Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Lao People's Democratic Republic

Title:	Sections 37, 39 and 40 of the Intellectual Property Laws No. 08/NA of 24/12/2007
Field of IP:	Patents
Type of flexibility:	Substantive examination
Summary table:

Provisions of Law

Section 37: Preliminary Examination of Application Form for the Registration of Industrial Property

Preliminary examination of application form for the registration of industrial property comprises the following steps:

1. Completeness of application form

2. Conditions for protection

3. Right of the applicant

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4. Payment of fee

After preliminary examination, if it is deemed that the application form is not complete, the registration office shall inform the applicant to make amendment within 60 days from the date of issue of the notice.

Section 39: Request for Substantive Examination of the Application for Registration of Invention or Device

In case the applicant cannot submit substantive examination report on the invention or device for which a registration is requested, the applicant can request the registration office to perform substantive examination of said application. This can be done within 32 months for the invention and 12 months for the device from the application date or the priority date. The applicant shall bear the expenses for the request for the substantive examination for the registration of invention or device.

Section 40: Substantive Examination of the Application for the Registration of Industrial Property Right

After preliminary examination by the registration office having been completed, the registration office shall perform the substantive examination of the application for registration of industrial design, trademark and source of origin

There will be no substantive examination on the integrated circuit design.