page 5
Article 15
Civil, Commercial and Magistrates’ Chambers of Courts of First Instance shall be
competent to hear any case stemming from the application of this Law.
TITLE II
INVENTION PATENTS
Chapter I
Scope of Application
Article 16
Any invention may be the subject of a patent granted by the Djibouti Office of
Industrial and Commercial Property. The right to the patent shall belong to the
inventor or his successors in title, subject to the conditions and limits laid down in this
Law.
If several persons have made an invention independently of each other, the right to
the industrial property title shall belong to the person who can prove the earliest date
of filing.
Article 17
The industrial property titles protecting inventions shall be:
((a) invention patents, granted for a term of protection of 20 years from the date on
which the patent application is filed;
((b) certificates of addition, which are accessory titles for inventions whose subject
matter is derived from at least one claim of a main patent. Said certificates shall be
granted for a term which shall take effect from the date of filing of the corresponding
application and shall expire on the date of the main patent from which they are
derived.
Article 18
If the inventor is a salaried employee, the right to the industrial property title, barring
any contractual provision which is more favorable for the salaried employee, shall be
defined according to the following provisions:
((a) the inventions made by the salaried employee in the performance of either an
employment contract comprising an inventive task which corresponds to his actual
duties, or studies and research with which he has been explicitly entrusted, shall
belong to the employer. The conditions in which a salaried employee who is the
author of such an invention shall benefit from supplementary remuneration shall be
determined by the collective labor agreements and individual labor contracts.