SECTION 6: ASSIGNMENT; CONTRACTUAL LICENSE
Article 43: Patent assignment
The patent may be assigned, by contractual arrangement, by the patent owner to any
interested person. The assignment contract shall be drawn up in writing and shall be signed by
the parties to the contract.
The transfer of patent ownership shall be submitted to the empowered authority for:
1° recording in the register of patents;
2° publication of details of the change in patent ownership.
Recording of transfer of patent ownership shall be subject to payment of the prescribed fee.
Any change in patent ownership shall have effect in relation to third parties only after
recording into the register of patents.
Where two or more persons own the same patent, each of them may assign or transfer
separately, by means of succession, his share in the patent.
The empowered authority may refuse to record a contract for the transfer (assignment) of
ownership when he decides that the contract concerning the right in question contains one or
more clauses that are abusive or anti-competitive or in any manner restrain trade or are likely
to have any of those effects. The empowered authority may hear the allegations of the parties
to the contract, if one or both so request, and shall take into account evidence that is pertinent
provided by parties to the contract. Any X decision to refuse to record the contract may be
subject to appeal to the appeal committee provided by this Law within a period of thirty (30)
days from the notification of the decision to the person concerned.
Where the appellant is not satisfied by the appealing committee’s decision, he may
appeal to the competent tribunal within a period of thirty (30) days from the date on which he
was notified the appealing committee’s decision.
For the purposes of the provisions of this article, any limitations imposed on the assignee that
do not derive from the rights conferred by the registration of the right, and that are not
necessary for the safeguard of that right shall be deemed abusive or anti-competitive in the
event that they have anti-competitive effects.
The patent assignment contract will cease immediately to produce effects after invalidation of
the patent by tribunals.
Article 44: Contractual license
The owner of a patent may, by contractual arrangement, grant a license to use his invention to
another natural or legal person. The license contract shall be drawn up in writing and shall be
signed by the parties to the contract.