JOHN CARLOS I,

KING OF SPAIN

To all who present it and understand it.

Sabed: That the General Courts have approved and I come to sanction the following Law:

PREAMBLE

It is unanimous in all industrialized countries that patent law has a decisive influence on the organization of the economy, as it is a fundamental element in promoting technological innovation, the principle that our country cannot take away, as it is essential to raise the level of competitiveness of our industry.

On the other hand, a Patent Law, which effectively protects the results of our research, is a necessary element within the Spanish policy of promoting research and technological development.

The current patent law, which dates back to 1929, does not meet the above objectives, for, on the one hand, it has suffered a process of obsolescence that invalidates it to regulate the development of the technology required by our The present invention relates to a method for the production system, and the protection granted by current patents, granted by means of a procedure "without examination of the novelty of the invention", gives rise to known patents with the name of "weak" which do not constitute incentives. sufficient to protect the results of the investigation.

But, apart from the above reasons, there are other relevant factors that require the adoption of a new Patent Law, such as the existence of a European patent law, constituted by the Munich Convention of 5 October 1973 on the European Patent, and the Luxembourg Convention on the Community Patent of 15 December 1975, the right which has been collected in almost all European patent laws and which our country cannot not only to ignore the growing internationalisation of patents, but also to the demands of harmonisation of the national legislation imposing accession to the European Economic Community.

The main features of the new Patent Law are as follows:

First, it should be noted that the project includes two categories of industrial property titles: invention patents and utility models.

The utility models are maintained for being an institution that responds in many cases to the level of our technology, as evidenced by the fact that this mode of protection is requested, by more than 80 per 100, per national, but it reduces its duration from twenty to ten years, because they only require relative or national novelty and a lower level of inventive activity than that of the patents of invention.

The introduction patents are deleted as an anachronistic figure, which is not proven to contribute effectively to the Spanish technological development, and which are totally incompatible with the regulation of patents in the European law.

In order to promote research within the Spanish company, work inventions are regulated, trying to reconcile the interests of the entrepreneur and the employees. The inclusion of the regulation of inventions within the Patent Law responds to the current reality of the production process itself, and has been the criterion followed by the generality of European patent laws.

The patentability of inventions is regulated in accordance with European law, and the patentability of chemical, pharmaceutical and food products is being introduced in Spain, but as far as products are concerned. The Commission will not be able to make a decision on the issue of chemical and pharmaceutical products, in the interests of the problems that its rapid implementation may cause to the corresponding industrial sectors. before 7 October 1992.

The law gives greater protection to patents, both in terms of the content of rights that are very similar to those established in the Community patent, and in the establishment of new actions, for their operators, in particular the cessation of the unlawful act. The protection of procedural patents for the procurement of new products is increased by the introduction of the principle of reversal of the burden of proof, amending the rules of procedural law which provide that the burden of proof the evidence is the responsibility of the person who affirms; the judicial procedures are also strengthened, the assurance of the evidence of judicial recognition being regulated by the introduction of prior actions of verification of facts, and they are implemented precautionary measures to ensure the outcome of the trial, which is subject to that patent holders exploit inventions in our country.

Likewise, and within this order to strengthen the patent system, and to ensure that the patents granted in our country are "strong" patents, a new concession system is established, through the introduction into the the procedure for a "report on the state of the art", which also has the character of a previous step for the institution of a concession system with "prior examination of novelty" as the one governing most of the industrialized countries; and which is also regulated in the Law, by the time its implementation is decided.

All of the above will involve the constitution in the Industrial Property Registry of a large Patent Document Fund around the world, with a special emphasis on the availability of patent literature. written in Spanish. A large part of the patent documents in Spanish are not taken into account by the Foreign Patent Offices, when they examine the novelty of the inventions. The formation of this Fund of Documents will also allow the creation, in its day, of an International Center of Spanish-speaking Patent Documents.

The Law takes into account that a Spanish Patent Law, must tend to promote the technological development of our country, based on its industrial situation, so that special attention has been given to the protection of the national interests, in particular by strengthening the obligations of patent holders in order to ensure that the exploitation of patents takes place within the national territory and takes place, transfer of technology, but always respecting the Paris Convention of 20 May 1883, text reviewed in Stockholm on 14 July 1967 and in force in Spain.

With this aim, the exploitation of patents is regulated, and special care is taken to regulate the transmissions of patents and contractual licenses.

An adequate system of compulsory licenses is established for lack of exploitation of patents in Spain, modifying the inefficient regulation of exploitation licenses in current law. And for the first time, compulsory licenses for patent and public interest are regulated in our country.

The importance of the functions that the Law attributes to the Registry of Industrial Property will require a special dynamism in the future action of this Agency, which will require new material, human and financial resources for the implementation of the report on the state of the art and on its previous day of examination.

In summary, the Law establishes a new patent law in Spain, which implies a substantial change of the existing regulation, which requires the inclusion of numerous transitional provisions, aimed at the implementation of the new system in a progressive, but effective way.

TITLE I

Preliminary Provisions

Article 1

For the protection of industrial inventions, the following industrial property titles shall be granted in accordance with the provisions of this Law:

a) Patents of invention, and

b) Certificates of utility model protection.

Article 2

1. Natural or legal persons of Spanish nationality and natural persons or foreign legal persons who habitually reside or have an industrial establishment may obtain the securities of industrial property covered by this Law. effective and effective commercial in Spanish territory, or enjoying the benefits of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

2. Natural persons or foreign legal persons not included in the preceding paragraph may also obtain the securities of industrial property governed by this Law, provided that in the State of which the persons are nationals natural or legal persons of Spanish nationality obtaining equivalent titles.

3. Natural or legal persons of Spanish nationality and foreign nationals, who are nationals of one of the countries of the Union of Paris or who, without being so, are domiciled or have an effective and serious industrial or commercial establishment in the the territory of one of the countries of the Union may rely on the application of the provisions contained in the text of the Convention of the Paris Union for the protection of industrial property which is in force in Spain, those cases where those provisions are more favourable to them than the rules laid down in the This Act.

Article 3

The Law of Administrative Procedure shall be applied in an additional manner to the administrative acts regulated in this Law, and these may be appealed in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Jurisdiction Administrative-litigation.

TITLE II

Patentability

Article 4

1. New inventions, which involve inventive activity and are susceptible to industrial application, are patentable.

2. The following paragraphs shall not be considered to be inventions, in particular:

a) Unravels, scientific theories and mathematical methods.

b) Literary works, artistic works or any other aesthetic creation, as well as scientific works.

c) Plans, rules and methods for the exercise of intellectual activities, for games or for economic-commercial activities, as well as computer programs.

d) Ways to present information.

3. The provisions of the above paragraph exclude the patentability of the inventions referred to therein only to the extent that the object for which the patent is sought includes one of them.

4. Methods of surgical or therapeutic treatment of the human or animal body shall not be regarded as susceptible of industrial application within the meaning of paragraph 1. This provision shall not apply to products, in particular to substances or compositions, or to inventions of apparatus or instruments for the implementation of such methods.

Article 5

1. May not be subject to patent:

a). Inventions whose commercial exploitation is contrary to public order or to good manners.

b). Plant varieties which are eligible for the legislation of the Law of 12 March 1975 on the protection of plant variety rights.

c). Animal breeds.

d). The essentially biological procedures for obtaining plants or animals.

2. The provisions of paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) shall not, however, apply to microbiological procedures or to products obtained by such procedures.

Article 6

1. An invention is considered to be new when it is not included in the state of the art.

2. The state of the art is constituted by everything that before the filing date of the patent application has been made accessible to the public in Spain or abroad by a written or oral description, by a use or by any other means.

3. It is also understood in the state of the art the content of the Spanish applications for patents or utility models, as they had originally been submitted, the date of which is before the date referred to above. in the preceding paragraph and which have been published on that date or at a later date.

Article 7

It shall not be taken into consideration to determine the state of the art a disclosure of the invention which, occurring within six months prior to the filing of the application in the Industrial Property Registry direct or indirect consequence:

(a) An obvious abuse against the applicant or his or her causative.

(b) The fact that the applicant or his causative has exhibited the invention in official or officially recognised exhibitions.

In this case it will be necessary for the applicant, when submitting the application, to declare that the invention has actually been exhibited and that, in support of his declaration, he will contribute the corresponding certificate within the period and under the conditions which are determined to be regulated.

(c) The tests carried out by the applicant or by his/her drivers, provided that they do not involve a commercial operation or offer of the invention.

Article 8

1. It is considered that an invention involves an inventive activity if the invention does not result from the state of the art in an obvious way for an expert in the field.

2. If the state of the art comprises documents referred to in Article 6 (3), they shall not be taken into account in deciding on the existence of the inventive activity.

Article 9

It is considered that an invention is susceptible to industrial application when its object can be manufactured or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture.

TITLE III

patent law and inventor's designation

Article 10

1. The right to the patent belongs to the inventor or his successors and is transmissible by all means that the law recognizes.

2. If the invention has been carried out by several persons together, the right to obtain the patent shall belong to all of them.

3. Where the same invention has been carried out by a number of persons independently, the right to the patent shall belong to that whose application has an earlier date of filing in Spain, provided that such application is published with pursuant to Article 32.

4. In the proceedings before the Registry of Industrial Property, the applicant is presumed to be entitled to exercise the right to the patent.

Article 11

1. Where, on the basis of the first paragraph of the previous Article, a final judgment has recognised the right to obtain the patent from a person other than the applicant, and provided that the patent has not been granted still, that person may within three months from the time the judgment has acquired the force of res judicata:

a) Continue the procedure relative to the request, subrogating to the place of the requester.

b) Submit a new patent application for the same invention, which will enjoy the same priority, or

c) Order the request to be rejected.

2. The provisions of Article 24 (3) apply to any new application submitted as set out in the previous paragraph.

3. If the application for the judgment referred to in paragraph 1 is lodged, the patent application may not be withdrawn without the consent of the claimant. The Judge shall order the suspension of the concession procedure, once the application has been published, until the final judgment has been duly notified, if the latter is in the absence of the claim of the actor, or up to three months after the date of the application. such notification, if it is an estimate.

Article 12

1. If the patent has been granted to a person not entitled to obtain it within the meaning of Article 10 (1), the person entitled under that Article may claim that the patent has been transferred to him, without prejudice to any other rights or actions that may correspond to it.

2. Where a person is entitled to only one part of the patent, he may claim to be granted the ownership of the patent in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

3. The rights referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall be exercisable only within two years from the date on which the mention of the grant of the patent was published in the 'Official Journal of Industrial Property'. This period shall not apply if the holder, at the time of the grant or the acquisition of the patent, knew that he was not entitled to it.

4. The entry in the Register of patents for the purposes of advertising against third parties shall be the subject of a court application for the exercise of the actions referred to in this Article, as well as the final judgment or any other the form of termination of the proceedings initiated pursuant to that application, at the request of an interested party.

Article 13

1. Where a change in the ownership of a patent occurs as a result of a judgment of those provided for in the preceding article, licences and other third party rights on the patent shall be extinguished by registration in the Register of patents of the person entitled.

2. Both the owner of the patent and the holder of a licence obtained before the registration of the application of the court order which, prior to the same registration, had exploited the invention or made preparations effective and effective for that purpose, may continue or commence the operation provided that they apply for a non-exclusive license to the new holder registered in the Patent Registry, within two months in the case of the previous holder of the patent or, in the case of the licensee, within four months of receipt of the notification of the Registration of the Industrial Property, which communicates the registration of the new owner. The licence must be granted for an appropriate period and on reasonable terms, which shall be fixed, if necessary, by the procedure laid down in this Law for compulsory licences.

3. The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply if the holder of the patent or licence had acted in bad faith at the time the holding or preparations for the holding began.

Article 14

The inventor has, in front of the patent or patent application holder, the right to be mentioned as such an inventor in the patent.

TITLE IV

Labor inventions

Article 15

1. Inventions, made by the worker during the term of his contract or working relationship or services with the undertaking which are the result of an explicit or implicitly constitutive investigation activity of the object of his contract, belong to the employer.

2. The worker, author of the invention, shall not be entitled to an additional remuneration for its performance, except if his personal contribution to the invention and the importance of the invention for the company clearly exceed the explicit or implicit in your contract or work relationship.

Article 16

The inventions in which the circumstances provided for in Article 15 (1) do not exist belong to the worker, who is the author of the invention.

Article 17

1. By way of derogation from Article 16, where the worker made an invention in relation to his professional activity in the undertaking and in his/her procurement, he had predominantly influenced knowledge acquired within the undertaking or the use of means provided by the employer, the employer shall have the right to take ownership of the invention or to reserve a right to use it.

2. Where the employer takes ownership of an invention or reserves the right to use it, the worker shall be entitled to fair economic compensation, fixed in the light of the industrial and commercial importance of the invention and taking into account the value of the means or knowledge provided by the company and the employee's own contributions.

Article 18

1. The worker who makes one of the inventions referred to in Articles 15 and 17 must inform the employer, by written communication, of the information and reports necessary to enable him to exercise his rights. within three months. Failure to comply with this obligation will result in the loss of the rights recognized to the worker in this Title.

2. Both the employer and the worker must cooperate to the extent necessary for the effectiveness of the rights recognised in this Title, by refraining from any action which may be detrimental to such rights. rights.

Article 19

1. Inventions for which a patent application or other exclusive protection title is filed within the year following the termination of the employment or service relationship may be claimed by the employer.

2. Any advance waiver of the worker to the rights that the Law grants in this Title shall be void.

Article 20

1. The rules of this Title shall apply to officials, employees and workers of the State, Autonomous Communities, Provinces, Municipalities and other Public Entes, without prejudice to the following paragraphs.

