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Legislative
Decree No. 47
October 9th, 1946
Organization of Industrial & Commercial Property
Protection
Amended by Law No. 28, Dated 18.5.1400 AH, Corresponding to 3.4.1980
The President of the Republic of Syria,
Pursuant to Law No. 62 issued on January 24, 1944,
The Proposal of the Minister of National Economy and the approval of the Council
of Ministers in its Resolution No. 378 dated October 5, 1946,
Decreed the following:
PART
I
Patents
Chapter 1
General Rules
Article
1
Any new industrial production, the discovery of a new method for obtaining an
existing industrial production or an existing industrial result, or attaining a
new application of a known industrial method shall be considered an industrial
invention. Each one who makes an industrial invention shall have exclusive right
to use it, and he shall be granted a certificate of invention according to the
provisions of this Legislative Decree.
Article
2
The period of protection guaranteed by the certificate of invention shall be
fifteen years starting as of the date fixed in the deposit record provided for
in Article 13.
Article
3
Certificates granted in the following cases shall be considered null and void:
1. If the invention is not new.
2. If the certificate of invention is not patentable under the cases provided
for in Article 6.
3. If the invention is related to mere theoretical methods or mere practical
methods without having a certain industrial application.
4. If the title of invention submitted intentionally indicates a thing other
than the invention itself.
5. If the invention's descriptions, specifications, drawings and computations
are not sufficient to put the invention into use. The additional certificates
which have no relationship with the original certificates shall also be
considered null and void.
Article
4
In order to consider an invention new, nothing should have been published about
it in Syria or in the foreign countries, which makes its application and use
possible. An exception to this shall be the inventions for which certificates of
guarantee were obtained in the exhibitions. The conflicting international
conventions applicable in the Syrian Arab Republic should be observed.
Article
5
The rights of the holder of a certificate shall be cancelled in the following
cases:
1. If he imports into Syria things from a foreign source, which are similar to
those, protected by his certificates. The international conventions, which
provide otherwise and are applied in Syria, shall be observed.
2. If he does not within two years put his invention into use, unless he proves
that he has offered his invention directly to the industrialists who are capable
of applying his invention, and that he has not refused without reason the
applications to use his invention according to reasonable conditions.
Article
6
The certificate of invention shall not be granted for financial reasons, nor to
inventions, which are expressly in violation of the public order or morals,
constitutions and pharmaceutical preparations.
Chapter
2
Application for and Granting of
a Certificate of Invention
Article 7
Any person may apply to obtain a certificate of invention. If the applicant is a
foreigner, he should appoint a resident representative in Syria. The application
for the certificate should be submitted to the Protection Office Manager in
Damascus by the inventor or his attorney.
Article
8
The following shall be attached to the application:
1. A power of attorney if the application is submitted through an attorney.
2. Stamped envelopes which contain two copies of the following:
a) A description of the invention which may be accepted in either English or
French.
b) The drawings and plans required to understand the invention.
c) A list of deposited documents.
Article
9
The name and address of the inventor or his representative shall be clearly and
briefly indicated in a readable manner. The application shall include only one
invention together with its ancillaries and procedures. If the inventor has
previously obtained or applied for a certificate for the same invention in
another country, or if he has requested for the same invention a certificate of
guarantee for an exhibition, he shall so indicate in a detailed statement to be
attached to the application. Figures, measurements, and weights shall only be in
the metric system.
Article
10
All documents attached to the application shall be signed by the inventor or his
representative whose power of attorney shall be attached to the petition.
Article
11
An annual progressive fee shall be paid as follows:
The first five years: as per the prescribed fee
The second five years: as per the prescribed fee.
The third five years: as per the prescribed fee
Article
12
The application submitted to the Protection Office shall not be accepted except
if the inventor or his representative pays to the Office Manager the fee of the
first year at least which is collected for the certificates provided for in
Article 11 above.
Article
13
The Office Manager shall draw and sign a record indicating the date and hour of
delivering the documents or their arrival and the payment of the fee. A copy of
this record may be given or sent to the applicant after the payment of the
prescribed fee.
