of such a design or model, differs from that made by another such design or model previously disclosed to the informed user. This Section 4(3) of the Law further provides that consideration should be given to the degree of free will of the creator of such a design or model at the time same was created, in order to assess the individuality of character of such design or model.

Classes
Cyprus is a member to the Locarno Agreement and thus the International Classification for Industrial designs (Locarno Classification system) is used in Cyprus under which designs are categorized into 32 classes and 223 subclasses.

Application- Registration Procedure
A person that seeks protection must file an application with the Office of the Registrar of Industrial Designs (division of the Cyprus Registrar of Companies’ Office and Official Receiver). Such application is accompanied by an Authorization form of a practicing advocate in the Republic of Cyprus.

As soon as the application of the drawing of the design or model is examined from a procedural point of view, and if same is found to be in accordance with the provisions of the Law, then within four months from the date of filing of the initial application, the Registrar will grant the Registration Certificate. The protection of the Industrial Design is backdated to the date that the initial application was filed.

• The name, surname, nationality, address or registered office of the applicant that may be an individual or a corporate entity.
• The description of the object on which the design will be affixed.
• Graphic or photographic representation of the design or model suitable for reproduction.
• Request for filing of the design or model in the Registry.
• The name and address of the Authorised representative who will receive all documents serviced when the applicant does not have a residence or registered office in Cyprus.

• The list of the products that it may be embodied
• The classification in accordance with the International Classification of Designs and Models, in accordance with the Locarno Agreement.
• Declaration of the provenance of the right on the design or model if the creator is not the only creator.
• Application for the claiming of priority of a previous filing (if any)
• Brief description of the characteristics of the drawing as well as any reference on colours.
• Application for the publication of the drawing
• Declaration that the drawing or a memorandum was presented in a fair.

DURATION OF VALIDITY
Unlike Trade Marks, the maximum duration of protection of a design is twenty five years from the date of the initial filing of the application. The first renewal can be filed five years from the date that the initial application was filed and thereafter the design may be renewed every five years by paying the relevant fees set out in the Regulation (74/2002).

B. REGISTERED COMMUNITY DESIGNS (RCD)

As with Community Trade Marks the registration of a Community Design grants to its proprietor a uniform right valid in all Member States of the European Union by means of one procedural system. Thus once a Design is registered as a Registered Community Design (RCD), its proprietor is protected to use such Design in all 27 country members of the European Union and may prohibit others from using same in any of those 27 EU countries.

When a design is registered, its date of registration is backdated to the date of the initial application. A RCD to stay in force must be renewed every 5 years for a maximum period of 25 years and the first renewal application is due five years after the initial filing date. Applications for renewals have to be filed with the Office in the six months before the expiry of the registration.

Anyone can apply for the registration of their design as a Registered Community Design as long as they have their domicile or principal place of business or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the European Community or have appointed a legal practitioner that is qualified in a Member State who are entitled to act in that Member State as representatives in Trade Mark matters and who have their place of business in the European Union.

An application form (Form Mod.001) must be filed with the Office of OHIM together with an Authorization form. The Office proceeds to the examination of the design only on formal issues and absolute grounds and proceeds with the publication of the mark and then to its registration.

There are only two reasons that the Office refuses to process the application for the Registration of a Community Design and this is when:

(a) where the subject-matter of the application does not correspond to the definition of a design as set forth in Art. 3(a) CDR; or
(b) where the design is contrary to public policy or accepted principles of morality.

After the registration of a Community Design anyone can proceed with an application to declare such RCD invalid. According to Article 25 of the Council Regulation (EC) No. 6/20 of 12 December on Community Designs, if for example the RCD in question is in conflict with a prior design which has been made available to the public after the date of filing of the application or of its priority date and which is protected from a date prior to the said date by a registered Community Design or an application of such a design or by a registered design right of a Member state, or by an application of such a right (Article 25(1) (d)).