2. It is up to the University to be entitled to the inventions made by the professor as a result of his research function at the University and which belong to the scope of his teaching and research functions, without prejudice to the established in Article 11 of the Organic Law of University Reform.

3. Any invention, as referred to in point 2, must be notified immediately to the University by the professor who is the author of the invention.

4. The professor shall, in any case, have the right to participate in the benefits obtained by the University of the exploitation or the transfer of his rights to the inventions mentioned in point 2. determine the modalities and amounts of this participation.

5. The University may assign ownership of the inventions referred to in point 2 to the professor, author of the inventions, and a non-exclusive, non-transferable and free operating license may be reserved in this case.

6. Where the professor obtains benefits from the exploitation of an invention referred to in point 5, the University shall have the right to a participation in the same determined by the Statutes of the University.

7. Where the professor makes an invention as a result of a contract with a private or public Ente, the contract shall specify which of the contracting parties shall be entitled to the contract.

8. The arrangements set out in paragraphs 2 to 7 of this Article may be applied to the inventions of the research staff of public research institutions.

9. The detailed rules and the amount of the participation of the investigating staff of public research entities in the benefits to be obtained in the exploitation or disposal of their rights in respect of the inventions referred to in point 8 of this Article, be established by the Government, taking into account the specific characteristics of each Research Ente.

TITLE V

Granting the patent

CHAPTER I

Patent application presentation and requirements

Article 21

1. In order to obtain a patent, an application must be submitted, which must contain:

a) An instance addressed to the Director of the Industrial Property Registry.

b) A description of the invention for which the patent is applied for.

c) One or more claims.

d) The drawings to which the description or claims relate, and

e) A summary of the invention.

2. In the event that an addition is requested, it shall be expressly stated in the instance, indicating the number of the patent or the application to which the addition must refer.

3. The filing of the application shall give rise to the payment of the fees set out in this Law.

4. Both the application and the other documents to be filed with the Industrial Property Registry must be in Spanish and must comply with the requirements that are established in law.

5. In the Autonomous Communities, the documents referred to in the fourth paragraph may be filed in the offices of the Autonomous Administration, where the competent authority is recognised. Such documents may be drawn up in the official language of the Autonomous Community, and must be accompanied by the corresponding translation in Spanish, which shall be deemed authentic in case of doubt between them.

Article 22

1. The date of submission of the application shall be the date on which the applicant gives the following documents in the form required by Article 21 to the authorised Spanish Offices for the receipt of patent applications:

a) A declaration that a patent is applied for.

b) The identification of the requester, and

c) A description and one or more claims, even if they do not meet the formal requirements laid down in this Law.

2. If, during the concession procedure, the object of the patent application is modified in whole or in part, the date of introduction of the amendment shall be considered as the date of introduction of the amendment in respect of the party concerned.

Article 23

The patent application must designate the inventor. If the applicant is not the inventor or is not the sole inventor, the designation must be accompanied by a declaration stating how the applicant has acquired the right to the patent.

Article 24

1. The patent application may not comprise more than a single invention or a group of related inventions in such a way that they integrate a single general inventive concept.

2. Applications which do not comply with the provisions of the previous paragraph shall be divided in accordance with what is to be regulated.

3. Divisional applications shall have the same filing date as the initial application from which they proceed, in so far as their object is already contained in that application.

Article 25

1. The invention should be described in the patent application in a sufficiently clear and complete manner so that an expert on the matter can execute it.

2. Where the invention relates to a microbiological procedure, in which the micro-organism is not accessible to the public, only the description shall be deemed to comply with the provisions of the preceding paragraph if the following requirements are met:

(a) The description contains the information available to the applicant on the characteristics of the micro-organism.

(b) that the applicant has deposited no later than the date of submission of the application a cultivation of micro-organisms in an institution authorised for this purpose, in accordance with the International Conventions, on this subject in force in Spain, and

(c) The public shall have access to the cultivation of the micro-organism in the institution mentioned above, from the day of publication of the patent application, under the conditions to be laid down in regulation.

Article 26

The claims define the object for which protection is requested. They must be clear and concise and must be based on the description.

Article 27

1. The summary of the invention will be used exclusively for a purpose of technical information. It may not be taken into consideration for any other purpose, and in particular it may not be used for the purposes of determining the scope of the protection sought, nor for the purpose of delimiting the state of the art for the purposes of Article 6, paragraph 3.

2. The summary of the invention may be modified by the Industrial Property Registry when it considers it necessary for the best information of the third parties. This modification will be notified to the applicant.

Article 28

1. Who has regularly filed a patent application for invention, utility model, utility certificate or inventor's certificate in one of the countries of the Union for the Protection of Industrial Property or its causahabientes shall enjoy, for the filing of a patent application in Spain for the same invention, the right of priority established in the Convention of the Paris Union for the Protection of Industrial Property.

2. It shall have the same right of priority as referred to in the previous paragraph who has lodged a first application for protection in a country which, without belonging to the Union for the Protection of Industrial Property, recognises applications presented in Spain a right of priority with effects equivalent to those provided for in the Union Convention.

3. By virtue of the exercise of the right of priority, the date of filing of the application shall be deemed to be the date on which the application is lodged for the purposes of Articles 6 (2) and 6 (3), (3), (3) and (145), (1) and (2). Previous application whose priority has been validly claimed.

Article 29

1. The applicant who wishes to claim the priority of an earlier application must submit a declaration of priority and a copy certified by the Office of origin of the application in the form and time-limits to be laid down. prior to their translation into Spanish, when that application is written in another language.

2. For the same application and, where appropriate, for the same claim, multiple priorities may be claimed, even if they originate in different States. If multiple priorities are claimed, deadlines to be computed from the priority date will be counted from the earliest priority date.

3. Where one or more priorities are claimed, the right of priority shall only cover the elements of the application which are contained in the application or applications whose priority has been claimed.

4. Even if certain elements of the invention for which the priority is claimed are not included in the claims made in the previous application, the priority may be given to them if the whole of the documents of that Previous application reveals in a sufficiently clear and precise manner such elements.

CHAPTER II

General Grant Procedure

Article 30

Within eight days of receipt in their offices, the Industrial Property Registry will reject outright, making the corresponding notification to the interested party, requests that do not meet the requirements necessary to obtain a filing date in accordance with Article 22 (1) or for which the corresponding fee has not been paid.

Article 31

1. When the application is accepted, the Industrial Property Registry will examine whether it meets the formal requirements laid down in the previous chapter, as they have been developed in a regulated manner. The adequacy of the description shall not be examined.

2. The Registry of Industrial Property shall also examine whether the object of the application meets the patentability requirements laid down in the second title of this Law, except for novelty and inventive activity. However, the Registry of Industrial Property shall, after hearing the person concerned, refuse to grant the patent by means of a duly substantiated decision where the invention is not subject to a new application. manifest and notorious.

3. If, as a result of the examination, the application appears to be defective in form or that its object is not patentable, the suspension of the file shall be declared and the applicant shall be granted the prescribed period for which it is to be imposed. case, the defects which have been identified and for the purpose of making the relevant claims. For the above purposes, the applicant may amend the claims or split the application.

4. The Registry of Industrial Property shall refuse in whole or in part the application if it considers that its object is not patentable or that defects which have not been properly remedied remain in it.

5. Where the examination of the Register of Industrial Property does not result in defects preventing the grant of the patent or where such defects have been duly remedied, the Registry of Industrial Property shall inform the applicant that, for the granting procedure shall continue, it shall request the performance of the report on the state of the art within the time limits laid down in this Law, if it has not already done so.

Article 32

1. Eighteen months from the date of submission of the application or from the date of priority which has been claimed, once the ex officio examination has been completed and the request of the report on the state of the art has been made by the applicant referred to in Article 33, the Register shall make the application for a patent available to the public, making the corresponding publication in the "Official Journal of the Industrial Property" of the elements of the same as determined regulentarily.

2. At the same time, a prospectus shall be published for the patent application containing the description, the claims and, where appropriate, the drawings and other elements to be determined in accordance with the rules.

3. At the request of the applicant, the patent application may be published, in accordance with the terms laid down in this Article, even if the period of eighteen months referred to in paragraph 1 has not elapsed.

Article 33

1. Within 15 months of the date of submission, the applicant shall request the Register to carry out the report on the state of the art, paying the fee established for that purpose. In the event that a priority has been claimed, the fifteen months shall be computed from the date of priority.

2. Where the period laid down in the preceding paragraph has already elapsed at the time of the notification provided for in Article 31 (5), the applicant may request the completion of the report on the state of the art within the month following that notification.

3. If the applicant does not comply with this Article, it shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.

4. The performance of the report on the state of the art with reference to an addition may not be requested if the main patent and, where applicable, the previous additions are not required for the main patent.

Article 34

1. Once the examination of the application provided for in Article 31 has been completed, and the request of the applicant for the report on the state of the art has been received, the Register shall draw up the report with reference to the of the patent application, within the time limit to be established.

2. The preparation of the report may not be initiated until the date of submission of the application is definitively fixed within the granting procedure.

3. The report on the state of the art shall mention the elements of the state of the art that may be taken into consideration to appreciate the novelty and inventive activity of the invention object of the application.

It shall be drawn up on the basis of the claims of the application and taking into account the description and, where appropriate, the drawings which have been submitted.

4. In order to carry out the report, the Registry, in addition to carrying out the search with the documentation at its disposal, may use the services of the national or international agencies whose collaboration would have been previously approved with general character by means of Royal Decree.

5. Once the report on the state of the art has been prepared, the Registry will transfer the patent to the patent applicant and publish a brochure with the report, making the corresponding announcement in the "Official Journal of the Property". Industrial ".

6. At the same time as the state of the art report, the patent application must be published if it has not yet been published.

Article 35

1. Where the lack of clarity of the description or the claims prevents all or part of the preparation of the report on the state of the art, the Register shall refuse the grant of the patent in the relevant party.

2. Before adopting the final decision rejecting the grant of the patent, the Registry shall notify the applicant thereof, giving the applicant the time limit which it shall regulate in order to make the arguments it considers appropriate.

Article 36

1. Any person may make duly reasoned and documented observations to the report on the state of the art, in the form and time limit which they shall regulate.

2. After the expiry of the period granted to the third parties for the submission of comments to the report on the state of the art, the written submissions shall be forwarded to the applicant so that within the time limit laid down for the purpose Make any comments that you consider relevant to the report on the state of the art, make any comments that you believe are appropriate to the comments submitted by third parties and modify, if you consider it appropriate, the claims.

Article 37

1. Irrespective of the content of the report on the state of the art and the comments made by third parties, after the expiry of the period for the applicant's observations, the Register shall grant the requested patent, thereby announcing it in the 'Official Journal of Industrial Property' and making available to the public the documents of the patent granted, together with the report on the state of the art and all the comments and comments concerning that report. In the event that the claims have been modified, the various redactions of the claims shall be made available to the public, with the expression of their respective date.

2. The granting of the patent shall be without prejudice to the third and unguaranteed status of the State in respect of the validity of the patent and the usefulness of the object on which it falls.

3. The notice of the concession, which shall be published in the Official Journal of Industrial Property, shall contain the following particulars:

1. º The number of the granted patent.

2. º The class or classes in which the patent has been included.

3. The concise statement of the invention object of the granted patent.

4. º The name, or the name, and the nationality of the applicant, as well as his or her address.

5. The summary of the invention.

6. The reference to the "Bulletin" in which the patent application was made public and, where applicable, the modifications made to its claims.

7. The date of the concession.

8. The possibility to consult the documents of the granted patent, as well as the report on the state of the art relating to it and the observations and comments made to that report.

Article 38

1. A prospectus for each patent granted shall be published for sale to the public.

2. The prospectus, in addition to the particulars referred to in Article 37 (3), shall contain the full text of the description, with the claims and drawings, as well as the full text of the report on the state of the art. It shall also mention the "Official Journal of Industrial Property" in which the concession was announced.

CHAPTER III

Grant procedure with prior examination

Article 39

1. In cases where it is applicable, as provided for in the fifth transitional provision, the granting procedure shall be the same as that laid down in general in the preceding chapter of this Law until the date on which the publication of the report on the state of the art provided for in Article 34.

2. Once the report on the state of the art has been published, any interested party may object to the granting of the patent on the grounds of the absence of any of the conditions required for such a concession, including the lack of novelty or activity inventiveness and the insufficiency of the description.

3. It cannot be argued, however, that the petitioner does not have the right to apply for the patent, which must be enforced in the ordinary courts.

4. The statement of opposition shall be accompanied by the relevant evidence.

5. Within six months of the publication of the report on the state of the art, the applicant shall request the register to examine the adequacy of the description, novelty and inventive activity of the object of the patent application. The examination request shall bear the relevant fee.

6. Upon completion of the examination, the Registry shall notify the applicant of the result and transfer the oppositions presented to it.

7. Where no objections have been submitted and the examination made does not result in the absence of any requirement to prevent it, the Register shall grant the requested patent.

8. In cases where the conditions laid down in the preceding paragraph are not applicable, the applicant may remedy the formal defects attributed to the application, amend the claims, if appropriate, and reply by making the arguments. which it considers relevant.

9. Where the applicant does not carry out any act to obviate the objections raised by the Registry or by third parties, the patent shall be refused in whole or in part. In other cases, the Registry shall, by means of a reasoned decision, decide on the total or partial concession, after the applicant's reply has been received.

10. Where the decision declares that there is no such requirement or that the invention is not patentable, the Registry shall grant the applicant a new period of time for the defect to be remedied or to make any allegations which it considers relevant and shall resolve with a definitive nature on the granting of the patent.

