Article 12
Competences of the Supervisory Board
The Supervisory Board shall be competent:
a) to supervise the management of and ensure compliance with the rules governing the
activities of the IPI;
b) to issue opinions on the budget and statement of accounts;
c) to examine the accounts and audit the assets.
Article 13
Operation of the Supervisory Board
1. The Supervisory Board shall meet in ordinary session on a quarterly basis and in extraordinary
session when convened by the chair.
2. The Supervisory Board may be assisted by experts appointed or contracted for this purpose, or
by enterprises specialized in auditing work.
3. The members of the Supervisory Board shall conduct their activities conscientiously and
impartially and shall have a duty of confidentiality in relation to any facts that come to their
attention in the course of their duties or because of them;
4. Minutes shall be taken at all meetings and shall be set down in special minute books.
Section lV
Structure
Subsection I
Central Services Directorate for Marks and Patents
Article 14
Competences
The Central Services Directorate of Marks and Patents shall act in the sphere of industrial
property rights with the aim of ensuring the protection of distinctive commercial signs, the granting
and protection of rights to invention patents and the deposit of utility models and industrial
designs. In this regard, it shall be empowered to do the following:
a) oversee the receipt and processing of applications for the national registration of distinctive
commercial signs, in particular trade marks and service marks, awards, appellations of origin,
establishment names and signs, and applications for the international registration of marks
and appellations of origin;
b) formally examine and analyze applications for the protection of distinctive commercial signs
and patents, assessing their compliance with the legislation and the criteria stipulated;