Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Tunisia

Title:	Articles 21, 24 (3), 29 (1) and (2) and 55 of the Patents Law No.2000-84 of 24/08/2000
Field of IP:	Patents
Type of flexibility:	Disclosure related flexibilities
Summary table:

Provisions of Law

21. The application shall comprise:

- a description of the invention in duplicate;

The description of the invention shall be sufficiently clear and complete for a person skilled in the corresponding field of technology to carry it out.

24. (3) The applicant is obliged, at the request of the entity responsible for industrial property, to provide it with any other document concerning the earlier application and, where applicable, concerning any other application filed in another country. Those documents shall include the following in particular:

- a copy of any document received by the applicant and pertaining to the findings of any search or examination carried out in relation to the application in which the publications or other documents establishing the state of the art are mentioned;

- a copy of any application other than the earlier application that relates to the same invention, or essentially to the same invention, and the priority of which is claimed;

- a copy of any final judgment rejecting the application.

29. (1)The entity responsible for industrial property shall examine whether the application is consistent in terms of form with the provisions of Articles 20, 21 and 22 of this Law.

(2) The entity responsible for industrial property shall reject the patent application if it finds that the provisions referred to in the first paragraph of this Article have not been respected after the applicant has been invited to remedy the shortcomings within a period of three months from the date of the notice served on him to that end.

55. The patent shall be declared null and void by judicial decision:

- where the invention cannot be described clearly and completely enough for a person skilled in the art to be able to carry it out;