Article
14
The Office
shall be given a period of eight days starting on the date indicated in the
record to make out the certificate.
Article 15
The certificates for which legal applications were submitted shall be handed
over to the applicants without being a guarantee of any type whether as regards
the reality of the invention or its novelty, or as regards the fidelity or
accuracy of the description.
Article 16
The Minister of Supply & Internal trade shall issue an order in which he
shall decide on the legality of the application. Such an order to be attached to
the description and original drawings submitted by the applicant shall be
considered as a patent certificate. Next, the applicant shall be granted a
document of the said certificate without any fee. Each new copy of the document
given at the request of the inventor or his successor requires an advanced
payment of the prescribed fee.
Article 17
The inventor or his representative may request in his application provided for
in the previous Article postponing the delivery of the certificate to him. In
this case, the certificate shall not be handed over to him except after one year
from the date of submitting the application. The inventor or his representative
may request to take delivery of the certificate within the said year.
Article
18
The postponement, however, may not be granted in respect of the inventions for
which the certificates were requested in foreign countries.
Article 19
The application which does not satisfy the conditions provided for above shall
be returned to the applicant if necessary and he shall be asked to submit valid
documents within two months. The Office shall indicate the date and hour on
which the correct documents were delivered. The depositing of the documents
shall be entered in a record for this purpose on the date of delivering the
original documents.
Article 20
If the invention is complicated and is one of the types provided for in Article
6, the Protection Office Manager shall notify the applicant thereof, and he
shall submit a report on the issue to the Ministry of Supply & Internal
Trade.
Article 21
If an invention is rejected because it is overly complicated, the inventor may
submit new applications for each part of the original invention or for one part
only. The date of a certificate or certificates granted in this case shall be
the date and hour of the rejected application.
Article 22
If an application is rejected; the fee paid for the first year shall remain the
right of the Office. Conversely, the paid fees shall be fit for all the
delivered certificates according to the provisions of Article 21.
Chapter 3
The Certificates of Addition
Article 23
The certificate holder, whether he is an inventor or the holder of the invention
right, may make any change, alteration or addition to the original invention and
shall take all the procedures provided for in the previous and subsequent
articles of this Legislative Decree. The depositing record of the certificates
of addition shall be made out in the same form in which the depositing record of
certificates of invention is made out, as provided for in Article 13. A copy
thereof may be given to the applicant for certificates of addition or to his
attorney against the payment of the prescribed fee.
Article 24
The certificates of addition shall have the same effect as the original
certificate. If the original certificate has many holders, the certificate of
addition held by one of them ensures the benefit for all.
Article 25
If an improvement is made in an invention for which a certificate is issued to
another person, the person who made the improvement may not utilize the original
invention. Conversely, the other person who is the original inventor, may not
utilize the certificate of addition related to the improvement made after the
invention, unless it is otherwise agreed by the concerned parties.
Article
26
The certificates of addition shall be given the date of filing their
application, and they shall expire with the expiry of the related original
certificate.
Article
27
If a certificate expires because of non-renewal, the related certificates of
addition may remain valid, provided the annual fees for each certificate are
paid. They shall remain valid for the period of the original certificate if its
annulment was is not decided.
Article
28
The holder of the additional certificate may request at any time that it be
converted it to a certificate of invention against the payment of the difference
in the fee for the current year, on the consideration that the period of the new
certificate is equal to that of the original certificate.
Article
29
In order that the application for an certificate of addition be accepted, the
fee for at least the first year should be attached thereto. The term "the
fee for the first year" means the fee for the certificate of invention for
the current year.
The prescribed fee should be attached to the application for the certificate of
addition submitted during the seventh year which follows handing over the
certificate. Conversely, the application submitted during the year in which the
certificate was obtained requires the payment in advance of the prescribed fee.
Article
30
The fees for certificates of addition shall be as follows:
The first five years: as per the prescribed fee.
The second five years: as per the prescribed fee.
The third five years: as per the prescribed fee.
