Preliminary Examination of Application for an Invention
30.- (1) All applications for an invention shall be subject to a preliminary examination carried out by the Office in order to ascertain that
(a) the application contains no element that is obviously contrary to the provisions of Section 3(1) or 26(2);
(b) the application contains no element referred to in the provisions of Section 3(2) or 4;
(c) the application contains no defect constituting a bar to publication;
(d) the applicant has paid the corresponding administrative fees.
(2) The Office shall reject an application for an invention if it contains an element contrary to the provisions of Sections 3(1) or 26(2) or on element referred to in the provisions of 3(2) or 4. The applicant shall be given an opportunity to make observations on the documents on the basis of which the decision has been taken, prior to rejection.
(3) If an application for an invention contains an element that constitutes a bar to its publication or if the applicant has not paid the corresponding administrative fee, the Office shall invite the applicant to submit his observations and to remedy any defects within the time limit it shall stipulate.
(4) If the applicant does not remedy the defects in an application for an invention constituting a bar for its publication or does not pay the corresponding administrative fee within the stipulated time limit, the Office shall terminate the procedure. The attention of the applicant shall be drawn to such consequence of failure to comply when the time limit is stipulated.
31.- (1) The Office shall publish an application for an invention after on expiry of a period of 18 months as from the date on which the priority right begins and shall give notice of the publication in the Official Bulletin.
(2) An application for an invention may be published before the expiry of the time limit laid down in subsection (1), on a request submitted by the applicant within 12 months from the date on which priority right begins and on payment of the administrative fee laid down in the relevant statutory provisions.
The Office shall publish an application for an invention before the expiry of the period referred to in subsection (1) if a patent has already been granted for the invention. However, if the owner of the patent does not give his consent, the Office shall not publish the application before expiry of 12 months as from the date on which the priority right begins.
(3) Together with the application for an invention, the Office may publish the report on the state of the art (search report) relating to an invention claimed in the application.
32.- (1) Following publication of an application for an invention, any person may submit observations on the patentability of the subject matter; the Office shall take such observations into consideration when carrying out the full examination of the application.
(2) Persons who have submitted observations under subsection (1) shall not become party to the procedure with respect to the application. However, the applicant shall inform of any observations submitted.
Full Examination of an Application for an Invention
33.- (1) The Office shall carry out a full examination of the application for an invention to ensure that that it meets the conditions for granting a patent laid down by this Law.
(2) The full examination of an application for an invention shall be carried out by the Office at the request of the applicant or of another person or may be carried out ex officio.
(3) The request for the full examination shall be filed a within 36 months as from the filing date of the application for an invention and may not be withdrawn. The person filing the request shall be required, on submitting the request, to pay an administrative fee in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions.
(4) The Office shall carry out the full examination immediately after the request has been filed.
(5) Where no request for full examination of an application for an invention has been duly filed or where the Office has not carried out an ex officio examination within the period laid down in subsection (3), the Office shall terminate the procedure concerning the application.
34.- (1) If the conditions for granting a patent have not been met, the Office shall reject the application for an invention. The applicant shall be given the possibility of submitting observations on the documents on the basis of which the decisions on the application is to be taken, before rejection.
(2) If the applicant does not remedy a defect constituting a bar to the granting of a patent within the given time limit, the Office shall terminate the procedure concerning the application. The attention of the applicant shall be drawn to such consequence of failure to comply when the time limit is stipulated.
(3) If the subject matter of the application for an invention satisfies the stipulated conditions and if the applicant has paid the fee laid down in the relevant statutory provisions, the Office shall grant a patent to the applicant who shall thereupon become the owner of the patent. The Office shall issue to the owner of the patent letters patent in which the name of the inventor shall be mentioned; the description of the invention and the claims shall form integral part of the letters patent; a notice of the grant of the patent shall be published in the Official Bulletin.
35.- If more than one application for an invention relating to the same subject matter is filed, only one patent can be granted.