– The Aruba Patent Act 1997.

– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, in effect as of August 5, 1948.
– Agreement regarding the reciprocal secrecy of inventions relevant for the defense and for which patent applications have been filed, in effect as of January 1, 1986.
– Convention on the Unification of Certain Points of Substantive Law on Patents for Invention, in effect as of December 3, 1987.
– Strasbourg Treaty regarding the unification of some principles of patent law, in effect as of December 3, 1987.
– Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), in effect as of January 1, 1986.
– Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification (1971), in effect as of January 1, 1986.
– Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, in effect as of July 2, 1987.
– Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille).
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Applicant: the inventor(s), his assignee or the employer for whom the inventor, as its employee, has made the invention. The applicant will be considered the inventor. 

Foreigners: must choose domicile within Aruba at the office of a patent agent, who must be admitted to the Bureau for Intellectual Property of Aruba (to be called the “BIP” hereinafter). 

Naming of inventor(s): in the event the applicant is not the inventor, the inventor has the right to be named in the patent. 

Notion of invention: the application must be accompanied by a short summary of the invention and additional designs, pictures, formal drawings or any documents regarding the patent. 

Novelty: in order for an invention to be patentable, it must be new (not already published or publicly used), inventive (must not have occurred to any specialist in the particular industrial field in which the invention was done) and industrially applicable.

Exceptions to protection: an invention is not patentable if it is: not new, not inventive, not industrially applicable, contrary to morality and public order, a plant- or animal breed, or biological processes for the production of plants or animals (excluding microbiological processes and products thereof).

Kinds of protection: normal patents (twenty years) and short-term patents (six years). 

Secret patents: possible for patent applications of which the secrecy of the contents is in the best interest for the defense of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and/or its allies.

Priorities: in the event an application for a patent has been done in a country, that is party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, or on the basis of a Treaty between two or more countries that are party to last mentioned Convention, priority can be claimed within twelve months, commencing the day after the application has been done in Aruba.

Territory covered: the territory of Aruba and its territorial waters. The Netherlands Patents Act 1995, does not provide any provision for patent protection in Aruba (see “Netherlands, Section II. Patents of Invention, Territory covered“). Only national Netherlands patents granted before April 1, 1995, also cover the territory of Aruba. European patents for which the Netherlands has been designated cover only the Dutch territory in Europe.

Filing requirements for an application:
In order to obtain registration of a patent in Aruba, the applicant must file a duly signed written request in duplicate, which has to include:
1. Name and address of the applicant. Registration on behalf of more than one inventor is only permitted if the inventors have joint rights to the patent. In that event the BIP requires a certified copy of the official deed of ownership proving said joint ownership rights be submitted;
2. Name and place of residence of the inventor, unless the inventor does not wish to be named. In the event the applicant is not the inventor and the inventor does not wish to be named, a written declaration of the inventor is required that it does not wish to be mentioned as the inventor;
3. Title of the invention;
4. A short summary of the invention, together with any additional designs, pictures, formal drawings or any documents regarding the patent, along with one or more conclusions which describe that for which the exclusive right is requested;
5. The class or classes in which the applicant wishes the patent to be registered. The class(es) must be in accordance with the International Classification of Patents (Strasbourg Agreement of March 24, 1971);
6. In the event the applicant is established outside Aruba, the applicant must choose domicile in Aruba at the office of a patent agent, who must be admitted to the BIP;
7. Name and address in full of the patent agent, as well as the reference code of the patent agent. The patent agent must be employed to process the application for the registration of the patent. Furthermore, a duly signed power of attorney is required (notarization or legalization is not required);
8. An application can be filed in Dutch, Papiamento, Spanish or English.

Amendments of application: amendment of the summary, conclusions of the invention and/or drawings is possible. The subject of the amended application must be covered by the content of the original application. Amendments can occur until the patent has been registered. If the inventor is not mentioned correctly, or if another person who is not the inventor, states that the inventor does not wish to be mentioned in the patent, it is possible to request the Director of the BIP to correct the application accordingly. Thereto a written request and, if applicable, the written declaration of the person who was wrongfully mentioned as the inventor should be submitted. 

Rights of prior user: cannot be claimed by third parties at this stage. 

Disputes about ownership and novelty: only after the patent has been granted. 

