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- to process inventions which consist in full or in part of procedures which are
carried out by a computer and run by a computer program;
- to product inventions consisting of elements of an invention implemented by
computer, in particular, a machine-readable computer code stored on a
material medium such as a diskette, a computer hard drive or a computer
memory and a universal calculator, the novelty of which in relation to prior
art primarily stems from its combination with a specific software.
It is understood that persons filing patent applications concerning computer
programs and inventions relating to computers covered by paragraph 1 have
waived their right to any copyright protection.
Chapter IV: Patent application
Section 1: Filing of applications
Article 19: Patent applications shall be filed with the Industrial Property Director. They
shall comprise a request, a description, one or more claims, one or more
drawings, as the case may be, and a summary.
The request shall consist of a petition for the grant of a patent, the name and the
other required information relating to the applicant and the inventor as well as
the title of the invention.
If the applicant is not the inventor, the request shall be accompanied by a
statement providing proof of the applicant's right to apply for the patent.
The filing of the application shall be subject to payment of the prescribed fee.
Article 20: The description must disclose the invention in a manner that is sufficiently clear
and comprehensive so that a person skilled in the art and with average
knowledge and skill can carry it out. It must in particular indicate at least one
embodiment of the invention known to the inventor on the date of filing or, if
priority is claimed, on the date of priority of the application.
For the purposes of this Article, a person skilled in the art and with average
knowledge and skill shall mean a citizen of Burundi who has studied and carried
out his profession in Burundi and who has acquired average skills and
experience in the technical field to which the claimed invention belongs.
To evaluate whether disclosure is sufficient, it is appropriate to take into
consideration the content of the description, the claims and drawings, as they
appear on the date on which the sufficiency of disclosure was examined.
Article 21: The description must contain a clear indication of the origin of the genetic or
biological resources collected in the territory of Burundi and used directly or
indirectly in the making of the claimed invention as well as any element of the
traditional knowledge which may or may not be linked to these resources that is
protected under Title V of this part and that has been used directly or indirectly