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2. a search and examination report forwarded in accordance with Article 35 or a
final decision rejecting the foreign application;
3. a search and examination report prepared at his request by an outside
authority responsible for search and examination or a specialized body in
Burundi.
Section 8: Publication and opposition
Article 44: After the expiration of a period of 18 months as from the date of filing, the
Industrial Property Director shall make the patent application available to the
public for inspection. The public shall be informed of this act through the
publication, in the Official Journal of Burundi, of the following elements:
- the number and date of filing of the application;
- the title of the invention;
- the name(s) of the applicant(s) and of the inventor(s);
- the date of priority;
- the international classification;
- the drawing, as the case may be, which illustrates the main element(s) of the
invention;
- the abstract.
Article 45: The Industrial Property Director shall not grant third parties access to the content
of the patent application or furnish any information on its contents to third
parties prior to such publication.
Article 46: The fee for filing the application must be set high enough to cover the costs of
publication and the notice that the application has been made available to the
public for inspection.
Any interested person may obtain a copy of the full contents of the patent
applications made available to the public for inspection.
Article 47: Once the prescribed fee has been paid, at any time between the date of filing and
the end of the period of 18 months, the applicant may ask the Industrial Property
Director to make the application available to the public for inspection earlier
than foreseen.
Article 48: Within 90 days following the publication provided for in Article 43, any
interested person may file a notice of opposition with the Industrial Property
Director. Such opposition shall indicate the patent application concerned as well
as the arguments and evidence put forward by the opposing party to prevent the
grant of the patent. The opposing party must further pay the prescribed fee.