11. The time limits for the procedure laid down in this Article shall be laid down.

Article 40

1. The grant of the patent which has been dealt with by the procedure with prior examination shall be made without prejudice to the third and no guarantee of the State in respect of the validity of the patent and the usefulness of the object on which it falls.

2. In the notice of the concession, which must be published in the Official Journal of Industrial Property, the following entries shall be inserted:

1. º The number of the granted patent.

2. º The class or classes in which the patent has been included.

3. The concise statement of the invention object of the granted patent.

4. º The name, or the name, and the nationality of the applicant, as well as his or her address.

5. The summary of the invention.

6. The reference to the bulletin or bulletins in which the application for patents has been made public and, where appropriate, the modifications made to it.

7. The date of the concession.

8. The possibility of consulting the documents of the granted patent, as well as the report on the state of the art concerning it, the document in which the result of the examination of the trade carried out by the Registry on the novelty, the inventive activity and the adequacy of the description and the opposition writings presented.

9. The mention, which must be included prominently, that the patent has been granted after a prior examination of novelty and inventive activity of the invention that constitutes its object has been carried out.

3. For each patent granted, a prospectus shall be printed for sale to the public which, in addition to the particulars listed in the preceding paragraph, shall contain the full text of the description with the claims and drawings as well as the full text of the report on the state of the art. It shall also mention individually the written opposition and the 'Official Journal of Industrial Property' in which the concession was announced.

CHAPTER IV

General provisions on third party procedure and information

Article 41

1. Except in cases where there are obvious errors, the applicant may only modify the claims of his application in those proceedings of the concession procedure in which it is expressly permitted by this Law.

2. The applicant may amend the claims in accordance with the provisions of the previous paragraph, without the need for the consent of those who have registered rights on their application in the Patent Registry.

3. The modification of the claims may not result in an extension of the content of the application.

Article 42

1. The applicant may request at any time that his application for a patent be processed in an application for the protection of the object of the patent under another form of industrial property until the time limit given to him for filing is complete. comments to the report on the state of the art or, where the procedure is carried out with prior examination, until the end of the period for responding to objections and objections arising from the prior examination carried out by the Registry.

2. As a result of the examination to be carried out pursuant to Article 31, the Registry may propose to the applicant the change of modality of the application. The applicant may accept or reject the proposal, and it shall be rejected if it does not expressly request the change of modality. If the proposal is rejected it will continue processing the case in the requested mode.

3. In the event of a request for the change of modality, the Registry shall agree to the change and shall notify the person concerned of the documents to be submitted within the prescribed time limit for the new processing to which the application is to be submitted. The lack of timely submission of the new documentation will result in the case being cancelled.

4. When the resolution agreeing to the change of modality occurs after the publication of the patent application, it must be published in the "Official Industrial Property Bulletin".

Article 43

1. The patent application may be withdrawn by the applicant at any time before the patent is granted.

2. Where third-party rights on the application are entered in the Register of patents, the application may be withdrawn only with the consent of the holders of such rights.

Article 44

1. Files relating to patent applications not yet published may only be consulted with the consent of the applicant.

2. Anyone who proves that the applicant for a patent has sought to assert in front of him the rights arising from his application, may consult the file prior to the publication of that file and without the consent of the applicant.

3. Where a divisional application is published, a new application for a patent filed under Article 11 (1) or the application for a change in the form of protection under the provisions of Article 11 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 71/2011 shall apply. Article 42, any person may consult the file of the initial application before publication and without the consent of the applicant.

4. After the publication of the patent application, the file of the application and the patent may be consulted, subject to the corresponding request and subject to the prescribed limitations, to which, where appropriate, the given place.

Article 45

1. Files relating to applications which have been refused or withdrawn before publication shall not be accessible to the public.

2. In the event that one of the applications referred to in the previous paragraph is resubmitted, it shall be considered as a new application and shall not be eligible for the date of submission of the previous application.

Article 46

1. Anyone seeking to assert against a third party rights arising from a patent application or a patent already granted must make the number of the patent application known.

2. Anyone who includes in a product, on their labels or packaging, or in any kind of advertisement or form, any particulars intended to produce the impression that there is protection of a patent application or a patent already granted must record the number of the same, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 44.2.

CHAPTER V

Resources

Article 47

1. Any interested party, in accordance with the provisions of the Regulatory Law of the Jurisdiction-Administrative Jurisdiction, shall be entitled to bring an administrative dispute against the granting of the patent without the need for it to be submitted comments to the report on the state of the art, nor has it submitted any opposition within the concession procedure with prior examination.

2. The judicial-administrative action may only refer to the omission of essential formalities of the procedure or to those questions which may be resolved by the administration during the concession procedure, with the exception of the the unit of invention.

3. Under no circumstances may the grant of a patent be invoked on the grounds of the lack of novelty or inventiveness of the subject matter of the application where it has been dealt with by the concession procedure which is carried out without prior examination.

Article 48

The judgment that considers the appeal, founded on the fact that the grant of the patent took place with non-compliance with any of the requirements in form the subject of examination by the Registry of the Industrial Property, except the requirement of the unit of invention or omission of essential formalities of the procedure, shall declare the nullity of the administrative action concerned and shall take back the file at the time when the defects in which the judgment is given have occurred; function.

TITLE VI

Patent and patent application effects

Article 49

The patent has a duration of twenty years unextendable, counted from the filing date of the application and produces its effects from the day the mention of what has been granted is published.

Article 50

The patent confers on its holder the right to prevent any third party who does not have their consent:

(a) The manufacture, offering, introduction into the trade or use of a product covered by the patent or the import or possession of the product for any of the purposes mentioned.

b) The use of a procedure which is the subject of the patent or the offer of such use, when the third party knows, or the circumstances make it clear, that the use of the procedure is prohibited without the consent of the patent holder.

(c) The offering, the introduction into the trade or the use of the product directly obtained by the procedure which is the subject of the patent or the import or possession of that product for any of the purposes mentioned.

Article 51

1. The patent also confers on its holder the right to prevent any third party from giving or offering to provide means for the implementation of the patented invention relating to an essential element of the same to persons without their consent. not enabled to exploit it, when the third party knows or the circumstances make it clear that such means are suitable for the implementation of the invention and are intended for it.

2. The provisions of the above paragraph are not applicable where the means to which the third paragraph refers are products which are currently in trade, unless the third party has the effect of inciting the person to whom he or she carries out the prohibited in the previous article.

3. They do not have the consideration of persons entitled to exploit the patented invention, within the meaning of paragraph 1, who perform the acts provided for in points (a) to (c) of the following Article.

Article 52

The rights contained in the patent do not extend:

a) To acts performed in their private and non-commercial purposes.

b) To acts performed for experimental purposes that refer to the object of the patented invention.

(c) To the preparation of medicinal products performed in pharmacies extemporaneously and per unit in execution of a medical prescription or to the acts relating to the medicinal products thus prepared.

(d) The use of the object of the patented invention on board ships of countries of the Paris Union for the protection of industrial property, in the body of the vessel, in machines, in appliances and in appliances other accessories, when these vessels enter the Spanish waters temporarily or accidentally, provided that the object of the invention is used exclusively for the needs of the vessel.

e) To the use of the object of the invention patented in the construction or operation of means of locomotion, aerial or terrestrial, belonging to countries members of the Union of Paris for the protection of the industrial property or of the accessories thereof, when those means of locomotion penetrate temporarily or accidentally in the Spanish territory.

(f) to the acts provided for in Article 27 of the Convention of 7 December 1944 on international civil aviation, where such acts relate to aircraft of a State to which the provisions of the Mentioned article.

Article 53

The rights conferred by the patent do not extend to acts performed in Spain in relation to a product protected by it after that product has been placed on the trade in Spain by the patent holder or with your express consent.

Article 54

1. The owner of a patent has no right to prevent those who in good faith and prior to the date of priority of the patent from having exploited in the country what is to constitute the object of the patent, or have made preparations serious and effective to exploit this object, continue or initiate its exploitation in the same way as they were doing until then or for which they had made the preparations and to the appropriate extent to meet the reasonable needs of your company. This right of exploitation is only transmissible together with companies.

2. The rights conferred by the patent do not extend to acts relating to a product covered by it after that product has been placed in trade by the person enjoying the right of exploitation established in the previous.

Article 55

A patent holder may not invoke it to defend itself against actions directed against him for violation of other patents that have a priority date prior to his.

Article 56

The fact that the invention relates to a patent cannot be exploited without using the invention protected by a previous patent belonging to a different owner shall not be an obstacle to the validity of that patent. In this case neither the holder of the previous patent may exploit the subsequent patent during the validity of the patent without the consent of its owner, nor can the holder of the subsequent patent exploit any of the two patents during the validity of the patent. previous patent, unless it has the consent of the owner of the same or has had a compulsory license.

Article 57

The exploitation of the object of a patent may not be carried out in the manner contrary to law, morality, public order or public health, and shall be subject, in any case, to prohibitions or limitations, temporary or undefined, established or established by legal provisions.

Article 58

1. Where a patent is granted for an invention which is subject to a legal monopoly, the monopolist may only use the invention with the consent of the patent holder, but shall be obliged to apply in his industry, obtaining the corresponding right of exploitation, those inventions which represent a significant technical progress for the same.

2. The monopolist will have the right to request that the exploitation of the patented invention be authorized, and the owner of the patent may be required, in case of exercise of that right, that the monopolist acquire the patent. The price to be paid by the monopolist for the right to exploit the patented invention or for the acquisition of the patent shall be fixed by agreement between the parties or, failing that, by judicial decision.

3. Without prejudice to the application of the provisions of the foregoing paragraphs, where the monopoly is established after the grant of the patent, the owner of the patent shall also have the right to require the monopoly to acquire the company or the installations with which the patented invention has been exploited, paying a price to be fixed by agreement between the parties or, failing that, by judgment.

4. Patents whose object is not exploited by preventing the existence of a legal monopoly shall not accrue annuities.

Article 59

1. From the date of its publication, the patent application confers on its holder a provisional protection consistent with the right to demand compensation, reasonable and appropriate to the circumstances, from any third party who, between that the date and date of publication of the indication that the patent has been granted, would have carried out a use of the invention that after that period would be prohibited under the patent.

2. Such provisional protection shall be applicable even before the publication of the application in respect of the person to whom the presentation and the content of the application have been notified.

3. Where the object of the patent application is constituted by a procedure relating to a micro-organism, provisional protection shall only commence since the micro-organism has been made accessible to the public.

4. It is understood that the patent application has never had the effects provided for in the preceding paragraphs where it has been or is considered to be withdrawn, or when it has been rejected under a firm resolution.

Article 60

1. The extent of the protection conferred by the patent or the patent application is determined by the content of the claims. The description and drawings serve, however, for the interpretation of the claims.

2. For the period prior to the granting of the patent, the extension of the protection is determined by the claims of the application, as it would have been made public. However, the patent, as it has been granted, shall determine retroactively the protection referred to above, provided that such protection has not been extended.

Article 61

1. Where a product is introduced in Spain in respect of which there is a patent for the manufacture of that product, the holder of the patent shall have in respect of the product introduced the same rights as this Law. grants in relation to products manufactured in Spain.

2. If a patent has as its object a procedure for the manufacture of new products or substances, it is presumed, unless proof to the contrary, that any product or substance of the same characteristics has been obtained by the patented process.

3. In the practice of proceedings for proof to the contrary provided for in the preceding paragraph, the legitimate interests of the defendant shall be taken into consideration for the protection of his business or manufacturing secrets.

TITLE VII

Shares for violation of patent law

Article 62

The holder of a patent may exercise before the organs of the Ordinary Jurisdiction, the actions that correspond, whatever his class and nature, against those who injure his right and demand the necessary measures for their safeguard.

Article 63

The holder whose patent rights are injured may, in particular, request:

a) The cessation of acts that violate their right.

b) Compensation for damages suffered.

(c) The seizure of objects produced or imported in violation of their rights and of the means exclusively intended for such production or the conduct of the patented process.

(d) the attribution of the objects or means seized under the provisions of the preceding paragraph where possible, in which case the value of the goods concerned shall be imputed to the amount of the compensation for damages; and damages. If the value referred to above exceeds the amount of the allowance granted, the owner of the patent shall compensate the other party for the excess.

e) The adoption of the measures necessary to prevent the continuation of the infringement of the patent and, in particular, the transformation of the objects or means taken on board under the provisions of paragraph c), their destruction when is indispensable to prevent patent infringement.

(f) The publication of the conviction of the offender of the patent, at the expense of the sentenced person, by means of advertisements and notifications to the persons concerned. This measure shall apply only where the judgment expressly appreciates it.

Article 64

1. Who, without the consent of the patent holder, manufactures, imports objects protected by it or uses the patented procedure, shall in any case be obliged to respond to the damages caused.

2. All those who perform any other act of exploitation of the object protected by the patent shall only be obliged to indemnify the damages caused if they have been warned by the owner of the patent about the existence of is, properly identified and, of its violation, with the requirement that they cease in the same, or in their performance, have mediated guilt or negligence.

Article 65

In order to fix the amount of damages suffered by the unauthorized exploitation of the invention, the patent holder may require the display of the documents of the person responsible for the invention. purpose.

Article 66

1. The compensation for damages due to the owner of the patent shall include not only the value of the loss he has suffered, but also the value of the gain that the holder has ceased to obtain because of the violation of his or her right.

