Utility models are implements of work or objects to be utilized or parts of such implements or objects in so far as they are useful for the work or employment for which they are intended on account of a new configuration, a new arrangement or a new component device, and are industrially applicable.
Transfer and Assignment of Rights over Utility Models in Cameroon
The rights subsisting in an application for registration of a utility model or in an application for registration of a registered utility model shall be transferable in whole or in part.
Acts involving transfer of ownership, licensing of the right of exploitation or the assignment of that right, or a pledge or cancellation of a pledge, in respect of an application for registration of a utility model or a registered utility model shall, on pain of invalidity, be evidenced in writing.
Records of Acts in the Special Register of Utility Models in Cameroon
The acts involving the transfer of ownership shall not be binding on third parties unless they are entered in the Special Register of Utility Models kept by the organization.
The organization shall furnish to any person who so requests a copy of the entries in the Special Register of Utility Models, and also a record of the entire concerning utility models that are the subject of a pledge, or a certificate attesting the absence of any such entries.
Exploitation as of Right of the Utility Model and Improvement
Those persons who have obtained from the owner of a certificate of registration of a utility model or from entitled persons the right to exploit the utility model shall benefit as of right from improvements made by the owner of the utility model or by the entitled persons to the said model. Conversely, the said owner or entitled persons shall benefit from improvements subsequently made to the utility model by those persons having obtained the right to exploit the said model.
Any person entitled to benefit from the said improvements may provide the organization with a copy of the relevant contract.
License Contract on a Utility Model in Cameroon
The owner of a certificate of registration of a utility model may, by contract, grant to a person, whether natural person or legal entity, a license enabling him to exploit the registered utility model.
The duration of the license may not be longer than that of the utility model registration.
The license contract has to be drawn up in writing and signed by the parties.
The grant of an exclusive license shall preclude the licensor from granting licenses to other persons and, in the absence of provisions to the contrary in the license contract, from exploiting the registered utility model himself.
Invalid Clauses in a license Contract on a Utility Model in Cameroon
Clauses in license contracts or relating to such contracts shall be invalid in so far as they impose on the licensee, in the industrial or commercial sphere, restrictions not deriving from the rights conferred by the certificate of registration of the Utility Model or not necessary for the upholding of such rights.
The following shall not be considered restrictions within the meaning preceding paragraph;
- Limitations relating to the extent, the scope or the duration of exploitation of the Certificate of registration of the registered utility model;
- The obligation on the licensee to abstain from any act liable to harm the validity of the registered utility model.
Recognition of Invalid Clauses in a License Contract on a Utility Model in Cameroon
Recognition of invalid clauses are done by the civil court at the request of any interested party.