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Article 29
Throughout the term of the patent, the patent owner or his successors in title may
make improvements or additions to the invention, which shall be evidenced by
certificates of addition granted subject to the same formalities and conditions as the
main patent and producing the same effects as that patent.
The provisions of this Law relating to invention patents shall apply to certificates of
addition except for the provisions relating to the term of the patent and to the
payment of the prescribed fees for the renewal of said patent, which are provided for
in Articles 17((a) and 81 of this Law respectively.
The term of protection for the certificate of addition shall end at the same time as that
of the main patent.
Certificates of addition granted at the request of one of the successors in title shall
benefit all of the others.
Article 30
Any application for a certificate of addition may, prior to its grant, be turned into a
patent application at the request of the applicant. Such transformation shall take
effect from the date of filing of the application for a certificate of addition.
Chapter II
Filing of patent applications and grant of patents
Section I Filing of patent applications
Article 31
Anyone seeking an invention patent must file with the Djibouti Office of Industrial and
Commercial Property a patent application in the following conditions.
The Djibouti Office of Industrial and Commercial Property shall consider the date of
filing to be the date when it receives the application containing:
(i) an explicit statement that a patent application is requested;
(ii) details or data that make it possible to establish the identity of the applicant or to
enable the Office to make contact with the applicant;
(iii) a part that describes the invention and that may include one or more drawings
needed to understand the invention.
If the Office establishes that, at the time the application is received, the conditions in
the first paragraph have not been met, it must write to invite the applicant to make the
necessary correction within three months. If a correction is requested, a provisional