2. The profit left to be obtained shall, at the discretion of the injured party, be determined in accordance with one of the following criteria:

(a) For the benefits that the holder would have been expected to exploit the patented invention if there was no competition from the infringer.

b) For the benefits that the latter has obtained from the exploitation of the patented invention.

(c) For the price the infringer would have had to pay to the patent holder for the grant of a license that would have allowed him to carry out his exploitation under the law.

In order to be fixed, especially, among other factors, will be taken into account the economic importance of the patented invention, the duration of the patent at the time the violation began, and the number and class of licenses. granted at that time.

3. Where the Judge considers that the holder does not comply with the obligation to exploit the patent laid down in Article 83 of this Law, the profit left to be obtained shall be fixed in accordance with the provisions of point (c) of the preceding paragraph.

Article 67

1. Where the injured party chooses, in order to determine the profit to be obtained, one of the criteria set out in points (a) or (b) of paragraph 2 of the preceding Article, it may be included in the calculation of the profits in the proportion which the Judge considers to be reasonable, those produced by the exploitation of those things of which the invented object is an essential part of the commercial point of view.

2. It is understood that the invented object is an essential part of a business from the commercial point of view when the consideration of the incorporated invention constitutes a determining factor for the demand for said good.

Article 68

The owner of the patent may also require compensation for the damage caused by the disrepute of the patented invention caused by the infringer by defective performance or improper presentation of the invention to the market.

Article 69

From the compensation due for who has produced or imported without the consent of the owner of the patent the object invented, the indemnities that it has perceived for the same concept of those who have exploded will be deducted in any other way the same object.

Item 70

The holder of the patent may not exercise the actions established in this title against those who exploit the objects that have been introduced into the trade by persons who have adequately compensated the damages and damages caused.

Article 71

1. Civil actions arising from the infringement of the patent right are prescribed at the age of five, counted from the time they were able to exercise.

2. Compensation for damages for events occurring during the five years immediately preceding the date on which the correspon-tooth is exercised may only be claimed.

TITLE VIII

Patent and patent application as property rights objects

CHAPTER I

Co-ownership and expropriation

Article 72

1. Where the patent application or the patent already granted belong to several persons, the resulting community shall be governed by the agreement between the parties, failing that in accordance with the provisions of this Article and ultimately by the rules of the common law on the community of goods.

2. However, each of the unit-holders can only:

(a) Dispose of the party that corresponds to it by notifying the other community members that they will be able to exercise the rights of tanteo and retraction. The period for the exercise of the right of entry shall be two months, from the date of dispatch of the notification, and that of the retract, of one month from the registration of the transfer in the Register of Patents.

b) Explain the invention upon notification to the other co-holders.

c) Perform the necessary acts for the preservation of the application or the patent.

(d) To exercise civil or criminal actions against third parties who are in any way concerned with the rights deriving from the common patent application or patent. The participant who exercises such actions is obliged to notify the other members of the action taken, in order to enable them to join the action.

3. The granting of a license to a third party to exploit the invention must be jointly granted by all the members, unless the Judge, for reasons of fairness given the circumstances of the case, has the power to grant the Concession referred to.

Article 73

1. Any patent or patent application already granted may be expropriated for public utility or social interest, by means of fair compensation.

2. Expropriation may be made in order for the invention to fall into the public domain and may be freely exploited by anyone, without the need to apply for licenses, or for the purpose of being exclusively exploited by the State, which acquire, in this case, the ownership of the patent.

3. The public utility or the social interest will be declared by the Law that orders the expropriation, which will have if the invention is to fall in the public domain or if the State is to acquire the ownership of the patent or the application. The file to be instructed shall be adjusted in any case, including the fixing of the price, to the general procedure laid down in the Compulsory Expropriation Act.

CHAPTER II

Contract transmission and licenses

Article 74

1. Both the patent application and the patent are transmissible and can be licensed and usufruct. They can also be given in guarantees through the constitution of a mortgage that will be governed by its specific provisions and whose constitution will be notified to the Registry of Industrial Property.

2. The acts referred to in the preceding paragraph, when carried out between live, shall be recorded in writing to be valid.

3. For the purposes of their assignment or lien, the patent application or the patent already granted are indivisible, even if they may belong in common to several persons.

Article 75

1. Both the patent application and the patent may be licensed in full or in any of the powers that make up the exclusive right, for the entire national territory or for a part of it. Licenses can be unique or non-exclusive.

2. The rights conferred by the patent or the application may be exercised in respect of a licensee who violates any of the limits of his license established under the provisions of the previous paragraph.

3. Holders of contractual licences may not give them to third parties or sublicences unless otherwise agreed.

4. Unless otherwise agreed, the holder of a contractual licence shall have the right to carry out all the acts which make up the exploitation of the patented invention, in all its applications, throughout the national territory and for the duration of the patent.

5. Unless otherwise agreed, the licence shall be understood to mean that the licence is not exclusive and that the licensor may grant licences to other persons and exploit the invention by himself.

6. The exclusive licence prevents the granting of other licences and the licensor may only exploit the invention if that right has been expressly reserved in the contract.

Article 76

1. Unless otherwise agreed, the person who transmits a patent application or a patent or grants a license to the patent is obliged to make available to the acquirer or the licensee the technical knowledge he possesses and which is necessary to be able to proceed to a proper exploitation of the invention.

2. The acquirer or licensee to whom the secret knowledge is communicated shall be obliged to take the necessary measures to avoid disclosure.

Article 77

1. The person who transmits a patent application or a patent already granted and grants a license on the same shall be liable, unless otherwise agreed, if he subsequently declared that he lacked the necessary ownership or powers. for the conduct of the business in question. Where the application is withdrawn or refused or the invalidity of the patent is declared, the provisions of Article 114 (2) shall apply in any event unless a greater responsibility for the transfer or the licensor has been agreed.

2. The transferor or licensor shall always be liable if he has acted in bad faith. Bad faith is presumed, unless proof to the contrary, when it has not made known to the other contractor, making it on the contract with individualized mention of such documents, the reports or resolutions, Spanish or foreign, that has or is established to have its existence, concerning the patentability of the invention which is the subject of the application or the patent.

3. The actions referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall be limited to six months from the date of the final decision or the final judgment in which they are based. The rules of the Civil Code on Sanitation by Eviction shall apply to them.

Article 78

1. Those who transmit a patent application or a patent already granted or grant a license to it shall be jointly and severally liable to the acquirer or the licensee of the compensation to which it has taken place as a result of the damages and damages caused to third persons by defects inherent in the invention subject to the application or the patent.

2. The transferor or licensor who has been liable to bear the responsibility referred to in the preceding paragraph may claim to the purchaser or licensee the amounts paid, unless otherwise agreed, that the (a) whether or not in bad faith, in the circumstances of the case and for reasons of fairness, it must be the one who supports in whole or in part the compensation established in favour of third parties.

Article 79

1. In the Register of patents, both patent applications and patents already granted will be entered in the form of regulations.

2. Except in the case provided for in Article 13 (1), the transmission, licences and any other acts, both voluntary and necessary, affecting patent applications or patents already granted shall take effect only in respect of third parties in good faith since they have been entered in the Patent Register.

3. Rights to patent applications or patents which are not duly registered in the Register may not be invoked against third parties. You will also not be able to mention in your products a patent application or a patent, who does not have a sufficient right to make that mention. Acts carried out in violation of the provisions of this paragraph shall be punishable as acts of unfair competition.

4. No payment in foreign currency shall be used in respect of obligations assumed in contracts which, having to be entered in the Register of Patents, have not been entered.

5. The Industrial Property Registry shall describe the legality, validity and effectiveness of the acts to be registered in the Patent Registry, which shall appear in public documents. This Register shall be public.

Article 80

In the event that the holder of a patent is convicted of seriously violating the rules of Law 110/1963 of 20 July on the repression of restrictive practices in competition, the sentence of conviction may be subject to the the patent on a compulsory basis to the full licensing scheme. The reduction in the amount of annual fees to be paid by the patent holder shall not be carried out in this case.

CHAPTER III

Full-right licenses

Article 81

1. If the owner of the patent makes an offer of full licenses, declaring in writing to the Registry of Industrial Property that he is willing to authorize the use of the invention to any interested, in quality of a licensee, the amount of the annual fees payable by the patent shall be reduced by half after the receipt of the declaration. Where a total change in the ownership of the patent occurs as a result of the exercise of the judicial action provided for in Article 12, the offer shall be deemed to have been withdrawn by the registration of the new holder in the Register of Patents.

The Registry will register in the Patent Registry and give proper publicity to full license offers.

2. The offer may be withdrawn at any time by means of a written notification addressed to the Industrial Property Registry, provided that no one has yet communicated to the patent holder his intention to use the invention. The withdrawal of the offer will be effective from the moment of its notification. The amount of the reduction in the fees to be paid shall be paid within the month following the withdrawal of the offer; the provisions of Article 161 (3) shall apply to the case in question, with the time limit of six months being taken into account provides for the termination of the period referred to above.

3. A license may not be offered when an exclusive license is entered in the Patent Registry or when an application for registration of a license of that class has been filed.

4. By virtue of the offer of full licenses, any person is entitled to use the invention as a non-exclusive licensee. A licence obtained in accordance with the provisions of this Article is deemed to be a contractual licence.

5. Upon submission of the license offering, no application for registration of an exclusive license may be permitted in the Patent Registry unless the offer is withdrawn or considered withdrawn.

Article 82

1. Anyone who wishes to use the invention on the basis of the offer of full licenses shall notify it in triplicate to the Registry of Industrial Property, indicating the use to be made of the invention. The Register shall send a copy of the notification by registered post to the patent holder and the other shall forward it to the applicant. Both copies must bear the stamp of the Register and the same date of departure.

2. The applicant for the licence shall be entitled to use the invention in the manner indicated by him one week after the date of departure of the notification sent by the Registry.

3. In the absence of a pact between the parties, the Registry of Industrial Property, at the written request of any of them and after hearing of them, shall fix the appropriate amount of the compensation to be paid by the licensee or the have been or have been known to have made the amount established as manifestly inadequate. The compensation established by the Industrial Property Registry may only be amended after one year after the date of the last fixed date. In order for the request to fix or amend the compensation to be considered, the corresponding fee must have been paid.

4. At the end of each quarter of the calendar year, the licensee must inform the owner of the patent on the use made of the invention and must pay the corresponding compensation. If he does not fulfil the above obligations, the patent holder may give him an additional period of time which is reasonable for him to comply. After the deadline, the license will be extinguished.

TITLE IX

Obligation to exploit and mandatory licenses

CHAPTER I

Obligation to exploit

Article 83

The owner of the patent is obliged to exploit the patented invention, either by himself or by person authorized by him, by means of the execution of the invention in the national territory together with the marketing of the results obtained and in sufficient form to satisfy the demand on the domestic market; the holding must be carried out within four years from the date of filing of the patent application, or three years from the date on which it is published the granting of this in the "Official Journal of Industrial Property", automatically applying the deadline that expires later.

Article 84

1. The owner of the patent may justify the exploitation of the patent in the Register of Industrial Property by means of an official certificate, which shall be issued by the Agency which in each case corresponds and must conform to the criteria and general rules to be laid down in regulation.

2. The certificate of exploitation shall be based on the inspection of the manufacturing process in the industrial plant where the invention is being exploited and on the verification that the object of the patented invention is actually being marketed.

3. This certificate must be issued within three months of the date on which it was requested and must expressly state that the patented invention is being exploited, resenting the data justifying that declaration.

4. The certificate of exploitation must be entered in the Register of Industrial Property.

Article 85.

Justified the exploitation in the Register of Industrial Property, by means of the corresponding certificate, it is presumed that, unless proof to the contrary, the patented invention is being exploited in the form demanded by the Article 84 of this Law.

CHAPTER II

Requirements for granting mandatory licenses

Article 86

The granting of compulsory licenses on a given patent will proceed when, not being subject to the offer of full licenses, any of the following cases will be present:

a) Lack or insufficiency of exploitation of the patented invention.

b) Need for export.

c) Dependence between patents.

d) Existence of grounds of public interest for the concession.

Item 87

1. After the expiry of the period laid down in Article 83 to initiate the exploitation of the invention protected by the patent, any person may apply for the grant of a compulsory license on the patent if at the time of application, and save legitimate excuses, the exploitation of the patent has not been initiated or no effective and serious preparations have been made to exploit the invention subject to the patent, or when the exploitation of the patent has been interrupted for more than three years. years.

2. Objective difficulties of a legal technical nature, outside the will and circumstances of the patent holder, which make it impossible to exploit the invention or to prevent such exploitation from being greater, shall be regarded as legitimate excuses. of what it is.

Article 88

When an export market cannot be adequately supplied by the inadequacy of the production of the object of a patent, thereby causing serious damage to the economic or technological development of the country, the Government, by means of Royal Decree, may subject the patent to the compulsory licensing regime, the purpose of which shall be exclusively to meet the needs not covered by the export.

Article 89

1. Where the exploitation of the invention protected by a patent is not possible without prejudice to the rights conferred by an earlier patent, the holder of the subsequent patent may at any time require the grant of a compulsory license. on the previous patent, provided that its invention serves different industrial purposes or represents a significant technical progress in relation to the object of the first patent.

2. When inventions protected by patents between which the dependency exists serve the same industrial purposes and proceed with the granting of a compulsory license in favor of the holder of the dependent patent, also the holder of the patent You may apply for a license to the later patent.

3. If a patent has as its object a procedure for obtaining a chemical or pharmaceutical substance protected by a patent in force and provided that the patent of the procedure represents a significant technical progress in respect of the patent The holder of the patent, as well as the patent of the product, shall have the right to obtain a compulsory license on the patent of the other holder.

