laws
Law n° 2007-50 dated 23 July 2007 amending and
supplementing the law n° 2001-36 dated 17 April
2001, relating to the protection of the fabric, trade
and services marks (1).
In the name of the people,
The Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors
having adopted,
The President of the Republic enacts the following law :
Article one - Shall be repealed the provisions of the 51st
article of the law n° 2001-36 dated 17 April, 2001 relating
to the protection of the fabric, trade and services marks, and
replaced by the provisions hereafter :
Article 51 (new) : Without prejudice to sanctions by
special texts, will be punished of a fine from 10000 to
50000 dinars whoever :
a) have contravened the provisions of the 22nd and the
23rd articles of this law.
b) have imported goods carrying a counterfeited mark.
Art. 2 - Are added to the law n° 2001-36 dated 17 April, 2001,
relating to the protection of the fabric, trade and services marks,
articles 52 (second), 52 (third), 52 (quarter), 52 (quinquies), 52
(sexies), 52 (septies), 52 (octies) and 52 (nonies) :
Article 52 second - The infringements envisaged at the
point (a) of the 51st and the 52nd articles of this law are
noted by the agents enumerated below :
- Legal senior police officers quoted with numbers 3 and
4 of article 10 of the penal procedure code.
- Agents of economic control indicated in accordance
with the particular statute governing the body of economic
control, who are sworn in and entitled for this purpose.
- Doctors, veterinary surgeons, pharmacists, engineers
and high-level technicians who are sworn in and entitled by
the Minister in charge of agriculture or the Minister in
charge of the public health.
- Customs agents.
The infringements with the provisions envisaged at the point
(b) of article 51 of this law are noted by the customs agents.
Article 52 third - With regard to the infringements with
the provisions envisaged at the point (a) of articles 51 and
52 of this law, the agents aimed to article 52 (second), after
having made known their quality carry out the provisional
seizure of the products suspected to be counterfeited.
An official report of provisional seizure is
established for this purpose and must comprise the
following mentions :
- Date : hour, day, month and year.
- Names and quality of the agents.
- Place of the observation.
- Identity and quality of the holder of the goods and, if
necessary, identity and the quality of the person who is
present at the time of the observation.
________
(1) preparatory works :
Discussion and adoption by the Chamber of Deputies during its
session held on 10 July 2007.
Discussion and adoption by the Chamber of Advisors during its
session held on 16 July 2007.
Page 772
- Legal base.
- Identification of the seized product: its denomination,
quantity, mark, packing and, if necessary, the weight, the
number of the batch and dates of manufacture and validity
of the product.
- Identity and quality of the person at whom are
consigned the seized products.
- Signatures of the agents and the person who is present
at the time of the observations and, if necessary, the person
at whom are consigned the seized products. With the case
of refusal to sign, a mention is made in the official report.
The official report can comprise all other mentions that
the agents policemen consider useful for purposes of the
investigations.
The duration of temporarily measure of seizure cannot
exceed one month. The Public prosecutor can, by writing,
extend this duration for the same duration and only once.
With the expiry of this time this measurement ceases
automatically.
During the period of seizure the suspected products are
left in guard of their holder, or if necessary, in a place
chosen by the agents provided that this place meets the
necessary conditions of conservation.
The service which the agents concerned belong to is held
to inform the owner of the mark or its having right, by any
means which can leave record, and to grant the possibility to
him of examining the taken samples and of carrying out the
expertises enabling him to come to a conclusion about the
counterfeit.
If it proves that the products seized temporarily are not
counterfeited, the measurement of seizure is raised
systematically. In the contrary case, the service, which the
agents belong to having carried out the provisional seizure,
establishes an official report of infringement against the
contravener and transmits it to the minister in charge of
trade who will transmit it to the Public prosecutor of the
competent jurisdiction court, accompanied with the
administration requests.
Article 52 quater - In the achievement of their missions,
the agents in charge of the observation of the infringements
are authorized :
1/ to enter, during the usual hours of opening or work, in
the professional buildings. They are also authorized to
achieve their missions during the carriage of the goods.
2/ to make ail the necessary observations and to obtain,
on first requisition and without displacement, documents,
parts and registers necessary to their investigations and
observations and to take copies of them.
3/ to seize, counters receips, any document, cited in the
second paragraph, necessary to prove the infringement or to
seek the joint authors of the infringement or their
accomplices.
4/ to take samples according to the lawful modes and
conditions. Each taking away comprises, unless materially
impossible, four identical samples, including two intended
for expertise and two others to subject if required to the
contradictory expertises.
Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia — 27 July 2007
N° 60