The provisions of this article shall apply to public civil servants as well as to persons whose
services are hired in accordance with the code of civil, administrative and commercial
procedures of Rwanda.
Article 22: Naming of the inventor
The inventor shall be named as such in the patent unless, in a special written declaration
addressed to the empowered authority, he indicates that he wish not to be named.
Any promise or undertaking to make such a declaration, made with regard to any person by
the inventor, shall have no legal effect.
SECTION 3: PATENT APPLICATION
Article 23: Filing the application
Patent application shall be filed with the empowered authority. The application shall contain:
1° a request for the grant of a patent;
2° a description of the invention;
3° one or more claims in the invention;
4° one or more drawings (where necessary);
5° an abstract.
The filing of the application shall be subject to payment of the prescribed fee.
The applicant may, until such time as it is observed that the application meets the
requirements for the grant of the patent, withdraw the application at any time during its
pendency. Where the application has been withdrawn a subsequent application can be filed in
Rwanda in respect of the same invention. Such subsequent application shall be regarded as the
first application in respect of that invention. No priority rights shall be claimed on the
withdrawn application after the lodging of the subsequent application
Article 24: Request for the grant of a patent
The request for patent shall contain:
1° a application letter requesting for the grant of a patent;
2° the name, address and other prescribed information relating to the applicant and to the
inventor;
3° the information relating to the representative, where appropriate;
4° the title of the invention.