4. The compulsory licence for patent dependence shall be granted only with the content necessary to permit the exploitation of the invention protected by the patent in question and shall be without effect upon the declaration of invalidity or revocation of any of the patents with respect to which you are dependent.

Article 90

1. For the public interest, the Government may at any time submit a patent application or a patent already granted to the grant of compulsory licenses, thereby providing it with Royal Decree.

2. Grounds of public interest shall be deemed to exist where the initiation, increase or generalisation of the exploitation of the invention, or the improvement of the conditions under which such exploitation of the invention is concerned, or the improvement of the conditions in which it is exploitation is of primary importance for public health or for national defense.

It shall also be considered that there are grounds of public interest where the lack of exploitation or insufficient quality or quantity of the holding carried out involves serious injury to economic or technological development. of the country.

3. The Royal Decree which provides for the granting of compulsory licences must be agreed upon at the proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Energy. In cases where the importance of the exploitation of the invention relates to public health or national defence, the proposal shall be made jointly with the Minister responsible for health or defence, respectively.

4. The Royal Decree which submits a patent to the granting of compulsory licenses because of its importance to the national defense may reserve the possibility of applying for such licenses to one or more specific companies.

5. Where the public interest can be satisfied without the need to generalize the exploitation of the invention, nor to entrust that exploitation to a person other than the owner of the patent, the Royal Decree may provide for the conditional submission of the Patent licensing, authorizing the Minister of Industry and Energy to grant the holder a period of not more than one year to initiate, increase or improve the exploitation of the invention to the extent necessary to satisfy the public interest. In such a case, the Minister of Industry and Energy, after hearing the patent holder, may grant him the time limit which he deems appropriate or to submit the patent immediately to the granting of the licenses. After the expiry of the period laid down by the Minister for Industry and Energy, the Minister for Industry and Energy shall determine whether the public interest has been satisfied and, if not, he shall submit the patent to the granting of compulsory licences.

CHAPTER III

Mandatory licensing procedure

Article 91

1. Before applying for a compulsory license, the person concerned may request the mediation of the Industrial Property Registry for the achievement of a contractual license on the same patent.

2. The request for prior mediation shall be subject to payment of a fee and shall contain:

a) The complete identification of the requester.

(b) The patent to which the application relates, as well as the identification of the holder of the application.

c) The circumstances that are present in the case and which could justify the granting of compulsory licenses.

d) The scope of the license to be obtained and the reasons for supporting this claim.

(e) Data enabling the applicant to carry out a real and effective exploitation of the patented invention and to provide the guarantees that the patent holder can reasonably require. to grant a license.

3. The request for mediation shall necessarily be accompanied by:

(a) The documents justifying the allegations contained therein.

(b) The document supporting the lodging of a security, the amount of which shall be determined in accordance with the rules of procedure and which shall be used to respond to the costs of proceedings which are attributable to the applicant.

c) A literal copy of the application and the documents presented with it.

Article 92

1. Once the request for mediation has been submitted, the Registry of Industrial Property shall decide on the acceptance of the mediation within the one-month time limit.

2. The Registry shall accept the mediation when the person concerned, with the documents accompanying him, and the inquiries made by the Registry itself, are prima facie evidence that circumstances may arise which may give rise to the the granting of compulsory licences on the patent, the solvency of the applicant, and the fact that the applicant may have the means to carry out a serious exploitation of the patented invention.

3. The Registry shall notify the person concerned and the holder of the patent of its decision, simultaneously giving the latter the copy of the request for mediation.

4. No appeal may be brought against the Registry's decision.

Article 93

1. If the Registry of Industrial Property accepts the mediation, it shall immediately notify the interested parties, inviting them to enter into negotiations for the granting of a contractual license with the participation of the Registry as mediator. The negotiations shall be for a maximum of two months.

2. In its capacity as mediator, the Registry shall carry out an active duty to approximate the positions of the parties concerned and to facilitate the granting of a contractual license.

3. Since it has accepted the mediation and during the same period established for the negotiations, the Registry will make the necessary inquiries to ascertain the peculiarities of the case and to assess adequately the positions held by the In particular, the investigation into the circumstances which could justify the granting of a compulsory licence. This work of instruction will take place whatever the progress of the negotiations and even if they had failed or not started.

4. Two months after the notification to the parties on the acceptance of the mediation has taken place without agreement on the granting of the contractual licence, the Registry will terminate its mediation and work of instruction, thus notifying the parties concerned.

The two-month period may be extended for a period of time determined at the joint request of both parties and provided that the Registry considers that the extension may be an effective way of reaching the licence. If the Registry understands that there is no possibility of reaching an agreement, it may terminate its mediation even if the deadline for the extension has not been fully elapsed.

5. Both before and after the end of the procedure, the file on the prior mediation can only be consulted by the parties, who will be able to obtain their reproductions from all the documentation. The parties and the staff of the Registry who have access to the file shall keep their contents secret.

Article 94

1. Where, as a result of the negotiations conducted with the mediation of the Industrial Property Registry, the parties have agreed to take a licence on the patent, they may request that licence applications not be accepted. mandatory on that patent for the period necessary for the licensee to commence his exploitation. In no case may that period be longer than one year.

2. In order for the Industrial Property Registry to be able to resolve the application, the following requirements must be met:

(a) That the agreed license is exclusive and that such exclusivity does not contravene the purpose that would be pursued when the patent is subject to the granting of compulsory licenses.

(b) That the interested parties prove that the licensee has the means to exploit and that the time limit requested is essential for the operation to be implemented.

(c) That the persons concerned provide a sufficient guarantee in the case of the Industrial Property Registry to deal with the responsibilities to which it takes place if the exploitation of the invention does not commence within the prescribed period.

d) That the legally established fee has been paid.

3. In the light of the documentation submitted by the interested parties and the inquiries and consultations it deems appropriate, the Registry of Industrial Property may suspend the admission of applications for compulsory licenses on the patent in question for a given period, provided that the conditions laid down in the previous paragraph are met and whenever it is considered that, under the circumstances, there is a serious willingness on the part of the parties to initiate the holding without delay of the patented invention. The suspension shall be entered in the Patent Register.

4. The persons concerned must justify on a monthly basis the progress of the work aimed at starting the operation and the Registry of Industrial Property shall order the carrying out of the inspections it deems appropriate.

5. The Registry of Industrial Property may revoke the suspension of admission of applications for compulsory licences, if it finds that it has incurred a serious error in assessing the circumstances justifying its decision or that the parties concerned do not develop a serious and ongoing activity aimed at starting the operation on the scheduled date.

6. In the event that the licensee does not initiate the holding on the scheduled date, the Registry of Industrial Property shall impose a fine on the persons concerned, the amount of which shall be calculated on the amount that the average person would have to pay licensee to the patent holder as a royalty during a time of application of the equivalent contract to which the suspension took place.

Article 95

1. After a period of three months, either from the expiry of the period referred to in Article 83 or from the refusal of the Registry to take up the proposed mediation, either from the expiry of the time limit laid down for mediation, without the agreement between the parties has been reached, the person concerned may request the registration of a compulsory license for the patent from the Registry.

2. In the application for a compulsory licence, which shall be subject to the payment of the statutory fee, the person concerned on the basis of the contents of the previous mediation file, if any, and of the documents he provides, must specify the request and to state and prove the circumstances that justify it, the interest in which it is founded, the means with which it counts to carry out a real and effective exploitation of the patented invention and the guarantees that it can offer for the alleged the license is granted to you.

3. The application must be accompanied by:

(a) The documents certifying the allegations contained therein, and which do not appear in the pre-mediation file, if any.

(b) The document certifying the lodging of a security, the amount of which shall be determined as a general rule and which shall be used to respond to the costs of the procedure which are attributable to it.

c) A literal copy of the submitted request and documents.

Article 96

1. When the application for a compulsory licence is lodged and provided that it meets the requirements referred to in the previous Article, the Register shall initiate the appropriate file, incorporating the file on prior mediation, if any, and transfer of the copy of the application with the documents accompanying the patent holder, in order to reply within the maximum period of one month.

2. In the event that the application for a compulsory license is accompanied by the justification that the Registry refused to accept the prior mediation, the time limit for the reply of the patent holder shall be two months.

3. The reply must take account of the contents of the file on the previous mediation, if any, and must be accompanied by the evidence which justifies the allegations made in it and which do not appear on that file. A literal copy shall be accompanied for shipment to the applicant.

4. In the event that the sufficiency of the patented invention is discussed, the patent holder shall include in his reply the data relating to the holding together with the evidence showing the accuracy of the same.

Article 97

1. Upon receipt of the reply from the patent holder, the Registry shall transfer the patent to the other party and shall decide within the term of one month, granting or denying the compulsory license.

2. If the holder of the patent does not answer within the time limit, the Registry shall immediately proceed with the granting of the license.

3. The resolution granting the license shall determine the content of the license. In particular, the scope of the licence, the royalty, the duration, the guarantees to be provided by the licensee, the time from which the holding must be initiated and any other clauses which ensure that it will be operated by the licensee, must be fixed. The patented invention would be effective and effective.

4. The resolution shall determine the costs to be borne by each party, which shall be incurred at the request of the party. Common expenses will be paid by half.

The payment of all expenses may be imposed on one of the parties when it is declared that it has acted with fear or bad faith.

5. An administrative dispute may be brought against the Registry's decision. The appeal shall not suspend the enforcement of the act imposed, but the Registry may authorise the licensee, upon his or her founded request, to delay the commencement of the holding until the decision of the licence is signed.

Article 98

1. From the submission of the application for the compulsory licence, the Registry may make the relevant actions of its own motion, which may be of use in resolving the granting of the licence.

2. At the joint and duly justified request of the applicant for the licence and the holder of the patent, the Registry may at any time suspend the processing of the file in the state in which it is situated for a single period of time. determined not to exceed three months. After the period of suspension, the Registry shall notify the parties and the processing of the procedure shall continue.

Article 99

1. Licence contracts agreed with the Registry and which directly or indirectly involve payments in foreign currency shall be subject to the regulated authorisation in the rules on the transfer of foreign technology.

2. Any decision of the Industrial Property Registry granting a compulsory license directly or indirectly involving payments in foreign currency must have been favourably informed by the competent body for the purposes of the registration. to authorise contractual licences involving payments of that nature.

3. Between the Industrial Property Registry and the competent body to authorize licences involving payments in foreign currency, the necessary coordination will be established to unify criteria and simplify the procedures, for the purposes of the in this Article.

Article 100

When the owner of the patent has no legal domicile or habitual residence in Spain, the communications provided for in this Title must be notified to the representative, Agent of Industrial Property, who in anticipation This will have been previously designated for these purposes.

CHAPTER IV

Mandatory License Regime

Item 101

1. Compulsory licences shall not be exclusive. However, licences may be granted on an exclusive basis, for reasons of public interest referred to in Article 90.2, where the exclusive purpose does not contravene the objective pursued when the patent is subject to the granting of licences. mandatory and essential for the exploitation of the patented invention to be profitable.

2. The licensee, in the compulsory licences, shall not be entitled to import the object of the patent, unless the licence has been granted on grounds of public interest, and in accordance with such grounds, it would have been expressly authorized to import.

3. The licence shall include an economic compensation for the holder of the patent, which shall be established taking into account, inter alia, the economic importance of the invention.

Article 102

1. The relations maintained by the patent holder and the licensee, on the occasion of the granting of a compulsory licence, shall be presided over by the principle of good faith.

2. In the event of violation of this principle, declared by a court judgment, by the patent holder, the licensee may ask the Registry to reduce the royalty fixed for the license, in proportion to the importance it has for the exploitation of the invention the unfulfilled obligation.

Article 103

1. The compulsory licence shall include any additions to the patent which are the subject of the licence at the time the licence is granted.

2. Where, after the granting of the compulsory licence, new additions to the patent are granted, having as their object the same industrial application of the patented invention referred to in the licence, the licensee may ask the Registry to that includes the new additions in the license. In the event that the persons concerned do not agree with the prior mediation of the Registry, it shall be the one who establishes the royalty and other conditions under which the extension of the licence is to take place.

Article 104

1. In order for the transfer of a compulsory license to be valid, it is necessary that the license be transmitted together with the company or part of the company that exploits it and that the assignment is expressly noted by the Registry of Industrial Property. In the case of licences for patent dependence, it will also be necessary for the licence to be transmitted together with the dependent patent.

2. It shall be null and void, in any case, to grant sublicences by the holder of a compulsory licence.

Article 105

1. Both the licensee and the owner of the patent may apply to the Registry for the modification of the royalty or other conditions of the compulsory license where there are new facts to justify the change and, in particular, when the holder of the (a) a patent grant, after compulsory licensing, in conditions which are unjustifiably more favourable to those of the latter.

2. If the licensee fails to fulfil serious or repeated obligations under the compulsory licence, the Register of Industrial Property, on its own initiative or at the request of an interested party, may cancel the license.

Article 106

As soon as you do not object in particular to the provisions of this Title, the rules laid down for contractual licences in Chapter II of Title VIII of this Law shall apply to compulsory licences.

CHAPTER V

Promotion of the mandatory license request

Article 107

1. The Industrial Property Registry will carry out systematic work to effectively promote the application for licenses on patents subject to the granting of compulsory licenses. In any event, the Registry of Industrial Property shall periodically publish the patents found in that situation.

2. The Government may provide for credit and other incentives to encourage companies to apply for licences on certain patents which are subject to compulsory licensing on grounds of public interest, where the the importance of the exploitation in Spain of patented inventions so justifies.

