TITLE II
INVENTION PATENTS
Chapter I
Scope
16. Any invention may give rise to an industrial property title granted by the entity
responsible for industrial property. This title shall confer on its owner or his successors in
title an exclusive right of use for the invention. The right to the industrial property title shall
belong to the inventor or his successors in title, subject to the provisions of Article 18 below.
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.
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 was 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.
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 controls.
Any legal dispute relating to supplementary remuneration which the salaried employee
could receive further to his invention shall be submitted to the court.
(b) All other inventions shall belong to the salaried employee. However, where an
invention is made by a salaried employee, either in the course of the performance of his duties
or in the company’s field of activities, or through the knowledge or utilization of techniques
or means specific to the company, or from data procured by it, the salaried employee must
immediately inform his employer thereof by means of a written declaration sent by registered
letter with acknowledgement of receipt.
Where there are two or more inventors, a joint declaration may be made by all or only
some of them.
The contents of the declaration shall be determined by regulation.
The employer shall have six months as from the date of receipt of the above-mentioned
written declaration to be granted ownership or enjoyment of all or part of the rights deriving
from the invention of his salaried employee by filing a patent application with the entity
responsible for industrial property.