– Liberia Intellectual Property Act, 2016, in force since July 22, 2016.

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since March 8, 1989.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since August 27, 1994, but no enabling local law yet.
– Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since August 27, 1994, but no enabling local law yet.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since February 8, 1996.
– ARIPO, Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs, since March 24, 2010.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since July 14, 2016.
– Patent Law Treaty, since January 4, 2017.

Form of protection available: patent protection is obtainable via a national filing.

Protection of utility models is also provided for, without requirement for inventive step. 

Conversion of patents into utility models and vice-versa: possible.

Patentability requirement: an invention is patentable if it is new, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable.

Novelty: the Act provides for absolute novelty. An invention is regarded as new if it was not disclosed to the public, anywhere in the world, by publication in tangible form or oral disclosure, by use or in any other way prior to the filing, or where appropriate, the priority date. However, a grace period of twelve months immediately preceding the Liberian filing date or priority date (if Convention priority is claimed) is provided, where disclosure of the invention was made by reason or in consequence of acts committed by the applicant or his predecessor in title or of abuse committed by a third party with regard to the applicant or his predecessor in title.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to authorized agent):
1. Power of attorney, notarized and legalized up to Liberian Consular level;
2. Oath by the inventor (including deed of assignment of invention), notarized and legalized up to Liberian Consular level;
3. A copy of the specification (including claims, drawings and abstract) in English;
4. A certified copy of the priority application (not required for PCT national phase applications). If not in English, a translation may be called for.

Note: the certified copy of the priority application must be filed within six months from the filing date. The power of attorney and oath can be filed later, within two months from the filing date.

PCT applications: time limit for entering national phase under Chapter I: 30 months; under Chapter II: 31 months, and 31 months through ARIPO Chapters I and II.

Examination: the Act provides for substantive examination. However, in practice this is currently not being done. The Director General can request information about corresponding foreign applications and can request the applicant to file documentation relating to corresponding foreign applications or rejection notices. For PCT cases, the Director General shall take into account the results of any international search report issued under the PCT or any search report which was carried out at his request by an external searching authority.

Unity of invention: applications must relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked so as to form a general inventive concept. However, the fact that a patent has been granted on an application which did not comply with this requirement, will not be a ground for invalidation of the patent. 

Amendments: can be made at any time before grant, provided that the amendment does not go beyond the disclosure in the initial application. 

Division: the application can be divided into two or more divisional applications at anytime before the application is in order for grant, provided that no new matter is introduced.

Duration: patents are granted for a term not exceeding twenty years. The twenty-year term runs from the date of grant for national applications and from the international filing date for PCT national phase applications. The protection term for a utility model is ten years.

Annuities: maintenance fees are payable in advance on pending applications, and are payable annually from the filing date. The first annual fee falls due on the first anniversary of the filing date, in respect of the second year.

Annuity grace period: six months.

Marking: no provision.

Working: should be effected within three years from the date of grant or four years from the date of filing the patent. If such working has not taken place, a non-voluntary license can be issued by the Director General. Compulsory licenses can also be granted if it is in the public interest, if exploitation is anti-competitive, if the owner refuses to grant a voluntary license on reasonable terms. 

Nominal working may suffice to meet the working requirement. The applicant, through his local attorney, is requested to advertise all pertinent facts contained in the application, once a week for two consecutive weeks, in a newspaper having national circulation in Liberia. Same is required for assignments.

Infringement and remedies: provided for. Provisional measures to preserve evidence are available.