Intellectual Property in Mauritius consists of trademarks, copyrights, patents and industrial designs.

Trademarks

Trademarks are governed by the Patent, Industrial Design and Trademark Act 2002. An application for the registration of a trademark or a service mark must be made through a duly authorised agent resident in Mauritius.

Besides the availability of civil remedies in relation to trademark infringements, the law also creates criminal offences punishable by fine and imprisonment and by the forfeiture of instruments or things relating to the offence.

Copyrights

Under the Copyright Act 1997, protection is accorded to works which have been created or published by authors who are citizens or residents of Mauritius or other countries party to the Berne Convention. Under certain conditions other works published abroad are also protected.

The works concerned are essentially artistic, literary or scientific works as well as audiovisual works or works of architecture erected in Mauritius, and certain of their derivatives.

Patents

Patents are governed by the Patent, Industrial Design and Trademark Act 2002. An invention is considered new when it is not anticipated by prior art, which consists of anything disclosed to the public, by publication in tangible form or by oral disclosure, by use or in any other way.
Animals, plants, plants varieties and essentially biological processes for the productions of plants and animals are not patentable inventions.

Industrial designs

Any composition of lines or colours or any three-dimensional form, or any material, whether or not associated with lines or colours, as specified by law, is deemed to be an industrial design which is registrable under the laws of Mauritius.

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