Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Nicaragua

Title:	Articles 30, 34 and 35 of the Law on Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Designs No. 354 of 19/09/2000 as last amended by Law No. 634 of 13/09/2007
Field of IP:	Patents
Type of flexibility:	Substantive examination
Summary table:

Provisions of Law

Examination as to Form

30. The Intellectual Property Registry shall examine the application to determine whether it complies with the requirements of Article 19 of this Law and with the corresponding regulatory provisions. Where any deficiency is noted, the applicant shall be notified so that he may make the correction within a period of two months counted from the date of notification, and warned that the application will otherwise be considered abandoned and be shelved ex officio. Where the applicant does not make the correction in the period specified, the Intellectual Property Registry shall enforce the warning in the form of a resolution with a statement of reasons.

Substantive Examination

34. The applicant shall prove payment of the amount payable for the substantive examination of the patent application within a period of six months counted from the publication date of the notice of application. Where that period expires without the amount having been paid, the application shall be considered abandoned and the file shelved ex officio. Where any of the requirements or conditions for the patenting of the invention are not complied with, the Intellectual Property Registry shall notify the applicant so that, within a period of three months, he may complete the documentation, correct, amend or divide the application or make such comments in support of it as he sees fit. Should the opposite be the case, the application shall be rejected in a decision with a statement of reasons.

The examination may be conducted by the Intellectual Property Registry direct or through the agency of independent experts or public or private bodies, either national or foreign, or under regional or international agreements.

Where applicable, the examination shall be conducted on the basis of documents supplied by the applicant relating to novelty or patentability examinations conducted by other intellectual property offices or under the procedure provided for in the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) that relate to the same subject matter as is claimed in the application under examination. The Intellectual Property Registry may recognize the findings of such examinations as being sufficient to prove compliance with the conditions of patentability of the invention.

The examination shall be conducted by the Intellectual Property Registry according to the procedure laid down in the regulations under this Law.

Documents Relating to Foreign Applications

35. For the purposes of the patentability examination, the applicant shall, at the request of the Intellectual Property Registry, provide the following, with the corresponding translation:

(a) a single copy of the foreign application and the results of the novelty and patentability examination conducted in relation to that application;

(b) a single copy of the patent or other title of protection granted by the patent office of the issuing country.

Where necessary for a better decision on a patent application or on the validity of a granted patent, the Intellectual Property Registry may at any time request the applicant or patent owner to submit a copy of any decision or ruling that has rejected, refused, revoked, cancelled or invalidated the foreign application or the patent or other title of protection granted thereon.

Where the applicant who has the required information or document at his disposal does not comply with the request that he submit it within the period specified in the request, which shall be three months from the date thereof, the patent applied for shall be refused. At the request of the applicant or ex officio, the Intellectual Property Registry may suspend the processing of the patent application where any document that should be submitted under this provision is still pending before a foreign authority.

The applicant may submit observations and comments on any information or document supplied pursuant to this Article. Where necessary or where there is reasonable doubt as to the legitimacy of a document, the Intellectual Property Registry may request that it be legalized or authenticated.