Extent of examination: the application is examined to ensure that it complies with the requirements set by the Aruba Patent Act. If the Director of the BIP notifies the applicant that the application does not comply with the requirements of the Aruba Patent Act, or that lawful grounds object to granting of a patent, the Director of the BIP may refuse to proceed with the application, or require the application be amended accordingly before proceeding with the application. In the event the Director of the BIP requires the application be amended, he must inform the applicant in writing hereof within one month from the date of filing of the application. Within three months thereafter, the applicant must amend the application accordingly. In the event a short-term patent is requested, no international search regarding the state of the art is required, whereas for a normal patent an international search regarding the state of the art is required. The search of a short-term patent is done by the Bureau of Industrial Property in the Netherlands. The search for a normal patent is done by the European Patent Office (at the national department in the Netherlands).

Application kept secret: possible (see above under “secret patents”). 

Provisional registration: not possible. 

Registration: if the Director of the BIP has no objections to the registration of the application for the patent, the application will be registered in the Patent Registry. The application is registered as soon as possible after eighteen months of the date of filing of the application or the first date of priority. After the application for the patent has been registered, the search has been completed and the search report has been submitted successfully, the patent will be granted to the applicant. The Director records the registration of the patent in the Patent Registry. 

Corrections: possible (see above under “amendments of application“). 

Delivery of document: once the patent has been granted, the patentee receives a certified (by the BIP) copy of the patent specification (a patent certificate and a patent specification). 

Beginning of protection: from the date of filing of the application. 

Duration: if a petty patent is granted the patent is valid for a period of six years. If a normal patent is granted the patent is valid for twenty years. The validity is as of the date of filing of the application.

Extension: is not possible. 

Annuities: in order to maintain the validity of the patent registration, annuities must be paid. Payment of annuities is required as of the first year after the date of filing of the application, commencing on the first day of the month following the date of filing of the application. For a petty patent, payments must take place up to and including the sixth year. For a normal patent, payments must take place up to and including the twentieth year. The first 1 to 3 years are due for the first time before the ending of the third year.

Annuity grace period: payment of annuities may take place within six months after the due date, which is the first day of the month following the date of filing of the application. After the due date, the annuity must be paid plus a late fee penalty.

Marking of patented goods: possible. 

Amendment of issued patent: not possible. 

Revocation: a patent application can be revoked and a patent can be surrendered. 

Assignment: possible. The deed of assignment must be registered in the Patent Registry. 

License for exploitation: possible. The license has to be registered in the Patent Registry.

Working: before registration of the license or the assignment, the license or assignment cannot be invoked against third parties.

Restoration of lapsed patents and patent applications: if payment of the annuity has not taken place and the grace period has elapsed, the registration of the patent will be terminated by law. In the event an applicant or patentee was not able to comply with a deadline, in spite of acting with due care, the prior situation will be restored by the Director of the Bureau of Intellectual Property of Aruba, upon the request of the applicant or patentee, if non-compliance of the deadline has lead to the loss of a right or remedy. This provision is not applicable for the deadlines that have to be met in the event priority can be claimed. The restoration of the prior situation will be registered in the Patent Registry.

Rights of prior user: prior use must be proved. 

Opposition to granted patents: only before the Court of First Instance of Aruba a claim can be instituted by anyone if: (a) the invention was not patentable; (b) the patent specification does not contain the necessary information enabling a specialist to apply or use the invention; (c) the subject of the invention is not covered by the contents of the original application; (d) after the patent has been granted expansion of the scope of protection has taken place. A claim can be instituted before the Court of First Instance of Aruba by anyone who claims to be entitled to the patent in the event the patentee had no right to the patent. A claim can also be instituted before the Court by anyone who claims to have a (joint) right to the patent considering: (i) the contents of the application of the patent are derived from an invention already used by another (the one claiming the (joint) right), without its approval; (ii) the one claiming the (joint) right to the patent is the employer of the patentee and is entitled to the patent; (iii) the invention was made by several persons who are jointly entitled to the patent.

Compulsory licenses: the Minister of Justice is authorized to grant a license to a person appointed by him, if this is necessary for reasons of public interest. If the patentee or licensee does not have a facility that uses/practices the patent within three years of the date the patent has been granted, the patentee is obliged to grant a license to the person or company who can effectuate the use/practice of the grant. If the patentee does not comply with such an obligation, the license can be granted by the Court of First Instance of Aruba. In such event, the license must also be registered at the Patent Registry.

Expropriation: not provided for. 

Nullification: only possible by the Court of First Instance of Aruba.

Validation of invalidated patents: not possible. 

Infringement: has to be proved. The patentee must institute proceedings before the Court of First Instance of Aruba. 

Penalties: in the event of infringement, the infringer can be condemned to pay damages and/or to pay profit and render account of the profit.