(IV) PATENTS

NATURE
A Patent is the legal instrument provided nationally, on a European level and/ or internationally for the protection of Inventions of new methods of production and manufacture that can be used for industrial purpose and its range covers industries from pharmaceutical to utility, plant, domestic or industrial devices.

In Cyprus, the relevant Law on patent protection is the Patents Law 16(I)/98 as amended by Laws 21(I)/1999, 153(I)/2000, 163(I)/2002 and 122(I)/2006 and the regulations that relate to the filing of national applications are contained in the Patent Regulations P.I No. 46/99 as amended by P.I No. 320/2000.

Although an invention may occur in any field, some patent laws restrict the areas in which patents can be granted. Under Cyprus Law (Section 5(2) (a) - (d) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods, aesthetic creations, schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business and programs for computers and presentations of information are excluded from patentability.

A patent application is a request pending at a patent office for the grant of a patent for the invention described and claimed by that application Patent. A commercial monopoly right is awarded to the inventor of the registered patent for the period of maximum twenty years (with the exception of patents that relate to pharmaceuticals and plant protection products where a Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) of another five years maximum is also available, depending on the date of the first marketing licence of the pharmaceutical) so that the inventor will be able to be rewarded for the work done as well as the moneys spent on research in order to be able to complete the invention and the right to exclude any third parties from manufacturing goods using the patented information and technical merits of the invention.

Depending upon the office at which a patent application is filed, that application could either be an application for a patent in a given country, or may be an application for a patent in a range of countries. The former are known as "national (patent) applications", and the latter as "regional (patent) applications".

NEW DEVELOPMENTS
The European Patent Office has amended the 1973 European Patent Convention with the new European Patent Convention 2000 (EPC 2000) that will enter into force on 13 December 2007 and will apply to all member states that ratified it, Cyprus not being an exception. The new edition of the European Patent Convention contains the texts as applicable from the date of entry into force (13.12.2007) of the Act revising the EPC of 29.11.2000 of the convention, on the grant of the European Patents and its implementing Regulations, the Protocol on the interpretation of Article 69 EPC, the Protocol on centralization, the Protocol on recognition, the Rules relating to fees etc.

The new EPC 2000 extends the current patent system and, inter alia, amended Article 52 of the EPC of 29.11.2000. Under the old European Patent Convention (Art. 52(2)) “programs for computers” were not patentable as these were not regarded as inventions.

The amended Article 52, by the new EPC 2000, and in particular Article 52(3) provides that: “Paragraph 2 shall exclude the patentability of the subject-matter or activities referred to therein only to the extent to which a European patent application or European patent relates to such subject-matter or activities as such”. This meaning that this exclusion from patentability of programs for computers only applies to the extent to which the whole Patent relates to a computer program as such, thus inventions including some software can now be considered as patentable i.e. if the software has a technical effect.

NATIONAL PATENT APPLICATION – REGISTRATION PROCEDURE

In order to obtain the grant of a patent in Cyprus, a person, either legal or natural, through an advocate, must file an application at the Registrar of Patent’s office (division of the department of the Registrar of Companies’ Office and Official receiver) that has a jurisdiction to grant a patent in Cyprus.

• A description;
• The claims;
• The drawings and
• The abstract of the invention.
  

The national patent application then proceeds to be examined in relation to its compliance with the Law and Regulations. If the application filed is in compliance with such provisions, then the applicant is called upon by the Registrar of Patents to pay the search report fees directly to the European Patent Office (EPO).

When the applicant pays such fees, the Registrar forwards the Patent to the EPO that will in turn determine and inform the Registrar through a Search Report of any prior art in existence thus providing information in relation to the patentability of the Patent in question.

Sixteen months after the filing date, or the patent’s priority date, the Patent is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic.

When the patent application is accepted and published, the Cyprus Registrar of Patents’ Office will issue a Patent Certificate.

