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Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Albania

Title:Article 31 of the Industrial Property Law No. 9977 of 07/07/2008
Field of IP:Patents
Type of flexibility:Security exceptions
Summary table:PDF

Provisions of Law

Article 31

Inventions Related to the Defense and Security

1. The requirements for inventions related to the defense and security of the country shall be considered "state secret" and shall be filed with the Ministry of Defense. The Ministry of Defense and the GDPT shall classify a patent application as a "state secret" no later than five months after all necessary information on the patent application is available and a date of filing is accorded.

2. When the GDPT considers a patent application as a "state secret," it shall notify the applicant, who, within the time period defined in the implementing regulation, shall state whether:

a) he agrees with the evaluation of the GDPT, the application shall be sent to be examined in the Ministry of Defense;

b) he does not accept the evaluation of the GDPT and proves the contrary with evidence, which is accepted, then the GDPT shall begin the procedure for examination and issuance of a patent in conformity with the provisions of this Law;

c) he does not accept the evaluation of the directorate and fails in bringing evidence, then the GDPT shall send the application to the Ministry of Defense to be examined.

3. If the Ministry of Defense judges that the invention should not be considered a "state secret" and it is de-classified, it shall return the application to the GDPT, which shall treat it in conformity with the provisions of this Law.

4. When an invention that is a "state secret" is not evaluated any more as such, the Ministry of Defense shall send the complete file of the patent to the GDPT, which shall register it in the patent register, grant the patent and publish the specification according to paragraph 5 of article 28 of this Law.

5. All secret patent applications and secret patents shall be treated according to special rules provided in the rules of GDPT and in the Law and other sub statutory acts for information classified "state secret."

6. Natural and legal Albanian nationals may ask for patents for "state secret" inventions outside the Republic of Albania only with the approval of the Directorate of the Security of Classified Information (DSCI).

7. In the case of inventions made in Albania, patents may not be applied for in any foreign country until 5 months have elapsed after the patent has been applied for at the GDPT. When the inventor is usually residing in Albania, unless there is evidence to the contrary, the invention shall be deemed to have been made in Albania.

8. The Minister of Defense shall be charged with issuing the respective instructions for "state secret" patents, in which the procedures and authorities responsible for examining them are defined.

Article 32

Exploitation of Secret Patents

1. The Ministry of Defense shall have the right to exploit secret patents.

2. The applicants or the owner of a patent that is secret shall be compensated by the Ministry of Defense.

3. An agreement between the parties shall be entered into for the amount of the compensation mentioned in paragraph 2 of this article. If an agreement is not reached, the applicant or the owner of the patent shall have the right to turn to the court to set the amount.

4. Assignment contracts of secret patents shall be entered into and shall be valid only after approval in writing from the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Interior or the State Information Service.

5. Licensing agreements of secret patents shall be entered into and shall be valid only after approval in writing from the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry Interior or the State Information Service.

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