 |
| Isle of Man Legislature |
Because of the proximity of the Isle of Man to North West England, there are many business links between that island and this region. Those wishing to invest in or trade with the island should remember that it is a self-governing entity with its own legislature and legal system. Unlike Guernsey and Jersey, the Isle of Man does not have its own patent office or unique intellectual property rights like Guernsey's image rights, but it does have its own copyright, design right and rights in performances legislation.
Overview
The Isle of Man Government publishes an overview of the island's intellectual property laws on its website. The paragraph on legislation explains:
"The legislative framework consists of acts passed by Tynwald (the parliament of the Isle of Man), orders and regulations made Act of Tynwald, and Acts of the UK Parliament which have been extended to the Island. Further, although the Isle of Man is not part of the European Union with respect to intellectual property, the Island has chosen to adopt many of the EU’s IP measures. For more information, go to the ‘Legislation’ page via the menu on the left."
Legislation
The Legislation page distinguishes between registered rights, such as patents, registered designs, and trade marks, and unregistered rights, such as copyrights, design rights, and rights in performances. S.132 (2) of the United Kingdom Patents Act extends that statute to the Isle of Man. S.47 of the Registered Designs Act 1949 does the same for that statute as does s.108 (2) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 with regard to trade marks. Unregistered rights are different in that they exist under Acts of the Isle of Man Parliament or Tynwald. Copyright is governed by the Copyright Act 1991, which is similar to but not identical with, Part I of the United Kingdom Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 ("the CDPA"). The 1991Act was amended by the Copyright (Amendment) Act 1999 and the Copyright (Etc) Amendment Act 2014. The island has its own Design Right Act 1991, which is similar to Part III of the CDPA and a Performers' Protection Act 1996 that appears to be based on Part II of the CDPA.
Courts and Tribunals
The first instance courts of the Isle of Man consist of the High Court and several lower courts and tribunals. The High Court consists of a Civil Division and a Court of Gaol Delivery. According to rule 2.1 of the Rules of the High Court of Justice, the Court was divided into Chancery, Common Law and Family Divisions, but these have been replaced by a single Civil Division. Claims are allocated to one of several case management procedures. Claims relating to patents, registered designs and supplementary protection certificates are allocated to the ordinary procedure by rule 13.68 (2) of the Rules of the High Court and claims relating to all other intellectual property rights are allocated to the chancery procedure by rule 13.68 (3). Appeal lies from the High Court to the Staff of Government which is the island's appeal court and from there to the Privy Council. Two tribunals that may be of particular interest to readers are the Copyright Tribunal and the Data Protection Tribunal
Data Protection
The processing and use of personal data are regulated by the Isle of Man Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation and enforced by the Information Commissioner. Issues between data holders and the Commissioner are resolved by the Data Protection Tribunal.
Domain Names
The Isle of Man has its own country code top-level domain space represented by the letters ".im". The space is managed by the Official Isle of Man Domain Name Registry. Disputes between brand owners and domain name registrants are resolved in accordance with the IM Dispute Resolution Procedure.
Business Support
The Isle of Man Department for Enterprise offers various kinds of support for startups and established businesses. There are specialist advisors for food and drink, cleantech, digital, advanced manufacturing and engineering and other sectors.
Further Information
Anyone wishing to discuss IP or technology law on the Isle of Man is welcome to call me on +44 (0)20 7404 5252 during office hours or send me a message through my contact page at any other time.
Comments