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- Trade name, the name or designation identifying and distinguishing a firm;
- Traditional knowledge, the ideas, practices, uses and inventions which may or
may not be linked to biological diversity, created by local indigenous
communities in a traditional and informal manner, in response to the
challenges posed by their material and cultural environment, and which serve
as identifiers for these communities;
- Utility model, a technical creation which consists of a form, a new
configuration of an object or the element of an object which enhances its
functionality or usefulness.
PART TWO: PATENTS, UTILITY MODEL CERTIFICATES, INDUSTRIAL
DESIGNS, LAYOUT DESIGNS FOR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS,
TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND CRAFTS OBJECTS
TITLE 1: PATENTS
Chapter I: Patentable inventions
Article 3:
An invention shall be patentable if it is new, involves an inventive step and is
industrially applicable.
An invention shall be new if it has not been a part of any state of the art.
Article 4:
The state of the art shall consist of everything that has been made available to
the public, regardless of the place, means or manner, prior to the date of filing of
the patent application in Burundi or that applied for abroad, for which priority
has been validly claimed.
Article 5:
The novelty of an invention shall not be defeated if, in the 12 months preceding
the day covered by the previous article, this invention has been the subject of
disclosure arising from:
- a clear abuse in relation to the applicant or his successor in title;
- the fact that the applicant or his successor in title has displayed it at an official
or officially recognized international exhibition.
Article 6:
An invention shall be deemed to involve an inventive step if, given the
differences and similarities between the invention claimed and the state of the art
as defined in Article 4, the claimed invention, considered as a whole, would not
have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the date of filing or, as the
case may be, the date of priority of the claimed invention.
Article 7:
An invention shall be deemed to be industrially applicable if its subject matter
can be produced or used in any kind of industry. The term “industry” shall be