TITLE X

Additions to patents

Article 108

1. The holder of a patent in force may protect the inventions which improve or develop the invention object of that patent, requesting additions to the patent provided that they are integrated with the object of the main patent in the same unit inventiveness.

2. Additions may also be requested for a patent application, but those additions may not be granted until the patent has been granted.

3. It shall not be necessary for the purpose of the addition to involve an inventive activity against the object of the main patent.

Article 109

1. The additions will have the priority date corresponding to their respective applications, their duration will be the same as the patent, and they will not be subject to the annuity payment.

2. Additions shall be considered an integral part of the main patent, except for those effects on which this Law provides otherwise.

Article 110

1. An application for an addition may become a patent application at the request of the applicant at any time of the processing, as well as within three months of the date on which the Registry of Industrial Property has The invention relates to a method for the use of said method, which is useful for the application of the addition of the necessary connection with the invention, which is protected by the main

.

2. Additions already granted may be converted into independent patents at the request of the holder, provided that he renounces the main patent.

3. Requested the conversion into a patent of one of the additions, it will be possible to preserve the later additions as such additions to the patent that is requested, provided that the necessary unit of the object is maintained.

4. The independent patents resulting from the conversion of the additions shall be subject to the payment of the corresponding annuities and their duration shall be the same as the one corresponding to the main patent.

Article 111

Unless expressly stated to the contrary, and in any case that is not incompatible with the nature of the additions, the rules laid down in this Law for patents of invention shall apply to them.

TITLE XI

Nullity and expiration of patents

CHAPTER I

Nullity

Article 112

1. The nullity of the patent shall be declared:

(a) Where it is justified that there is no evidence, in respect of the subject matter of the patent, of the patentability requirements contained in Title II of this Law.

b) When you do not describe the invention in a sufficiently clear and complete manner so that an expert on the matter can be executed.

(c) Where the object exceeds the content of the patent application as presented, or in the event that the patent has been granted as a result of a divisional application or as a result of an application submitted on the basis of the provisions of Article 11, where the object of the patent exceeds the content of the initial application as presented.

(d) Where the owner of the patent has no right to obtain it in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 (1).

2. If the causes of invalidity only affect a part of the patent, partial nullity shall be declared by the cancellation of the claims affected by those. Partial nullity of a claim may not be declared.

3. Where the nullity is partial, the patent shall remain in force with reference to claims which have not been annulled, provided that the object of an independent patent can be established.

Article 113

1. They may apply for the declaration of invalidity who are considered to be harmed, as well as the public administration. However, in the case provided for in point (d) of paragraph 1 of this Article, only the person entitled to obtain the patent may apply for the declaration of invalidity.

2. The action for annulment may be exercised throughout the legal life of the patent and for the five years following the expiry of the patent.

3. The action shall always be directed against whoever is the registrant of the patent at the time of the application, and the patent shall be notified to all persons entitled to the patent rights duly registered in the Register. in order to be able to customize and intervene in the process.

4. The nullity of a patent may not be brought before the civil jurisdiction, invoking the same cause of invalidity which would have already been the subject of a judgment, as to the substance of the case, in a judgment given in the administrative-administrative procedure.

Article 114

1. The declaration of invalidity implies that the patent was never valid, considering that neither the patent nor the application that originated it has ever had the effects provided for in Title VI of this Law, in so far as it has been declared the nullity.

2. Without prejudice to the compensation for damages to which the proprietor of the patent has acted in bad faith, the retroactive effect of the nullity shall not affect:

(a) To resolutions on patent infringement that would have acquired the force of res judicata and have been executed prior to the declaration of nullity.

(b) To contracts concluded before the declaration of invalidity, to the extent that they had been executed prior to the declaration of invalidity. However, for reasons of fairness and to the extent justified by the circumstances, it will be possible to claim the refund of sums paid under the contract.

3. Once signed, the declaration of nullity of the patent will have force of res judicata in front of all.

Article 115

The declaration of nullity of a patent does not in itself determine the annulment of the additions to it, provided that the conversion of these into independent patents is requested within three months of the notification of the declaration of invalidity.

CHAPTER II

Expiration

Article 116

1. Patents expire:

(a) For the expiration of the period for which they have been granted.

b) By resignation of the holder.

c) Due to the lack of timely payment of an annuity and, where applicable, the corresponding surcharge.

d) If the invention is not exploited within two years of the grant of the first compulsory license.

(e) For failure to comply with the obligation to operate under Title IX, Chapter 1, where the holder of the patent is unable to benefit from the provisions of the Paris Union Convention and is habitually resident or has its industrial or commercial establishment in a country whose legislation supports the adoption of a similar measure. In this case, the provisions concerning the granting of licences contained in Title VIII, Chapter III, and Title IX, Chapters II, III and IV shall not apply.

2. Without prejudice to its declaration by the Registry of Property Industry and its publication in the "Official Journal of Industrial Property", the expiration of a patent incorporates the patented object into the public domain from the moment it is produced the facts or omissions which gave rise to it, except in the part in which the same object was covered by another previous patent and in force.

3. In the case of non-payment of an annuity, it is understood that the omission that gives rise to the expiration occurs at the beginning of the year of the life of the patent for which the annuity has not been paid.

4. In the case of point (d) of number 1, the expiry date shall be declared after instruction by the Industrial Property Registry of the relevant administrative file.

Article 117

1. The patent whose expiry is due to the lack of payment of an annuity may be rehabilitated when the holder justifies that the non-payment was due to a cause of force majeure.

2. The claim on force majeure may only be submitted within six months of the publication of the expiry date in the 'Official Journal of Industrial Property' and must be published in that Bulletin so that within one month any interested party may comment on the same.

3. The rehabilitation will be agreed upon in your case, by the Registry of Industrial Property, without prejudice to the rights of third parties arising from the situation of expiration. The recognition and scope of such rights shall correspond to the ordinary courts.

4. In order for the rehabilitation to be effective, the patent holder must pay the unpaid annuity and the corresponding surcharge.

Article 118

1. The holder may waive the entire patent or one or more claims of the patent.

2. Where the waiver is partial, the patent shall remain in force with reference to the claims not included in the waiver, provided that they can constitute the object of an independent patent and that the waiver does not involve the extension of the of the patent.

3. The waiver shall be notified in writing to the Industrial Property Registry and shall be deemed to have taken place at the time of registration in the Patent Registry.

4. The waiver of the holder of a patent on which there are actual rights or licenses registered in the Patent Registry shall not be permitted without the consent of the holders of the registered rights.

5. The waiver of a patent whose ownership would have been claimed by a third party without the consent of the patent may also not be accepted.

TITLE XII

Secret Patents

Article 119

1. The content of all patent applications shall be kept secret for the two months following the date of their filing, unless the Registry of Industrial Property authorizes its disclosure in advance.

2. Before the end of the period referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Register of Industrial Property shall be extended for up to five months from the date of the filing of the application, where it considers that the invention concerned may be interest to the national defense. The Registry shall notify the applicant of the extension and shall immediately make available to the Ministry of Defense copies of the application for the patent filed.

3. For the purposes mentioned in the previous two paragraphs, the necessary coordination between the Ministry of Defense and the Registry of Industrial Property shall be established to determine when an invention may be of interest to the national defense. The Ministry of Defence may also be able to know under secret rules all applications submitted.

4. Where the interest of the national defence so requires, the Ministry of Defence shall require the Registry of Industrial Property to ensure that before the end of the five-month period laid down in the previous paragraph, the secret processing of the the patent application and make the relevant notification to the applicant.

5. As long as the patent application or the patent is subject to the secrecy regime, the applicant or the holder shall refrain from any action which may permit the knowledge of the invention by unauthorised persons.

6. The Ministry of Defence may, at the request of the holder, authorise acts on the full or partial exploitation of the subject matter of the application or the patent, indicating the conditions to which such acts are subject.

Article 120

1. The patent, the grant of which would have been processed in secret, shall be entered in a secret register and shall be maintained in the same scheme for one year from the date of its granting. The extension of that period shall be made annually, making the corresponding notification to the patent holder.

2. The annual renewal of the classification as a secret will not be accurate in time of war until one year after the cessation of hostilities.

3. The Industrial Property Registry, after a favorable report by the Ministry of Defense, may at any time lift the secret imposed on a particular application or on a particular patent.

Article 121

1. Secret patents shall not be subject to the payment of annuities.

2. The owner of a patent may claim compensation from the State for the time when the patent was kept secret. This compensation, which may be claimed for each year, shall be agreed between the parties. If an agreement is not reached, the compensation shall be determined judicially, taking into account the importance of the invention and the benefit that the holder could have obtained from the free exploitation of the same.

3. If the invention covered by the secret patent has been disclosed due to the fault or negligence of its owner, the latter shall lose the right to compensation.

Article 122

1. For the purposes of the foregoing articles, in the case of inventions made in Spain, no patent may be applied for in any foreign country before two months after the patent has been filed with the Registry. The Spanish State of the Industrial Property, unless it had been made with express authorization of this. Such authorisation may not be granted in any case for inventions which are of interest to the national defence, unless expressly authorised by the Ministry of Defence.

2. When the inventor habitually resides in Spain, it is presumed, unless proof to the contrary, that the invention was made in Spanish territory.

TITLE XIII

Jurisdiction and procedural rules

CHAPTER I

General provisions

Article 123

The knowledge of all disputes arising as a result of the exercise of actions, of any kind and nature which are, arising from the application of the provisions of this Law, corresponds to the organs of Ordinary Jurisdiction.

Article 124

1. Unless otherwise agreed, the licensee of an exclusive license may exercise in his own name all the actions that are recognized in this Law to the owner of the patent against third parties who infringe his or her right, but he will not be able to exercise the licensee of a non-exclusive license.

2. The licensee, who, in accordance with the provisions of the previous paragraph, is not entitled to exercise the actions for violation of the patent, may require the owner of the patent to enable the corresponding judicial action. If the holder refuses or does not exercise the appropriate action within a period of three months, the licensee may enter into his/her own name, accompanying the request made. Before the end of the period referred to above, the licensee may ask the Judge to take urgent precautionary measures where he justifies the need for such measures to avoid significant damage, with the provision of requirement.

3. The licensee who exercises an action pursuant to any of the foregoing paragraphs shall notify the holder of the patent, which may be personable and intervene in the proceedings.

Article 125

1. All civil disputes which may arise under this Law shall be dealt with by the ordinary minor procedure.

2. The Judge of First Instance of the City of the High Court of Justice of the Autonomous Community corresponding to the domicile of the defendant shall have jurisdiction, and may be appointed one on a permanent basis, where several, by the body competent court.

3. The decisions of the Judges of First Instance shall be appealed to the Provincial Court of its seat, and the decisions of the Court of First Instance may be appealed against, in both cases, to the provisions of the Law of First Instance. Civil Prosecution

4. The Civil Procedure Act shall apply in all cases not provided for in this Title.

Article 126

The person in respect of whom an action is exercised for infringement of the rights deriving from a patent may, in all manner of proceedings, plead, by way of counterclaim or by way of exception, the total or partial nullity of the the actor's patent, in accordance with the rules of common procedural law. For such purposes, the provisions of Article 113 shall be taken into account.

Article 127

1. Any interested party may bring an action against the proprietor of a patent, in order for the competent court to declare that a given action does not constitute a violation of that patent.

2. The person concerned, prior to the lodging of the application, shall notarily require the holder of the patent to give a ruling on the oponability between the applicant and the industrial holding which the applicant carries out on the territory of the applicant. Spain or in the face of serious and effective preparations for such effects. After one month from the date of the request without the patent holder having spoken or where the applicant is not in agreement with the reply, he may exercise the action provided for in the preceding paragraph.

3. The action referred to in paragraph 1 may not be brought to an action who has been sued for the infringement of the patent in question.

4. If the plaintiff proves that the action referred to in his/her claim does not constitute a violation of the patent, the Judge shall make the required statement.

5. The application must be notified to all persons entitled to the patent rights duly registered in the Register, so that they can be personified and intervene in the process. However, contractual licensees may not be able to take part in cars when their licence agreement so provides.

6. The action referred to in this Article may be exercised in conjunction with the action for the declaration of the nullity of the patent.

Article 128

1. In the event that the patent is challenged, the Judge will agree to pass the cars to the Industrial Property Registry to report within thirty days. If the report has been received or after that period, the Judge shall lift the suspension and give the orders the appropriate procedure.

2. Where an action other than that provided for in paragraph 1 is exercised, the Judge may require the report of the Register of Industrial Property in the manner provided for in the preceding paragraph. You may also ask this Agency to appoint some of its experts to provide advice. Both the Industrial Property Registry and its experts will have the consideration of experts for patent procedures.

CHAPTER II

Fact Check Diligence

Article 129

1. The person entitled to exercise the actions arising from the patent may ask the Judge to act as a matter of urgency in order to ascertain the facts which may constitute a violation of the exclusive right granted by the Court of Justice. patent.

2. Before resolving the request, the Judge may request the reports and order the investigations that he deems appropriate.

3. The practice of proceedings may be agreed only where, in the circumstances of the case, the infringement of the patent is presumed and it is not possible to verify the reality of the patent without recourse to the requested measures.

4. By agreeing, where appropriate, to the practice of the proceedings requested, the Judge shall determine the course to be taken by the petitioner to respond to any damages that may arise.

5. If the Judge does not consider the claim sufficiently well founded, he shall refuse it by means of an order which shall be appable for both purposes.

Article 130

1. In the course of verification, the Judge, with the intervention of the expert or expert who has designated for that purpose, and heard the manifestations of the person with whom the diligence is understood, shall determine whether the machines, devices or installations inspected may serve to carry out the alleged infringement of the patent.

