Cap. 417 Art. 49Declaration of non- infringement.

(1) Subject to subarticle (4), any interested person shall have the right to request, by instituting proceedings against the proprietor of the patent or of the patent application, that the Patents

Tribunal declare that the performance of a specific act does not constitute an infringement of the patent.

(2) If the person making the request proves that the act in question does not constitute an infringement of the patent, the Tribunal shall grant a declaration of non-infringement.

(3) The proprietor of the patent or of the patent application shall notify any licensees of the proceedings. The licensees shall have the right to join in the proceedings in the absence of any provision to the contrary in the licence contract.

(4) If the act in question is already the subject of infringement proceedings, the defendant in the infringement proceedings may not institute proceedings for a declaration of non-infringement.

(5) Save where revocation is requested under article 48(4), proceedings for a declaration of non-infringement may be instituted together with proceedings to revoke the patent.