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Industrial Designs ActThe Industrial Designs Act stipulates two basic requirements for the registration of industrial designs: novelty andoriginality. Registration confers the exclusive right to make, sell, or import or export, for commercial purpose,articles embodying a design.The Industrial Designs Act entitles an IP right holder to institute an action in court for an injunction to prevent aninfringement, an action for an award of damages, and an action for any other remedies. Any person who infringes anindustrial design is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 2,000 penalty units or to a term ofimprisonment not exceeding two years, or to both.Patent ActThe Patent Act regulates the registration and protection of patents. Registration of a patent confers a right on theholder for protection for a period of 20 years. The Act empowers right holders to initiate an action in court for thegrant of injunctions, an award of damages, and any other forms of relief provided in law. The making, importation,exportation, sale, or use of registered products or processes without the consent of the owner constitutes aninfringement. A person found guilty of such infringement is liable to a fine not exceeding 2,000 penalty units or to aterm of imprisonment not exceeding two years.Layout-Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits ActThe Layout-Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits Act, also known as the Layout-Design Act, provides forthe protection of layout designs (topographies) of integrated circuits and related matters. Under the Act, protectionbegins on the date of first commercial exploitation of the layout design anywhere in the world, or (with the consentof the right holder) as long as an application for protection is filed in Ghana within the first two years, or on the dateof filing the application for protection, if the layout design has not been previously exploited commerciallyanywhere else in the world. The term of protection in Ghana is 10 years.Violations under the Layout-Design Act are punishable by a fine not exceeding 2,000 penalty units or two years’imprisonment, or both. The court has the discretion to order seizure, forfeiture, and destruction of the layout designsor articles used in the commission of the offense.Protection against Unfair Competition ActThe Protection against Unfair Competition Act sets out the various practices that are deemed unfair competition,defines these practices, and outlines the extent of protection provided under Ghanaian law and other related matters.Major practices considered unfair under the law include causing confusion with respect to another’s enterprise or itsactivities, damaging another person’s goodwill or reputation, misleading the public, discrediting another person’senterprise or its activities, unfair competition in respect of secret information, and unfair competition in respect ofnational and international obligations. Civil remedies are in the form of damages as compensation.The Protection against Unfair Competition Act has generally brought some relief to businesses whose reputation andgoodwill are exploited by persons who invade the Ghanaian business environment with products and services that