CHAPTER 3 |
Rule 18 |
(1) [Period for Notification of Refusal] (a) The prescribed period for the notification of refusal of the effects of an international registration in accordance with Article 11(2) shall be six months from the date on which the International Bureau sends to the Office concerned a copy of the publication of the international registration.
(b) Notwithstanding subparagraph (a), any Contracting Party whose Office is an Examining Office, or whose law provides for the possibility of opposition to the grant of protection, may, in a declaration, notify the Director General that the period of six months referred to in that subparagraph shall be replaced by 12 months.
(c) The declaration referred to in subparagraph (b) may also state that the international registration shall produce the effect referred to in Article 12(2)(a) at the latest at a time specified in the declaration which may be later than the date referred to in that Article but which shall not be more than six months after the said date.
[Rule 18, continued]
(2) [Notification of Refusal] (a) The notification of any refusal shall relate to one international registration, shall be dated and shall be signed by the Office making the notification.
(b) The notification shall contain or indicate
(i) the Office making the notification,
(ii) the number of the international registration,
(iii) all the grounds on which the refusal is based together with a reference to the corresponding essential provisions of the law,
(iv) where the grounds on which the refusal is based refer to similarity with an industrial design which has been the subject of an earlier national, regional or international application or registration, the filing date and number, the priority date (if any), the registration date and number (if available) and the name and address of the owner of the earlier industrial design,
(v) where the refusal does not relate to all the industrial designs that are the subject of the international registration, an indication of the designs to which it relates or does not relate,
[Rule 18(2)(b), continued]
(vi) whether the refusal may be subject to review or appeal and, if so, the time limit, reasonable under the circumstances, for any request for review of, or appeal against, the refusal and the authority to which such request for review or appeal shall lie, with the indication, where applicable, that the request for review or the appeal has to be filed through the intermediary of a representative whose address is within the territory of the Contracting Party whose Office has pronounced the refusal, and
(vii) the date on which the refusal was pronounced.
(3) [Notification of Withdrawal of Refusal] (a) The notification of any withdrawal of refusal shall relate to one international registration, shall be dated and shall be signed by the Office making the notification.
(b) The notification shall contain or indicate
(i) the Office making the notification;
(ii) the number of the international registration;
(iii) where the withdrawal does not relate to all the industrial designs to which the refusal applied, an indication of the designs to which it relates or does not relate, and
[Rule 18(3)(b), continued]
(iv) the date on which the refusal was withdrawn.
(4) [Recordal] The International Bureau shall record any notification received under paragraph (2) or (3) in the International Register together with, in the case of a notification of refusal, an indication of the date on which the notification of refusal was sent to the International Bureau.
(5) [Transmittal of Copies of Notifications] The International Bureau shall transmit copies of notifications received under paragraph (2) or (3) to the holder.
Rule 19 |
(1) [Notification Not Regarded as Such] (a) A notification of refusal shall not be regarded as such by the International Bureau and shall not be recorded in the International Register
(i) if it does not indicate the number of the international registration concerned, unless other indications contained in the notification permit the said registration to be identified,
(ii) if it does not indicate any grounds for refusal, or
(iii) if it is sent to the International Bureau after the expiry of the period applicable under Rule 18(1).
(b) Where subparagraph (a) applies, the International Bureau shall, unless it cannot identify the international registration concerned, transmit a copy of the notification to the holder, shall inform, at the same time, the holder and the Office that sent the notification that the notification of refusal is not regarded as such by the International Bureau and has not been recorded in the International Register, and shall indicate the reasons therefor.
[Rule 19, continued]
(2) [Irregular Notification] If the notification of refusal
(i) is not signed on behalf of the Office which communicated the refusal, or does not otherwise comply with the requirements of Rule 2(1)(a),
(ii) does not contain, where applicable, the details of the earlier industrial design (Rule 18(2)(b)(iv)),
(iii) does not indicate, where applicable, the authority to which a request for review or an appeal lies and the applicable time limit, reasonable under the circumstances, for lodging such a request or appeal (Rule 18(2)(b)(vi)),
(iv) does not indicate the date on which the refusal was pronounced (Rule 18(2)(b)(vii)),
the International Bureau shall nevertheless record the refusal in the International Register and transmit a copy of the notification to the holder. If so requested by the holder, the International Bureau shall invite the Office which communicated the refusal to rectify its notification without delay.
Rule 20 |
Invalidations in Designated Contracting Parties |
(1) [Contents of the Notification of Invalidation] Where the effects of an international registration are invalidated in a designated Contracting Party and the invalidation is no longer subject to any review or appeal, the Office of the Contracting Party whose competent authority has pronounced the invalidation shall notify the International Bureau accordingly. The notification shall indicate
(i) the authority which pronounced the invalidation,
(ii) the fact that the invalidation is no longer subject to appeal,
(iii) the number of the international registration,
(iv) the date on which the invalidation was pronounced and its effective date.
(2) [Recordal of the Invalidation] The International Bureau shall record the invalidation in the International Register, together with the data contained in the notification of invalidation.