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case the transfer shall only have effect
2. four years starting from the grant of the
for the future;
patent for patents concerning drugs, in
the interests of public health;
• or that the successor in title be
subrogated in all of the patented and
3. three years starting from the filing of
certified rights and obligations of the
the application, in the case of an import
applicant; should this be the case, the
patent. If the invention covered by the
subrogation shall have retroactive
import patent is already exploited
effect.
abroad, exploitation in the Democratic
Republic of Congo shall occur in the
two years starting from the filing of the
application.
Section 2 – Obligations
In any event, an extension of one year,
Art.54. The holder of a patent shall be
renewable once, may be granted, at the
obliged, on pain of disqualification, to
request of the interested party, by decision
exploit or have exploited industrially in the
of the competent authority or its delegate.
Democratic Republic of Congo the
invention which is the subject of the
Such a request must be made and reach the
patent, in an effective, serious and
competent Ministry before the expiration
continuous manner.
of the time limits set out in paragraphs 3,
10 and 30 of this Article.
The application measures shall clarify the
notion of effective, serious and continuous
Art.55. In accordance with this Law, the
industrial exploitation.
exploitation of a patented invention shall
consist in giving specific form to such
Such exploitation must take place within a
invention, by means of effective technical
period of:
exploitation according to the procedures to
1. five years starting from the filing of the
be determined by the enabling measures.
application or three years starting from
the grant of the patent, with the period
Notwithstanding, importing or packaging
which expires last to be applied, in the
objects patented and manufactured abroad
case of a primary patent or an
shall not constitute exploitation of an
improvement patent;
invention.