THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RELEVANCE OF PATENT SYSTEMS IN RELATION TO INTEllECTUl PROPERTY LAW IN UGANDA

67 PAGES (21718 WORDS) Law Report

TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................... i

APPROVAL. ................................................................................................................................ ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................................. iii

DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................. iv

ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS ............................................................................................. vii

CHAPTER ONE .......................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1

1.2 Background and Problem Statement ...................................................................... 3

1.3 Aims and Objectives of the Research . .................................................................... s

1.4 Research Questions ...................................................................................................... s

1.5 Significance of the Research ..................................................................................... 6

1.6 Scope of the Research ................................................................................................. 7

1.7 Justification .................................................................................................................... 7

1.8 Literature Review ............................................................................................................... 8

1.9 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 16

1.10 Chapter Synopsis ...................................................................................................... 16

CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................................... 18

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN UGANDA AND THE PROTECTION OF PATENTS ............... 18

2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 18

2.2 Intellectual property in Uganda ................................................................................. 18

2.3 Uganda's Intellectual property Legal Regime, Institutional & Policy Framework .. 19

2.3.1 The Domestic Intellectual property Legal Regime ..................................................... 20

2.3.2 Regional & International Intellectual property Legal & Policy

Framework ........................................................................................................................... 21

2.3.3 Domestic Institutional & Policy Framework ................................................... 24

2.4 Patent Law in Uganda ........................................................................................... 27

2.4.1 Historical Evolution of Uganda's Patent Law .............................................. 27

The current Patent System is a product of an evolving system traced as far as the

colonial period, through the post-independence period to the contemporary system .... 27

a) Colonial Period & Post Independence Period ................................................. 27

v

a) Contemporary Patent Law ............................................................................................. 29

2.7 Patent Enforcement and Infringement in Uganda ............................................ 35

2.7.1 Patent Law Enforcement Issues ......................................................................... 41

2.8 Rating Uganda's Patent System ............................................................................. 43

2.10 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 45

CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................. 46

3.0 PATENT PROTECTION: THE INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ........................ 46

3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 46

3.2 International Patent Protection ............................................................................. 47

3.2.1 Domestic Registration of International and Regional Patent Applications

and the Proportionality Test of the Costs and Estimated Returns ...................... 48

CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................... 51

PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....... 51

4.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 51

4.1 General Observations and Summary of Findings .............................................. 51

4.2 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 53

4.3 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 53

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 55

A. DOMESTIC LAW ........................................................................................................... 55

• STATUTES & REGULATIONS .............................................................................................. 55

B. TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS ......................................... 55

C. BOOKS ............................................................................................................................ 56

D. ARTICLES, DOCUMENTS & REPORTS .............................................................................. 57

D. WEBSITES & ONLINE SOURCES ......................................................................... 59