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Article 124: Any party wishing to claim the priority of a prior filing must attach to his
application for a utility model certificate or forward to the Industrial Property
Director at the latest 12 months as from the filing of his application the
following:
1. A written statement indicating the date and number of this prior filing, the
country in which it was made and the applicant’s name;
2. A certified true copy of said prior application;
3. A written statement from the applicant or his successors in title authorizing
him to claim the priority in question if he is not the author of this application.
Article 125: An applicant seeking to claim several rights of priority for a single application
must, for each of them, comply with the same requirements provided for under
Article 124.
He must further pay a fee for each right of priority claimed and produce proof of
payment thereof within the same period of 12 months provided for under the
same Article.
Article 126: Failure to produce in good time any of the above-mentioned items shall
automatically lead to the loss of the right of priority claimed, for the sole
application considered.
Any item which reaches the Industrial Property Director later than 12 months
after the filing of the application for registration shall be deemed inadmissible.
Article 127: The filing, in Burundi, of this application for claiming priority before the
expiration of the 12-month time limit may not be invalidated by any act issued in
the meanwhile and in particular by another filing, a publication of the invention
or its exploitation.
Section 4. Applications for registration certificates for utility models filed abroad
Article 128: Anyone wishing to claim a filing from a prior application concerning the same
invention as the one claimed in the application filed in Burundi must produce:
1. a document indicating the application and the number of any application for a
certificate filed abroad;
2. a copy of all communications received by the applicant relating to the results
of any search or examination conducted with regard to the foreign
application;
3. a copy of the certificate issued on the basis of the foreign application;
4. a copy of any final decision rejecting the foreign application or the request for
grant made in the foreign application;