Patents of Invention

– Law No. 82-001 of January 7, 1982, regarding Industrial Property.
– Regulations No. 89-173 of August 7, 1989.
– Decree No. CAB.MIN/IND/CFI/008/07/2022 and No. 055/CAB/MIN/FINANCES/2022 of July 19, 2022.

Membership in International Conventions

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since January 28, 1975.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since January 31, 1975.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1997.

Filing

Applicant: may be the inventor(s) or an assignee.

Foreign applicants: must be represented by a registered patent agent.

Kind of protection: patent of invention; patent of importation; patent of addition. The patent of invention protects an invention which is new on the filing date (or priority date). The patent of importation protects an invention for which the owner has, on the filing date, already obtained a foreign patent. The patent of addition protects an improvement of a patented invention.

Naming of the inventor: the inventor(s) has/(have) the right to be named as such in the Letters Patent.

Patentability conditions: an invention must be new, the result of an inventive activity and acceptable in industry or trade.

Novelty: an invention is new, if it does not belong to the state of the art. The state of the art includes everything to which the public had access before the priority date, being written or oral.

Exceptions to protection: purely theoretical or scientific concepts, exclusively ornamental creations, financial methods or other abstract systems, especially programs for computers; inventions contrary to law or morals; discoveries (for which a certificate of encouragement can be granted). Medicines are patentable only if a product or a compound or a composition is used for the first time as a component of a medicine.

Priority: according to the Paris Convention.

Classification: according to the Strasbourg Convention.

Territory covered: the whole territory of Congo.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
(a) Patents of invention:
1. Power of attorney, in duplicate, no legalization. Only forms specially printed and purchased from the authorities may be used. Filing without power of attorney: not possible;
2. Specification in French in quadruplicate, with abstract;
3. Drawings in quadruplicate, 3 copies on tracing cloth and 1 on ordinary paper;
4. The International Classification is to be indicated;
5. Priority document (may be filed within a term of five months after the filing date).

(b) Patents of addition:
Same requirements as for patents of invention, but details of the number and date of the main patent must be given.

(c) Patents of importation:
Same requirements as for patents of invention, but full particulars of the number, date and term of the foreign patent must be furnished.

For a change of name or address: a notarized copy of the official document recording the change of name or address.

Examination

Deferral: on request by the applicant, the grant of a patent can be delayed for a maximum of six months from the filing date.

Amendments: are accepted during a period of five months from the filing date (for foreign applicants).

Examination: only as to form with the exception of applications regarding foodstuffs or pharmaceuticals which are examined as regards their patentability. Full examination may also be requested by the applicant for applications in other fields, after payment of a fee.

Divisions: if an application includes several inventions, it has to be divided.

Opposition: no provision.

Publication: the granted patents, assignments, or other modifications, are published every quarter in the Official Journal, third section. Any patent which has been laid open in a public library is considered as published. A copy of the Letters Patent may be obtained after the payment of a tax. The publication can be postponed for six months.

Protection

Beginning of protection: from the filing date of the application; if a document concerning the substance is missing: from the date of rectification.

Duration: patents of invention and of improvement: twenty years, not extendible; patents of importation: same duration as the basic patent, but not more than twenty years; patents protecting medicines: fifteen years.

Annuities: are due annually at the anniversary date of the granting decision.

Annuity grace period: six months, with fine.

Working: a patent owner is obliged to work or to have worked seriously and continuously his invention in Congo: (a) within five years from the filing date or three years from the granting date for a patent of invention; (b) four years after the granting date of a pharmaceutical patent; and (c) three years after the filing date for a patent of importation. A grace period of one year, extendible for a further year, is granted on request by the patent owner. Such a request has to be filed within the periods indicated above. The importation or conditioning of the patented products is not considered as working.

Protection: the patent confers on its owner the exclusive right to use and exploit his invention during its validity period.

Infringement and penalties: infringers can be sued before the courts. Damages and confiscation of the production infringing the patent may be obtained.

Assignments: must be registered. A legalized assignment document is required.

Licenses: voluntary licenses may be granted. They must be registered. Non-voluntary licenses: may be requested before the court by anybody capable of exploiting the invention, if it has not or only insufficiently been worked (time limits: see under “working” above). Such a license is normally not exclusive.

Compulsory licenses: may be granted by the court if a national public interest is involved. Such a license may be exclusive or non-exclusive.

Modification of Protection after Granting

Nullification: nullity may be declared by a competent court in case of non-patentability (art. 6-11 of the patent law). Any interested party may introduce a nullification action.

Forfeiture: the Patent Office may introduce an action of forfeiture for non-working or non-payment of annuities. Such an action cannot be introduced before a two-year period beginning with the first non-voluntary license.