Third parties shall be prohibited, without the consent of the owner of an industrial
design or his beneficiaries, from manufacturing, selling or importing merchandise comprising
an industrial design which is, either in full or in part, a copy of the protected design, where
these acts are undertaken for commercial purposes.
5. The provisions of this Law shall apply to the industrial designs whose authors or
their beneficiaries are Tunisian or are domiciled in Tunisia, or in fact own serious industrial or
commercial establishments in Tunisia, or who, by means of their nationality, domicile or
industrial or commercial establishments, are nationals of a State which, through its domestic
legislation or under the international agreements to which it is a party, guarantees for Tunisian
industrial designs the same rights as those granted to its nationals.
6. The right of priority provided for by the Paris Convention for the Protection of
Industrial Property shall extend in Tunisia to any industrial design previously deposited in a
member country of the Paris Union or member State of the World Trade Organization.
The claim of priority shall be subject to the payment of a fee, the amount of which shall
be fixed by decree.
Chapter II
Deposit Procedures
7. Industrial designs shall enjoy legal protection only where they are deposited in
accordance with this Law.
8. Ownership of an industrial design shall belong to the person who has created it or to
his beneficiaries. The first depositor of said industrial design shall be assumed, unless proven
otherwise, to be the creator of the design.
9. An industrial design should be deposited with the body responsible for industrial
property in return for the payment of fees, the amounts of which shall be fixed by decree.
Where the depositor is represented by an agent, a written power of attorney shall be
attached to the declaration of deposit.
A depositor domiciled overseas shall appoint an agent registered in Tunisia.
The agent’s power of attorney shall specify the scope of representation. Unless stated
otherwise, this power shall extend to all the acts affecting the industrial design, including the
notifications provided for by this Law.
The renunciation of the deposit of an industrial design shall require a special power of
attorney.
10. The duration of the protection of an industrial design provided for by this Law
shall, at the depositor’s choosing, be five, ten or a maximum of 15 years, in return for the
payment of a fee, the amount of which shall be fixed by decree.
The depositor or his beneficiaries may, with the requisite declaration, extend the deposit
where it has been made only for a period of five or ten years, without exceeding the maximum
period of protection set at 15 years.
The declaration shall, subject to inadmissibility, be:
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