As with all other IP rights, once a patent is registered, the proprietor of the patent may prohibit any third parties from manufacturing and in any way exploiting commercially the product that is protected by the patent or a product obtained by using the process patented. In cases of infringement the proprietor of the patent has the legal right to bring an action in a court of Law against any such infringers and seek an injunction as well as damages by way of an account of profits for the sale of such products that infringe the registered patent.

REGIONAL PATENT APPLICATIONS
A regional patent application is one which may has effect in a range of countries. The European Patent Office (EPO) as a Regional patent office that grants patents which take effect in some or all countries contracting to the European Patent Convention (EPC), Cyprus being one of them. Thus, according the applicant’s wishes in relation to the countries that he wants to designate and upon the filing of a single application form, an applicant can proceed with applying for the protection of his/ her invention in more than 32 countries.

Provided that the requirements of the EPC are met then the EPO grants the patent to the states designated in the European application. The Cyprus Registrar of Patents’ Office validates and protects patents which are granted by the EPO. If Cyprus is one of these designated states then an application must be filed with the Cyprus Registrar’s Office within three months from the date of such grant with the filing of an application form for the validation of a European Patent (Form P.17), an Authorization form (Form P.8) the Granted Patent document and the translation of same in Greek.

The application together with the rest of the documents will be forwarded to the examination division of the Cyprus Registrar’s Office and after the examination procedure is finalized a Patent Certificate will be granted. Each patent must be renewed annually and the renewal fees must be paid in order for such patent to remain in force in Cyprus.


(V) COPYRIGHT

NATURE
The Cyprus Law relating to Copyright is set out in the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Law of 1976 to 2006 (Law No. 59/1976, as amended by Laws 63/77, 18(I)/1993, 54(I)/1999, 12(I)/2001, 128(I)2002, 128(I)/2004 and 123(I)/2006).
The 2002 amendment of the Copyright Law harmonized Cyprus legislation with the EU Copyright Directive 93/98/EEC “harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights”, it implements at the same time other EU Directives on the legal protection of software, rental and lending rights, copyright and rights related to copyright applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission and the legal protection of databases.

The 2004 amendment establishes a new type of copyright within the framework of the information society, it expands the legal protection afforded in relation to reproductions and contains new provisions on interactive on demand broadcasting and rights-management information. In an effort to combat copyright infringement, a further development is the substantial increase of the amount of fines and the term of imprisonment imposed on persons infringing copyright.
Copyright is the statutory right to stop others copying or exploiting in any other way original work i.e. artistic work, literary work, music recordings, broadcasts, computer software etc without permission from the owner of such rights.

The Intellectual Property right emanating from Copyright gives the owner of such original work the ability to prohibit, by claiming Copyright Infringement, any third parties from copying the work or a substantial part thereof, publish the work by any means to the public, perform, show or play the work or part thereof to the public, broadcast the work or include it in a cable programme and adapt the work in any way.

According to Section 3 of the Law, the works protected under Copyright law are the following:

a) Scientific works
b) Literary works, including computer programs
c) Musical works
d) Artistic works, including photographs of every nature.
e) Cinematographic films (movies)
f) Databases
g) Recordings
h) Broadcasts
i) Publication of previously unpublished work.

The Law also provides for the recognition of Neighbouring rights, Licensing and Royalty payments and the result when copyrighted work is infringed leading to damages or even high criminal penalties

Copyright is generated once any of the aforementioned works can be presented in written or any other tangible or permanent physical form. An idea cannot be protected under copyright law, for example music must be recorded on a compact disc or a digital audio tape in order for the creator to be able to protect same under Copyright Law.

In Cyprus, as in many other countries, no official registry exists and no registration requirements must be met in relation to such works, the protection of same simply exists from the date of their creation. Most authors/ creators of such original works just use the International copyright symbol © as well as their name and date of publication of such works accompanied by the phrase “all rights reserved”.

