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Art.99. In the event that invalidity occurs,
not be instituted before the expiration of a
it shall be retroactive, starting from the
period of two years starting from the grant
grant of the patent or certificate.
of the first nonvoluntary license.
In any event and unless specifically
In any event, failure to communicate the
stipulated otherwise, the injured parties
knowhow referred to in Article 87 shall
may institute proceedings for the recovery
result ex officio in lapse.
of the price or fees paid to the patentee, if
they prove that, due to him, they did not
Art.102. Lapse for nonpayment of
obtain the expected benefits from the use
annuities shall lie within the remit of the
of the patent.
Ministry
property, which shall notify the patentee.
Art.100. Any act pronouncing the final
invalidity of a patent or certificate shall be
Art.103. Once lapse has become final, it
notified, without delay, to the Ministry
shall only apply for the future.
responsible for industrial property, which
shall enter it in the ad hoc register and have
It shall be published in the Official Gazette
it published in the Official Gazette.
by the competent Ministry.
Notwithstanding, lapse due to failure to
Section 2 – Lapse
responsible
for
industrial
pay the annuities shall only be published
once the grace period for restoration
provided for in Article 63 has expired or
Art.101. Without prejudice to the
the petition has been rejected.
provisions of Article 62, paragraph 1, the
Ministry responsible for industrial property
shall prescribe patent lapse proceedings for
Section 3 – Penalties
failure to work industrially or insufficient
working in the event that the patent holder
fails to prove that the circumstances which
Art.104. Unjustly claiming an application
could justify the failure to work or
for a patent, or incentive certificate or
insufficient working are not attributable to
unjustly claiming to be the holder of a
him. Nevertheless, such proceedings may
patent, or an incentive certificate or a