2. Where the Judge considers that it is not presumed that the means inspected are serving to carry out the infringement of the patent, he shall terminate the diligence, order that a separate part be formed in which the proceedings are to be included, which shall be kept secret, and shall notify the petitioner that it is not appropriate to release the result of the proceedings.

3. In other cases, the Judge, with the assistance of the expert or experts appointed for this purpose, shall carry out a detailed description of the machinery, devices, procedures or installations by which he is presumed to be the alleged violation.

4. In any event, the Judge shall take care that the diligence of verification does not serve as a means to violate industrial secrets or to carry out acts that constitute unfair competition.

5. No appeal shall be made against the Judge's decision on the outcome of the due diligence.

Article 131

1. Other certifications or copies which are intended for the party concerned and the precise for the applicant to initiate the corresponding judicial action may not be issued from the verification procedures carried out. The applicant may only use this documentation to propose such action, with a prohibition to disclose it or to communicate it to third parties.

2. If, within two months of the date of practice of the proceedings, the corresponding claim has not been filed, the proceedings shall be void and shall not be used in any other way. judicial action.

Article 132

The party affected by the proceedings may in any event claim, from whomever requested, the costs and damages incurred, including the loss of profit, all without prejudice to the the general liability for damages in which the applicant may have incurred the measures in the cases where there is a place.

CHAPTER III

Precautionary measures

Article 133

1. The person who exercises or is to exercise an action of those provided for in this Law may request the judicial body to understand from it the adoption of precautionary measures to ensure the effectiveness of such actions, provided that justify the industrial exploitation in Spain of the patent object of the action or the development of serious and effective preparations for such effects.

2. The precautionary measures may be applied in advance for the application, together with or after the application, in the case of a separate part.

Article 134

It may be taken as precautionary measures to ensure the full effectiveness of the eventual failure that falls on the day, and in particular the following:

1. The cessation of acts that violate the right of the petitioner.

2. The retention and deposit of objects produced or imported with violation of their right, and of the means exclusively intended for such production or the performance of the patented process.

3. The entrenchment of the eventual compensation of damages.

4. The log log that comes from.

Article 135

1. The request for precautionary measures shall be made in writing. In this document, the petitioner shall specify the measures he requests in relation to the acts in question, and shall propose the evidence that he considers appropriate, accompanying the documentary character.

2. The Judge, within five days, in the light of the statements and documents provided by the parties, may agree to the practice of those proceedings and evidence which he considers appropriate in order to form a criterion on the origin of the proceedings. Precautionary measures requested.

3. The execution or practice of the agreed tests or proceedings shall be carried out, where appropriate, within the period of 20 days.

4. The decisions of the Judge shall not be subject to the use of the evidence.

5. Within six days of the decision referred to in paragraph 2, or the end of the period for the practice of the agreed evidence or proceedings, where appropriate, an appearance shall be held with the parties.

Article 136

1. The Judge shall order a decision on the request for precautionary measures and on the costs of the proceedings within six days following the conclusion of the hearing established in the previous article.

2. The decision to be taken on the request for interim measures shall not prejudge at all that which may be given by virtue of the action taken in the relevant fund procedure.

3. Precautionary measures shall not be taken where the defendant is covered by a right founded on an earlier use in accordance with Article 54.

Article 137

1. By agreeing, where appropriate, the requested precautionary measures, the Judge shall determine the course to be provided by the petitioner to respond to any damages that may arise.

2. Where the measures requested involve restrictions on the industrial or commercial activity of the defendant, the Judge shall, at the time of his agreement, point out the amount of the security by the provision of which the defendant may replace any time the effectiveness of those restrictive measures agreed.

3. In any event, the securities which, in the main or in place of replacement, are established for the defendant shall always be fixed in the same period for a period of time, where the same results from acts of industrial or commercial exploitation which can have indefinite continuity.

4. The security may consist of a bank guarantee. Personal bonding shall not be permitted.

5. For the fixing of the amount of the sureties, the Judge shall hear both parties.

Article 138

1. If the judgment of the first instance given in the civil proceedings has established a conviction for one of the parties and is the subject of an appeal, the appeal shall be given to the appealed party so that it can, within the of the three-day period, requiring the Judge to take the appropriate precautionary measures or the provision of the appropriate replacement bail, with a view to ensuring the effectiveness of the failure, provided that such measures have not been taken previously adopted or insufficient.

2. The Judge of Instance shall hold the jurisdiction to deal with and resolve the relevant case concerning this incident of assurance, irrespective of the admission of the appeal and the elevation of the main cars to the Court to which it is appropriate to hear appeal resources.

Article 139

1. In the case of a request for precautionary measures before the main action is exercised, if the action is not exercised within two months of the order to be agreed upon, the measures shall be without effect in their entirety.

2. In the case provided for in the preceding paragraph, the Judge, when imposing the lifting of the precautionary measures, shall fix the amount of the damages to be paid to the defendant in charge of the course provided by the claimant. Where the amount of the security is not sufficient to deal with the damages, the defendant may exercise the corresponding liability action to claim the remaining amount.

3. The precautionary measures which have been agreed, where appropriate, shall always be without effect, if the judgment given in the first instance is not in favour of the assurance of the effectiveness of those measures. requested, or the judgment of the first instance will be revoked, in the event that the judgment was in favour of the requested documents.

CHAPTER IV

Reconciliation in the field of work inventions

Article 140

Before initiating any judicial action based on the application of the rules of Title IV of this Law concerning the inventions of work, the question discussed must be submitted to a conciliation procedure before the Registry of the Industrial Property.

Article 141

1. For the purposes of the conciliation act referred to in the preceding Article, a Commission shall be set up to be chaired by an expert from the Industrial Property Registry appointed by the Director of the Agency and made up of an expert appointed by the employees of the company to which the inventor and other expert appointed by the employer belongs.

2. In cases where the inventor is a person at the service of any of the Public Administrations, the Conciliation Committee shall be chaired by an expert from the Industrial Property Registry appointed by the Director of the Agency and shall be a part of the same members appointed in the form established by Royal Decree within the framework of the legislation of officials.

Article 142

1. A proposal for an agreement shall be delivered by the Conciliation Committee within a maximum of two months after the act of conciliation has been requested and the parties must demonstrate within a maximum of 15 days whether or not they are in conformity with the said conciliation procedure. proposal. In the case of silence, conformity shall be understood.

2. No Judge shall accept a claim on rights under Title IV of this Law which is not accompanied by a certificate from the Director of the Industrial Property Registry that the non-conformity of any of the parties is recorded. with the proposed agreement provided for in the previous Articles.

3. Articles 460 and 480 of the Law on Civil Procedure shall be applicable in an additional manner.

TITLE XIV

Utility models

Article 143

1. They shall be protected as utility models in accordance with the provisions of this Title, inventions which, being new and involving an inventive activity, consist in giving an object a configuration, structure or constitution of which it is virtually appreciable for use or manufacture.

2. In particular, tools, instruments, tools, apparatus, devices or parts thereof, which meet the requirements set out in the previous paragraph, may be protected as utility models.

3. The inventions of the procedure and the plant varieties which may be covered by Law 12/1975 of 12 March on the Protection of Vegetable Varieties shall not be protected as utility models.

Article 144

1. The right to the protection of utility models belongs to the inventor or his successor and is transmissible by all means that the right recognizes.

2. The provisions of paragraphs 2 to 4 of Article 10 shall apply to the protection of the utility model.

Article 145

1. The state of the art with reference to which the novelty must be judged and the inventive activity of the inventions protected as utility models is constituted by everything that before the date of filing of the application for protection as a model has been disclosed in Spain, by a written or oral description, by a use or by any other means.

2. It is also understood in the state of the art the content of the Spanish applications for patents or utility models as originally submitted, the date of which is prior to the date of the application referred to in the preceding paragraph and which have been published at that date or in a later date.

Article 146

1. For its protection as a utility model it is considered that an invention involves an inventive activity if it does not result from the state of the art in a very evident way for an expert in the matter.

2. If the state of the art comprises documents referred to in Article 145 (2), they shall not be taken into account in deciding on the existence of the inventive activity.

Article 147

1. For the purpose of obtaining a utility model protection certificate, an application shall be submitted which shall contain the documentation referred to in Article 21. It shall not be necessary to include a summary of the invention constituting its object.

2. In the request for protection instance of a utility model, it must be manifest that this is the protection mode that is requested.

Article 148

1. Once the application has been accepted in accordance with the provisions of Article 30 of this Law, the Registry shall examine whether it meets the formal requirements laid down in the previous Article and in Title V, Chapter I, and shall also verify if the object is susceptible to protection as a utility model, in accordance with the provisions of this Title.

The Registry shall not examine the novelty, the inventive activity or the adequacy of the description, nor shall it require the report on the state of the art, provided for in the patents of invention.

2. If, as a result of the examination, the application appears to be defective in form or that its object is not susceptible to protection as a utility model, the suspension of the file shall be declared and the applicant shall be granted the time limit. (a) to be determined in order to remedy, where appropriate, the defects which would have been identified and to make any allegations which it considers relevant. To correct the defects pointed out, the applicant may modify the claims or split the application.

3. The Registry shall, in the light of the arguments put forward by the applicant, give a reasoned decision within a period of time to be determined in accordance with the rules governing the refusal of the application or the continuation of the procedure. It shall refuse the application where it considers that its object is not susceptible to protection as a utility model or where it considers that defects which have not been properly remedied remain.

4. Where the examination of the Register does not result in defects preventing the grant or where such defects have been duly remedied, the Registry shall notify the person concerned of the decision in favour of the continuation of the procedure and shall at the public's disposal the application for protection of the utility model, making the corresponding announcement in the "Official Journal of the Industrial Property" in which the claims of the requested model and a reproduction of drawings.

Article 149

1. In the two months following the publication of the application, any person with a legitimate interest may object to the protection sought for the utility model, alleging that any of the conditions required for such a concession are lacking, even the lack of novelty or inventive activity or the inadequacy of the description.

2. However, the applicant's lack of legitimation may not be alleged in order to seek the protection of the utility model, which must be enforced in the ordinary courts.

3. The statement of opposition shall be accompanied by the relevant evidence.

4. Once the time limit for the submission of objections has been completed, the Register shall transfer the applicant to the oppositions submitted.

5. Where no oppositions have been submitted, the Registry shall grant the protection of the utility model.

6. If oppositions have been submitted, the applicant shall have a time limit which shall be determined in order to remedy the formal defects attributed to the application, to amend the claims, if appropriate, and to reply by making any submissions that it considers relevant.

7. Within the month following the end of the time limit set for the applicant's reply, the Register shall give a reasoned decision on whether or not to grant protection.

8. Where the decision declares the absence of any of the conditions required for the grant of the protection as a utility model, which has been alleged in any statement of opposition, the Register shall grant the applicant a new period of time, which shall be determine whether to remedy the defect or to make any allegations that it considers relevant.

9. Subsequently, the Register shall give final decision on the protection requested.

Article 150

1. The provisions of Article 37 shall apply to the granting of protection for utility models, in any case which does not contradict the provisions of this Title.

2. For utility models, the brochures referred to in Article 38 shall not be edited.

Article 151

1. In addition to the applicant, any other interested parties may, in accordance with the provisions of the Law of the Administrative-Administrative Jurisdiction, be entitled to the interposition of the litigation-administrative appeal, provided that they do not It is based on the lack of novelty, inventive activity or the inadequacy of the description.

2. By way of derogation from the foregoing paragraph, they may bring proceedings for the administrative or administrative proceedings for the lack of novelty, for the inventive activity or for the inadequacy of the description, for those concerned who have formulated the appropriate opposition in the file based precisely on the defects mentioned.

Article 152

1. The protection of the utility model attributes to its holder the same rights as the patent of invention.

2. The duration of the protection of utility models is ten years unextendable, counted from the date of filing of the application.

3. No additions to utility models can be granted.

Article 153

1. The nullity of the protection of the utility model shall be declared:

(a) Where the object is not susceptible to protection in accordance with the provisions of Articles 143, 145 and 146 and in the second title of this Law, as soon as it does not contradict the provisions of the aforementioned Articles.

b) When you do not describe the invention in a sufficiently clear and complete manner so that an expert on the matter can be executed.

c) Where the object exceeds the content of the utility model application as presented or, if the utility model has been granted as a result of a divisional application or as a new application submitted on the basis of the provisions of Article 11, where the object of the utility model exceeds the content of the initial application as it was submitted.

d) When the holder of the utility model has no right to obtain it in accordance with the provisions of Article 144.

2. If the causes of invalidity only affect part of the utility model, partial nullity shall be declared by the annulment of the claim or claims affected by those claims. Partial nullity of a claim may not be declared.

3. Where the nullity is partial, the utility model shall remain in force with reference to claims which have not been cancelled, provided that they can constitute the object of an independent utility model.

Article 154

In the absence of a rule expressly applicable to utility models, they shall govern the provisions laid down in this Law for patents of invention, provided that they are not incompatible with the those. Among others, the rules contained in Title IV on working inventions will apply to them.

TITLE XV

Agents and Presidents

Article 155

1. They may act in the Register of Industrial Property:

(a) The persons concerned with the ability to act, in such a way that the petitioners are legal persons, those who, in accordance with the constitution, the Statute or the Laws, have the representation of such Entities.

b) The Agents of Industrial Property.

2. Residents abroad must, in any case, act by means of an Industrial Property Agent.

Article 156

Industrial Property Agents are the natural persons registered as such in the Industrial Property Registry who, as liberal professionals, usually offer their services to advise, assist or represent to third parties for obtaining the various modalities of Industrial Property and the defense before the Registry of Industrial Property of the rights derived therefrom.