• Protection to literary (including computer software), dramatic, musical, artistic, scientific works and films (duration of the life of author plus 70 years).
• Protection to database (duration 15 years),
• Protection to sound recordings and programs (duration 50 years),
• Protection of publications of otherwise unpublished works (duration 25 years).

(VI) BORDER CONTROL

NATURE
Unfortunately, the theft of Intellectual Property is not yet perceived in the mind of the general public as a crime deserving the same punishment such as property theft or fraud, crimes punishable under criminal law.

The lack of information to the consumers, by the public authorities or other government bodies, as to the dangers from using such unauthorized/ pirate/ counterfeit products, the lack of information to the public as to the destructive results to the music, film, fashion industry and the producers of the genuine goods and the inadequate deterrent penalties by the judicial authorities exacerbate the pirate industry.

As long as there is consumer demand for such pirated/ counterfeit goods, the phenomenon of free riding and passive off of imitations of desired products at a lower cost by unscrupulous traders (that make a considerable business profit from infringing the Intellectual Property rights of honest traders) will always exist and will never be eliminated unless proper measures are taken.

One of the measures that can be taken by the owners of such Intellectual Property rights is to file an application with the Custom Department for the Border Control of goods entering into a market and which are suspected of infringing the Intellectual Property Rights of the applicant.

In Cyprus the Law relating to Border Control and enforcement of Intellectual Property rights is the “Control of the trafficking of goods that infringes the Intellectual Property Rights Law of 2006” No. 133(I)/2006. This law abolished the previous Cyprus legislation No. 31(I)/2002.

The aforementioned law entered into force in order to harmonize Cyprus legislation with Council Regulation 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003 concerning customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual Property rights and the measures to be taken against goods found to have infringed such right.

APPLICATION- REGISTRATION PROCEDURE

In Cyprus an application can be filed with Customs Headquarters for the protection of such Intellectual Property Rights.

Eligible applicants are the owners of any IP rights such as Patents, Trademarks, Industrial Designs, Geographical Indications, a designation of origin and Copyrights.

A national or a community application in the prescribed form as set out in the Commission Regulation (EC) 1891/2004 of 21 October 2004 must be completed and filed as well as a declaration/undertaking signed by the IP right holder.

A national application can be filed by the IP right holder of national, community or international IP rights protected in Cyprus at the Customs Headquarters.

If the applicant is the right holder of Community IP rights he may opt to file a Community application for action for Intellectual Property Rights and may file to the Customs headquarters in all countries to which the IP right holder wants Customs to interfere for the protection of the right holders IP rights.

• Details of the applicant (name, address, telephone, facsimile, e-mail)
• Status of the applicant (Right holder, Authorized user etc)
• Type of right (trade mark, Industrial design etc)
• Name and address of contact person for administrative and technical matters)
• Attach essential data on authentic goods
• Attach specific information concerning the type or pattern of fraud
• Attach documents attesting to the fact that the applicant holds the right for the goods in question

The Undertaking/ Declaration, which must be signed by the Right holder in accordance to Article 6 of the Council Regulation, provides that:

• The right holder undertakes to pay all costs incurred by Customs for keeping goods under their control as well as the costs incurred for the destruction of the pirate goods
• The right holder undertakes to inform Customs of any alteration or loss of any Intellectual Property Rights.

Once an application is filed, then Customs will be able to prohibit the clearance of goods that are suspected of infringing the Intellectual Property rights of the Right holder.
In such a case, Customs will forward samples to the contact person(s) for administrative and technical matters (as set out in the application, these usually being advocates) using the form I.P.R.2.
The contact person(s) usually forward pictures of such goods to the right holder for them to comment on their authenticity.
If the goods are counterfeit then the contact person(s) inform Customs as well as the importers of these unauthorized goods. The importers are informed that the goods are unauthorized and are asked to abandon the goods and give their consent for their destruction by Customs by completing the form I.P.R 5. In such cases goods are destroyed by Customs.
If the importer refuses to sign form I.P.R.5 then the contact person will inform the right holder which has the right to initiate court proceedings against such importer.

