Patents & Innovation Warranties

Patents protect the functionality of an item, last for 20 years and give the owner a monopoly right to produce and sell that item in the territory concerned. Just like other IP rights, a patent can be licensed, sold, and commercialised in order to extract the most value from the invention. Throughout the world, patents provide inventors with an easily verifiable right which has real commercial value.

New laws regarding the registration and protection of patents in Guernsey are expected to come into force in early 2010. The combination of this cutting edge legislation and the tax advantages of holding IP assets in Guernsey makes the island a potentially lucrative platform from which to register and exploit patents.

Although Guernsey does not provide for first registration of a patent, any overseas proprietor of an overseas registered patent may be registered as the proprietor of a patent in the Guernsey register.

Provided that this criteria is fulfilled, and the invention is new, contains an inventive step and is capable of industrial application, the invention may be protected through placement on the register.

There are also further exciting proposals to allow the registration of an Innovation Warranty, the equivalent of the Petty Patent system used elsewhere. Please contact us for further information on this forthcoming legislation.