TITLE III
INVALIDITY, FORFEITURE
AND ACTIONS RELATING THERETO
Section I
Invalidity and Forfeiture
Article 39
Invalidity
(1) Patents granted in the following cases shall be declared invalid:
(a) if the invention is not new, does not involve an inventive step or is not industrially
applicable;
(b) if the invention is not patentable within the meaning of Article 6, without prejudice
to the penalties that might be incurred for the manufacture or marketing of prohibited articles;
(c) if the specification attached to the patent does not conform to the provisions of
Article 14(d)(i) above, or if it does not state in a complete and honest manner the true
methods of the inventor.
(2) Certificates in respect of changes, improvements or additions that are not connected
with the principal patent, as provided for in this Annex, shall likewise be declared invalid.
(3) Invalidity may relate to all or only some of the claims.
Article 40
Forfeiture
(1) Any patentee who has not paid his annual fees on the anniversary date of the filing
of his patent application shall forfeit all his rights.
(2) The patentee concerned shall however be allowed a six-month period of grace
within which he may still validly pay the annual fees. In that case, he shall also pay an
additional fee.
(3) Payments made to complement annual or additional fees during the six-month
period mentioned above shall be considered valid.
(4) Payments made as annual or additional fees payable for a patent application
resulting either from the conversion of an application for a certificate of addition under
Article 28 above or from the division of a patent application under Article 24(3) above shall
also be considered valid provided that the payments are made within a period of six months
from the date of the application for conversion or the filing date of the applications resulting
from the division.
Article 41
Restoration
(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 39 and 40 above, where a patent has
not been renewed owing to circumstances beyond the control of the owner thereof, the owner
or entitled persons may apply for its restoration, against payment of the requisite annual fee
and of a surcharge the amount of which shall be fixed by regulation, within a period of six
months from the date on which the said circumstances ceased to exist, and at the latest within
a period of two years from the date on which renewal was due.