Customs also conduct random checks of goods sold in the market. If goods are found in the market that are suspected of infringing the IP rights of the right holders (that filed an application with Cyprus Customs) then Customs seize such goods and inform the contact person(s).
As with import cases mentioned above, the contact person(s) inform the right holder and forward pictures of the samples seized. Then the contact person(s) inform Customs as to the authenticity of the items seized. If the goods are unauthorized goods infringing the IP rights of the right holder, then Customs will inform the retailer of such goods and will proceed with the destruction of the goods imposing a fine to such retailers.

DURATION OF VALIDITY
Customs application must be renewed annually by filing of a simple letter requesting for a further time extension for another year of protection.

(VII)DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION

NATURE
Living in the 21st Century everyone more or less can appreciate the importance of computers and the internet as the provider of information through the touch of a button. As the computer enters more and more into everyone’s busy daily lives, it is imperative that every provider of goods and/ or services, irrelative of the size of each business, has a resource on the Internet (web page) were everyone and especially the target market, will be able to browse through that company’s web site and be able to view all things (goods and/ or services) offered for sale.

Every web page has its own address, or to use the proper term: Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A domain name is part of this address which is assigned to each computer or service on the Internet. For example www.ldlaw.com.cy is the domain name of our Law Office. “ldlaw”, is the second level domain name and “com.cy” is the top level domain name.

The University of Cyprus handles such Domain name applications and registers same under the following top level domain names: “.com.cy”; “.org.cy”; “.biz.cy”; “.info.cy”; “.ltd.cy.”; “.pro.cy”; “.net.cy”; “.name.cy”; “.tm.cy”; “.ac.cy”; “.ekloges.cy”; “.press.cy”; “.parliament.cy”.

As from 5/9/2005 legislation in relation to the registration of Domain Names with the .cy top level Domain registry, came into force in accordance with the European Directive 2002/21/EC, International treaties and the ICANN Dispute Policy. The “Regulation of Electronic Communications and Postal Services Law” No. 112(I)/2004 was amended by Laws 84(I)/2005, 149(I)/2005, 67(I)/2005, 67(I)/2006, 113(I)/2007 and 134(I)/2007. The regulations that relate to the filing of national applications are contained in the Regulations P.I No. 380/2005.

DOMAIN NAME APPLICATION- REGISTRATION PROCEDURE
An individual or a legal entity is able to make an application for the registration of a Domain name in Cyprus.

The required domain name must first be approved by the University. An application for the domain name availability must be filed with the University and the University will respond to this request.

Then the proper application form must be filed with the University together with supporting documents in relation to the applicant. For example, if an individual files an application then same must forward a copy of his/her identity card or passport; if a legal entity files the application then a copy of the Company’s registration certificate (issued by the Registrar of Company’s Office) must be filed or a letter of that company, that bears the company’s letterhead and logo must be filed with the University indicating the request for the registration of a Domain name. The Registered Office of the legal entity must be in Cyprus.

The registration fee must be paid by the applicant to the University at the time of filing the application form and before the issuing of the License Certificate by the University. A re- issuing fee must be additionally paid within fifteen days from the issuing of the relevant invoice by the University.

Registered Domain names in Cyprus are renewed annually.

For the application form filed with the University, the following information must be provided:

• Information in relation to the applicant (i.e. Name, Surname, I.D number, telephone, fax, e-mail address or if a legal entity is the applicant: the Company’s registered name, its active name, its registration number, a brief description of the institution, Contact name of a CEO, the address, telephone, fax and e-mail address of the applicant Company)
• Details of the administration Contact of the domain name
• Details of the technical contact for the domain name
• Name server information (Primary name server IP address, Primary name server fully qualified domain name, 1st and 2nd Secondary name server IP address, 1st and 2nd Secondary name server fully qualified domain name, 3rd Third name server IP address (if any) and 3rd Third name server fully qualified domain name).

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