- CHAPTER I—GENERAL
- CHAPTER II—PATENTS
- SECTION 1—APPLICATION AND PROCEDURE FOR GRANT OF PATENTS
- 9. Classification of Patents
- 10. Reguest for Grant of Patent
- 11. Description
- 12. Claims
- 13. Drawings
- 14. Abstract
- 15. Measures,Terminology and Signs
- 16. Number of Copies and Physical Requirements
- 17. Unity of Invention
- 18. Amendment and Division of Application
- 19. Diglosure to be Disregarderd for Prior Art Purposes
- 20. Declaration of Priority & Translation of Earlier Application
- 21. An applicant From Abroad
- 22. Time for Furnishing Information Concerning Corresponding Foreign Anplications, Patents and other Titles of Protection
- 23. Withdrawal of Application
- 24. Marking Application
- 25. According and Notifying Filing Date
- SECTION 2—EXAMINATION OF APPLICATION
- SECTION 3—ISSUANCE and CONTENTS OF PATENTS
- SECTION 4—EXPLOITATION OF PATENTED INVENTION BY AUTHORIZED PERSONS
- SECTION 1—APPLICATION AND PROCEDURE FOR GRANT OF PATENTS
- CHAPTER III—UTILITY MODEL CERTIFICATES
- CHAPTER IV—INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
- 40. Application of Provisions Relating to Patents
- 41. Application for Registration of an Industrial Design
- 42. Number and Size of Representations and Specimen
- 43. According and Notifying Filing Date; Examination
- 44. Decision to Grant or to Refuse Application
- 45. Registration of Industrial Design, Publication of Reference thereto; Issuance of Certificate
- 46. Renewal of Registration
- CHAPTER V—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
- 47. Changes in Ownership
- 48. Appointment of Agent. Address for Service
- 49. Excluded Days
- 50. Registers and Official Gazette
- 51 . Consultation of Registers; Request for Extracts therefrom and for Copies of Documents,
- 52. Correction of Errors
- 53. Hearing
- 54. Service by Mail
- 55. Forms
- 56. Effective Date
- SCHEDULE I—FORMS
- SCHEDULE II—FEES
CHAPTER 1
These regulations are issued by the Council of Ministers based on Article 53( I) of the Proclamation Concerning Inventions, Minor Inventions & Industrial Designs, Proclamation No. 12311995
1. Short Title
These Regulations may be cited as "Inventions,Minor Inventions and Industrial Designs Regulation No. 119_."
2. Definitions
In the Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires: 3.
The fees to be paid in accordance with Article 53(2) of the proclamation shall be based on schedule I (schedule of fees) annexed to these regulations.
4.
1) The forms referred to in these regulations are those set out in schedule II (schedule of forms) annexed to and forming part of these regulations.
2) Copies of the printed forms shall be furnished free of charge by lhe Commissiun.
5. of Documents and Translations
1. Any Application shall be submitted In the English or Amharic language.
Any document forming part of an application or submitted to the Commission pursuant to the Proclamation or these Regulations and which is in a Language other than English or Amharic shall be accompanied by a translation into English or Amharic. 1) A document purpOlting to he signed for or 011 behalf of a partnership or a company or an association shall be signed by persons who are authorized to sign the document.
2) A document to be signed in accordance with sub article (1) of this article shall have the seal of the partnership; company or association.
The power of attorney appointing an agent may be fi1ed together with the application or within two months from its filing date. Where the appointment is not made in accordance with article 9(7) of the proclamation and article 48 of these regulations, any procedural steps taken by the agent other than the filing of the application shall be deemed not to have been taken.
APPLICATION AND PROCEDURE FOR GRANT OF PATENTS
9. Classification of Patents
The Commission shall apply the International Patent Classification, as adopted under the Strasbourg Agreement of March 24,1971 and updated in its subsequent editions, for all purposes relating to the grant and publication of patents, as well as for the maintenance of classified search files. 11. .
1. The description shall first state the title of the invention as appearing in the request and shall:
specify the technical field to which the invention relates;
b) indicate the background art which, as far as known to the applicant, can be regarded as useful for the understanding, searching and examination of the invention, and preferably cite documents reflecting such art;
c) specify the task which the invention is designed to fulfil;
d) disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete so as to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to carry it out, and state its advantageous effects, if any, with reference to the background art;
state the merits or effective results of the invention as compared with the prior art;
briefly describe the figures in the drawings,if any;
t)
g) set forth at least one mode contemplated by the applicant for carrying out the invention; this shall be done in temlS of examples, where appropriate, and with reference to the drawings, if any;
h) indicate explicitly, when it is not obvious from the description or nature of the invention, the way in which the invention is industrially applicable and in which it can be made and used, or, if it can only be used, the way in which it can be used. 12. Claims
1. The claim shall define clearly and concisely the matter for which protection is sought in terms of the technical features of the invention and shall pertain to either product or process.