Chapter 4
Transfer, Assignment, Attachment
& Cancellation of Certificates
Article
31
The holder of a certificate may partially or fully assign it gratuitously or
against payment, whether the assignment is limited to the right of title or also
includes the right to utilize and mortgage it, share with it in one of the
companies or follow any other method of
assignment.
Article 32
A transfer or assignment of a certificate shall be made in writing, otherwise it
shall be null and void. A transfer or assignment shall also be null and void
with respect to third parties if it is not registered in the Protection Office.
The transfer shall be registered in the register earmarked for this purpose in
the Office at the request of the assignor within three months starting on the
day of assignment (and this will not include the legal period). The registration
shall include the names of the concerned parties, their addresses, the
certificate number, its date and name, the nature of the assignment and its
period, and the date of the assignment document concluded between the assignor
and the assignee. (Each registration of the actions taken in respect of the
patent or in respect of the name or address of its holder, as well as the delay
in the application to register these actions within the fixed period requires
the payment of the prescribed fees.
Article 33
The cancellation of an assignment shall be entered in the register mentioned in
Article 32 according to an official final judgment or according to the
submission of an official document which indicates acceptance of cancellation
issued by the debtor or the party to which a right was transferred by him.
Article 34
Any person may at his request obtain a copy of the assignment registration or
cancellation, or a document proving that there is no assignment with respect to
a certain certificate. For this, the Office shall charge the prescribed fee for
each document given.
Article 35
All assignment registrations shall be published in the Supplement to the
Official Gazette of the Arab Republic of Syria which pertains to the Directorate
of Commercial & Industrial Property Protection.
Article 36
Any creditor of the holder of a certificate of invention may levy attachment on
it. The creditor shall submit a written objection to the Office in respect of
the records of assignments made to the benefit of third parties. This objection
shall be accompanied by an official copy of the attachment deed delivered by the
judge officiating at the place of residence of the debitor or his representative
if the debtor is residing in a foreign country.
Article 37
The notification of the lawsuit for levying attachment shall be made according
to the
public laws.
Article 38
If the attachment is confirmed, the court shall place the certificate in public
auction, unless an agreement providing otherwise is concluded between the
parties. The new holder of the certificate to whom it was transferred by the
auction or purchase shall register the auction or assignment in the Office
register within three months starting from
the transfer of ownership, otherwise it shall be null and void.
Article 39
If a registration of the certificate of assignment was requested after the
objection to it, the Office shall respond to this request. The assignment
registration shall remain observed if it is not decided to levy the attachment.
If it is, the registration shall be cancelled as a matter of course.
Article 40
The certificates of addition granted to the holder of the certificate of
invention or to a person acting on his behalf after the assignment of the
certificate shall be the right of the assignee. The holder of the certificate of
invention or the person to whom it was assigned shall also make benefit from the
certificate of addition given by the assignee when the original certificate is
returned.
Chapter
5
Cancellation & Invalidation of Certificates
Article
41
Any party concerned may file a lawsuit for the cancellation or the invalidation
of a certificate. Such lawsuits shall be filed at the Commerce Court. The public
prosecution shall always have the right to interfere to obtain an order
canceling a judgment or invalidating it, and may also file lawsuits directly and
in the method of original lawsuits in the cases provided for in paragraph 4 of
Article 3 and paragraph 1 of Article 5 for the purpose of cancellation and
invalidation. The lawsuits shall be filed against all parties who have rights in
the certificate provided these rights were registered in the Office.
Article 42
The trial and judgment in a lawsuit for cancellation and invalidation shall be
carried out according to the procedures provided for in the law of trials. The
file shall be serviced to the public prosecution in advance.
Article 43
A copy of the judgment or resolution, which is conclusive, shall be sent to the
Office by the Court President. A summary of the judgment shall be published in
the Official Gazette Supplement pertaining to the Directorate for the Protection
of Commercial & Industrial Property.
Article 44
The patentee, who does not pay the legal fee before the beginning of each year
of his certificate duration, shall forfeit his rights. However, he shall be
granted a period of six months to pay the fees legally due. In this case, he
shall pay the additional prescribed fee.
Courtesy of Kardous Law Office
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