Article 157

To obtain registration in the Special Register of Industrial Property Agents, the number of which will be unlimited, the following requirements must be met:

a) Being Spanish, older and having permanent home in Spain.

b) Not being prosecuted or convicted of intentional crimes, except if rehabilitation has been obtained.

(c) Be in possession of an official degree issued by the University in the degree of licentiate, Superior Technical School or other official title which is legally equivalent to these.

(d) Constituency to be made available to the Industrial Property Registry and arrange for liability insurance to the limits to be determined in the Regulation.

Article 158

The Industrial Property Agent condition will be lost to any of the following causes:

a) By death.

b) By resignation.

c) For incurring incompatibility.

d) By resolution relapse under sanctioning case.

e) By judicial resolution.

Article 159

The exercise of the profession of Agent of Industrial Property is incompatible with any active employment of the person concerned in the Ministry of Industry and Energy and its Agencies, Ministry of Industry of the Autonomous Communities or in International Organizations related to Industrial Property.

TITLE XVI

Rates and Annuities

Article 160

1. The applicant or the holder of a patent shall pay the fees listed in the Annex to this Law and which form an integral part thereof. Its regulation will be subject to the provisions of Law 17/1975, of May 2, Law on Parafiscal Fees and Exactions of December 26, 1958, Tax General Law and supplementary provisions.

2. Failure to pay within the prescribed time limit from the date on which the Registry has notified the omission to the applicant shall effectively deprive the act of the act for which it would have been due.

3. Where a fee established for the processing of the file for granting a patent application ceases to be paid, the application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.

Article 161

1. In order to maintain the patent in force, the holder of the patent shall pay the annuities listed in the Annex referred to in Article 160.

2. Annuities must be paid for years ahead, for the duration of the patent. The date of expiry of each annuity shall be the last day of the month of the anniversary of the date of submission of the application and the corresponding payment may be validly effected within the time limit to be fixed.

3. Due to the time limit for the payment of an annuity without having made the amount effective, the holder may pay the same with the corresponding surcharge, within the following six months.

4. The fee to be paid for filing the patent application exonerates the payment of the first two annuities.

Article 162

1. The person who, wishing to obtain a patent for an invention of his own, lacks economic means, may request that he be granted without the need to satisfy any class. To this end, it must submit, together with the patent application, the corresponding declaration of lack of economic resources, accredited by the documentation that is required to be regulated.

2. In the case of obtaining the benefit referred to in the preceding paragraph, the holder shall not satisfy any fee for the first three years, in the form to be determined in accordance with the rules laid down in the preceding years. which has ceased to be paid. In the Register of patents, the deferral shall be recorded and the obligation to pay the overdue amounts shall be the responsibility of the owner of the patent.

ADDITIONAL DISPOSITION

The Special Register of Companies dedicated to the management of Industrial Property matters is closed as referred to in Articles 296 and following of the Industrial Property Statute of July 26, 1929.

TRANSIENT PROVISIONS

First.

1. The inventions of chemical and pharmaceutical products will not be patentable before 7 October 1992.

2. Up to that date, none of the articles contained in this Law shall be valid for the patentability of inventions of chemical and pharmaceutical products or those other precepts which are indissolubly related to the patentability of the same.

3. The provisions of the foregoing paragraphs do not affect the inventions of the procedure or apparatus for obtaining chemical or pharmaceutical products or the procedures for the use of chemical products, all of which may be patented. in accordance with the rules of this Law since the entry into force of this Law.

4. The inventions of products obtained by microbiological procedures, as referred to in Article 5.2 of this Law, shall not be patentable until 7 October 1992.

Second.

As of 7 October 1992, they may make use of the provisions of Article 61 (2), the patent holders requested prior to 1 January 1986, unless the infringement action of the patent is filed against the holder of a procedural patent granted before the latter date.

Third.

The provisions of Chapter II of Title XIII shall enter into force on 7 October 1992.

Fourth.

1. The Government shall determine, by Royal Decree, the dates from which the rules relating to the state of the art report in Title V, Chapter II, shall apply to patent applications.

2. The Government shall be empowered to establish in a staggered manner in which sectors of the art corresponding to the International Patent Classification, established by the Convention of 19 December 1954, the rules relating to the report on the state of the art, taking into account the possibilities of action of the Industrial Property Registry.

3. The application of the rules relating to the report on the state of the art may be issued only for applications for patents of invention which are submitted from the day following the date on which the three-year period expires, from the date of the expiry of the the enactment of this Law. Such application shall, in any event, be decreed before the expiry of the four-year period following the enactment of this Law.

4. From the day following the date of expiry of the five-year period, counted from the enactment of this Law, all applications for patents shall be dealt with by the general concession procedure provided for in this Law. whatever the sector of the technique they belong to.

5. Applications for patents of invention submitted after the entry into force of this Law to which the rules relating to the state of the art report are not applicable shall be dealt with by the procedure of the grant provided for in this Law, with the exception of all provisions referring to the said report.

Fifth.

The Government, once the report on the state of the art for the totality of the patent applications of invention referred to in the fourth transitional provision, can be established by Royal Decree, progressively and in the light of the priorities to be set for the technological and industrial development of the State, those sectors of the art in which the applications for patents of invention will be subject to the concession procedure with prior examination as provided for in Chapter III of Title V of this Law, provided that they have been applicable for at least six months the rules on the state of the art report.

Sixth.

1. Applications for patents and utility models, which have been filed prior to the entry into force of this Law, shall be processed and resolved in accordance with the laws in force at the date of their filing.

2. For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, in the case of a division, change of modality or transformation of an application, the date of filing shall be deemed to be the date of submission of the original application.

Seventh.

Patents and utility models granted in accordance with the provisions of the Industrial Property Statute shall be governed by the rules of that Statute. However, the provisions contained in the titles and chapters of this Law which are subsequently announced shall apply to them:

(a) Title 6 on the effects of the patent and the patent application, with the exception of Articles 49, 59, 60 (2) and 61 (2), in accordance with the provisions of the second transitional provision.

b) Title seventh, on actions for violation of patent law.

c) Title eighth, on patent application and patent as property rights objects.

d) Title ninth, on obligation to operate and compulsory licences.

(e) Title 11 on the nullity and revocation of patents, with the exception of Article 112.1.

f) Title thirteen, on jurisdiction and procedural rules.

Eighth.

Judicial actions that have been initiated prior to the entry into force of this Law will be followed by the same procedure under which they would have been initiated.

Ninth.

As long as the Superior Courts of Justice are not established and are in operation, the jurisdiction to hear the civil judgments derived from the rights attributed in this Law corresponds to the Judges of First Instance of the capitals that host the Territorial Hearings.

10th.

1. For the exercise of actions aimed at giving effectiveness to exclusive rights derived from a patent of invention requested after the entry into force of this Law, it shall be necessary to have obtained or previously obtained the report on the state of the art, provided that this report has been put into effect for the technical sector belonging to the patent, in accordance with the provisions of the fourth transitional provision.

2. For the purposes mentioned in the previous paragraph, the Industrial Property Registry, at the request of the patent holder and after the corresponding fee has been paid, shall draw up the report on the state of the art concerning the the purpose of the patent granted, in the terms provided for in Article 34 of this Law. The report, once drawn up, will be notified to the petitioner and will be made available to the public attached to the patent file.

3. In the case of a claim exercising the actions referred to in the first paragraph, without having obtained the requested report, the defendant may request the suspension of the time limit to reply until such a report is provided to the cars, or the six-month period has elapsed since the request for the same was formalised without the registration of the Industrial Property having issued it.

4. The report on the state of the art has been requested, and although this has not yet been obtained, the practice of the fact-checking diligence may be called for, as well as the adoption of precautionary measures, provided that these do not consist of the cessation or cessation of the industrial or commercial activity of the defendant in relation to the subject matter of the patent, and all if appropriate in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

11th.

1. The proxy interns referred to in Article 284 of the Industrial Property Statute which, on the day of the entry into force of this Law, have consolidated five years of financial year in that condition, may obtain registration in the Special register of Agents of Industrial Property, in equal rights with those who are in possession of any of the official titles referred to in article 157.c) of this Law.

2. The proxy and proxy interns registered in the Industrial Property Registry, under the terms of the article cited in the number 1 of this provision, may continue to act on behalf of the Agent in power until the latter is not revoked. corresponding proxy and registration in the Register.

3. Those who, at the entry into force of this Law, are included in the ladder of aspiring agents, whose appointment as Agents of Industrial Property could not have been made because there was no vacant place in accordance with the provisions of the Articles 277 and 287 of the Statute on Industrial Property shall be appointed Agents of Industrial Property upon the entry into force of this Law, without the need to comply with the requirement laid down in Article 157 (c) of this Law.

12th.

Companies which, upon the entry into force of this Law, are registered in the Special Register of Companies referred to in Article 296 of the Statute of Industrial Property may make use only once between their current members of the right which is recognised by Article 297 (1), by providing them with the general rules laid down for access to the profession and causing them to be discharged from the special register referred to above.

FINAL PROVISIONS

First.

The Government, on a proposal from the Ministry of Industry and Energy, will dictate the Regulation of this Law within the maximum period of three months from the enactment of this Law.

Second.

The conditions to be fulfilled by the Agents in the exercise of their profession and in their relations with the Registry of Industrial Property shall be determined.

Third.

The modification of the fees for services, benefits and activities of the Registry of Industrial Property will be carried out through the Laws of Budgets.

Fourth.

This Act shall enter into force three months after its publication.

REPEAL PROVISION

The provisions of this Law and in particular the following provisions shall be repealed with the exception of the provisions of the transitional provisions:

1. Of the Statute on Industrial Property, approved by Royal Decree-Law of 26 July 1929, recast text approved by Royal Order of 30 April 1930 and ratified by law by the Law of 16 September 1931:

(a) The rules laid down in the first, second, fourth, eighth and twelfth titles (second chapter) as regards patents and utility models, as well as the ninth title in relation to patents, utility models and any other forms of industrial property, which shall be subject to jurisdiction, jurisdiction and procedures to the rules laid down in this Law.

b) All the regulatory precepts of the profession of Industrial Property Agents contained in the tenth title and articles concordant with the Statute of Industrial Property.

2. The Order of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of January 30, 1934, on the allegation of force majeure, as it affects patents and utility models.

3. Articles 29 and 30 of the Labor Contract Law, approved by Decree of 26 January 1944.

4. The Decree of December 26, 1947, in when it affects patents and utility models and the Agents of Industrial Property.

5. Article 99 of the Compulsory Expropriation Act of 16 December 1954 and Articles 121 and 122 of its Regulation adopted by Decree of 26 April 1957.

ANNEX

The unified parafiscal charges and levies referred to in Article 10 of Law 17/1975 of 2 May, applied to services, benefits and activities of the Registry of Industrial Property arising from this Law will be as follows:

First rate

Acquisition and Defense of Rights

By Request for Report on the Status of the Technique Request for Change of Protection Mode

		Pesetas
1.1 Requests:
For the application for a patent deposit claim of invention, an addition certificate or utility model, either directly or as a result of the division of an application, as well as the request for rehabilitation provided in Article 117	6.050
1.210
		38.115
By Previous Exam Request	48.400
For the processing of requests in general regarding inventions, which do not have a rate indicated special, within the assumptions set by the Act	2,660
1.2 Foreign Priority:
For each foreign priority claimed in patent and utility models	1,815
1.3 Modifications:
any modification of the case submitted, be they modifications in the Memory or claims, be they subsequent contributions of documents or rectification of material errors, arithmetic or in fact and in general for any modification in cases authorized by the Law	2,420
1.4 Response to subtracted:
Reply to suspensions caused by formal defects in the file filed with a patent registration and utility models	4,840
1.5 Oppositions:
oppositions to the granting of patent files and utility models	3,630
1.6 Patent and utility model grant rights	2,420

Second Rate

Maintenance and rights transmission

2.1 Annuities:

The first annuity is fixed at 1,200 pesetas, the second annuity is fixed at 1,650 pesetas, the third annuity is fixed at 1,945 pesetas and the fourth in 2,420 pesetas.

Each successive annuity to the fourth and up to the tenth, inclusive, will be increased by 2,200 pesetas.

From the tenth annuity and up to the 15th, inclusive, each annuity will be increased by 3,300 pesetas.

From the fifteenth annuity each annuity will be increased by 4,400 pesetas.

2.2 Demoras:

For delays in annuity payments, surcharges of 25 per 100, within the first three months, and 50 per 100, within three months, up to a maximum of six months of delay. However, in the following six months and up to a maximum of time which coincides with the anniversary of the following annuity, the person concerned may regularise the payment of the unpaid annuity by paying a fee equal to the amount of the twentieth annuity.

		Pesetas
2.3 Exploitation and licenses:
1,815
the processing of patents and utility models	1,815 processing of each of the offers of full licenses or of applications, mediation or obtaining of a license Full entitlement or compulsory license in the cases provided for in the Act	1,815
By mediation accepted by the Agency for obtaining a contractual license	12,100
2.4 Transfers:
processing of files for the registration of transmissions or of transfers or modifications. For each record affected	1,200

Third Rate

Other Services

		Pesetas
3.1 For each certification of registered data relating to patents or models utility, as well as the authorized copy issue of each of the documents permitted by Law	2,420

Therefore,

I command all Spaniards, individuals and authorities, to keep and keep this Law.

Palacio de la Zarzuela, Madrid, 20 March 1986.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The President of the Government,

FELIPE GONZÁLEZ MARQUEZ