Patent protection is available via a national filing or via registration of a UK granted patent in Seychelles.

Although it is possible in a PCT international application to designate Seychelles, the laws in Seychelles have not been amended to cater for the PCT. Accordingly, it is not clear whether enforceable rights will be obtained via PCT national phase filings in Seychelles.

A United Kingdom design extends automatically to the Seychelles.

Seychelles is not a member of the Berne Convention.

The Act provides for the following works to be eligible for copyright protection:

• literary works
• musical works
• artistic works
• performances of literary or musical works
• films
• sound recordings

Copyright is also provided for works of Seychelles folklore. Special provisions apply to the copyright in Seychelles folklore.

Literary works are further defined to include:

• books, novels, stories, poetic works
• plays, mime, stage directions, film scenarios, broadcasting scripts
• textbooks, treatises, histories, biographies, essays, articles
• scientific works, tables and compilations of data
• encyclopaedias, dictionaries
• letters, reports, memoranda
• lectures, addresses and sermons
• computer programs.

Artistic works are further defined to include:

• paintings, drawings, etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, collage, prints, engravings
• maps, plans, diagrams, sketches or illustrations
• works of sculpture
• three-dimensional works relating to geography, topography, or science
• photographs
• works of architecture
• works of artistic craftsmanship or applied art.

For literary, musical or artistic works to be eligible for copyright, sufficient effort has to be expended to make the work original, and the work must have been written down, recorded or otherwise reduced to material form.

Currently, no legislative provision for plant breeders’ rights or other sui generis protection for plants is available in Seychelles.