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56.—(1) Pursuant to Article 32(1) of the Ordinance, the annual fees shall be due as
from the second year following the filing date of the application; fees shall be due on the
anniversary date of the filing of the application.
(2) A six-month period of grace shall be afforded for the payment of annual fees on
payment of a surcharge in accordance with Annex I to this Decree.
57.—(1) If the annual fee and the surcharge are not paid in accordance with Article 56,
above, the patent or inventor’s certificate shall automatically lapse.
(2) A certificate of addition relating to the patent or inventor’s certificate shall also
lapse as provided in the foregoing paragraph.
(3) In the case of an application for a patent or an inventor’s certificate, failure to
observe the provisions of Article 56, above, shall amount to a tacit declaration of
relinquishment of the application.
Section IV
Restoration
58.—(1) Pursuant to Article 33(1) of the Ordinance, a request for restoration of a right
to carry out any act whatsoever with respect to any application for a patent or an inventor’s
certificate shall be submitted in writing to the Office within a period of two months as from
the time the reasons of force majeure cease to apply.
(2) The request shall be reasoned and shall clearly and precisely state the reasons of
force majeure that prevented compliance with a time limit set out in this Decree.
(3) The request shall be admissible only on payment of the restoration fee referred to in
Annex I; such fee shall in no event be refundable.
(4) If the request is refused by the Office, an appeal to the competent court referred to
in Article 33(3) of the Ordinance shall be filed within a period of one month as from receipt
by the owner or his agent or representative of notification of refusal of the request.
Chapter IV
Assignment and Transfer of Patent Rights: Patent Licenses
Section I
Assignment and Transfer of Rights
59.—(1) The request for entry in the Register of Patents and Inventors’ Certificates of
an assignment or transfer, in part or in whole, of an application for a patent or of a patent shall
be made in accordance with the form prescribed in Annex II and shall be addressed to the
Office. It may be made by the former or by the new owner or by both.
(2) The request shall be accompanied by a copy of the authentic instrument of
assignment or transfer bearing the legalized signatures of the parties to the contract. If that
instrument is drawn up in a language other than Malagasy or French, it shall be accompanied
by a translation into either of these two languages.
(3) Entry of an assignment or transfer in the Register of Patents and Inventors’
Certificates shall be compulsory for the contract to be invokable against others.