The number of the claims shall be reasonable taking into account the nature of the invention; where there are several claims, they shall be numbered consecutively in arabic numerals. 2. Drawings shall be executed as follows: a) without colouring in durable, black, sufficiently dense and dark , uniformly thick and well-defined lines and strokes to permit satisfactory reproduction;
b) cross sections shall be indicated by hatching which does 110t impede the clear reading of the reference signs and leading lines;
c) the scale of the drawings and the distinctness of their graphical execution shall be such that a photographic reproduction with a linear reduction in size to two thirds would enable al1 details to be distinguished without difficulty. If, as an exception, the scale is given on a drawing it shall be represented graphically;
d) all numbers, letters and reference signs appearing in the drawings shall be simple and clear and brackets, circles and inverted commas shall not be used in association with numbers and letters;
e) elements of the same figure shall be in proportion to each other, unless a difference in proportion is indispensable for the clarity of the figure;
f) the height of the numbers and letters shall not be less than 0.32 cm and for the lettering of drawings, the L1tin and, where customary, the Greek alphabets shall be used;
g) the same sheet of drawings may contain several figures. Where figures drawn on two or more sheets are intended to form one whole figure, the figures on the several sheets shall be so arranged that the whole figure can be assembled without concealing any part of the partial figures. The different figures shall be arranged without wasting space, clearly separated from one another. The different figures shall be numbered
consecutively in arabic numerals, independently of the numbering of the sheets;
h) reference signs not mentioned in the description or claims shall not appear in the drawings, and vice versa .The same features, when denoted by reference signs, shall, through out the application, be denoted by the same signs;
i) the drawings shall not contain textual matter, except, when required for the understanding of the drawings, a single word or words such as "water", "steam", "open", tlclosed 11 , "section on AA" and in the case of electric circuits and block schematic or flow sheet diagrams, a few short catch words,
j) the sheets of the drawings shall be numbered in accordance with Article 16(7) of these regulations.
14. ABSTRACT
1) The abstract shall be so drafted that it can efficienl1y serve as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art thereby assisting the user in formulating an opinion 011 whether there is a need for consulling the application itself.
2) The abstract shall contain:
a) a summary of the disclosure as contained in the description, the claims, and any drawings, indicating the technical field to which the invention pertains and drafted in a way which allows the clear understanding of the technical problem, the gist of the solution of that problem through the invention, and the principal use or uses of the invention; and
b) where applicable, the chemical formula which, among aIJ the formula contained in the application, best characterizes the invention.
3) The abstract must be as concise as the disclosure permits and shall not contain statements on the alleged merits or value of the claimed invention or in its speculative application.
Each main technical feature mentioned in the abstract and illustrated by a drawing ill the application shall be followed by a reference sign, placed between parentheses.
4)
a) a statement indicating those technical features of the invention which are necessary for the definition of the latter but which, in combination, are part of the prior art, b) a characterizing portion--preceded by the words It characterized in that," "characterized by," "wherein the improvement comprises, It or any other words to the same effect--stating concisely the technical feature which, in combination with the features stated under sub article 4(a) of this article,is desired to be protected. 5. A claim shall not, except where absolutely necessary, rely in respect of the technical features of the invention on references to the description or drawings;in particular, it shall not rely on such references as " as described in part. .. of the description," or" as illustrated in figure ... of the drawings. " 6. Where the application contains drawings, the technical features mentioned in a claim shall preferably be followed by the reference signs relating to such features; when used, the reference signs shall preferably be placed between parentheses; if inclusion of reference signs does not particularly facilitate quicker understanding of a claim, it should not be made. 7. Any claim submitted after the filing date of the application and which is not identified with the claims previously appearing in the application shall, at the choice of the applicant, be submitted either as an amended claim or as a new claim. 8. The deletion of any claim previously appearing in the application shall be made by indicating the number of the previous claim followed by the word 11 canceled " . 13. 1. Drawings fonning part of an application for a patent shall be on sheets, the usable surface area of which shall not exceed 26.2 cm by 17cm. The sheets shal1 not contain frames round the usable or used surface. The minimum margins shall be as fol1ows: top left side right side 2.5 cm2.5 cm1.5 cm bottom 1.0 cm