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knowledge that have been infringed. If the means is accepted, and if the local
community in question agrees, the court shall order the infringer to pay the local
community an amount which it shall set in accordance with the provisions of
Articles 419 to 421.
Article 283: The industrial property titles referred to under this Title shall be binding on third
parties as from the date of publication of the court order fixing the amount and
arrangements for the compensation to be paid. They shall have no effect in
relation to acts performed by unauthorized third parties prior to this date.
Article 284: Without prejudice to Articles 281 to 283, if an industrial property title concerns
an object which consists in part or in full of protected traditional knowledge and
the holders of the rights in this knowledge have not given their prior consent,
they may ask the court for a proportional transfer of the title. If the court notes
that the holders are entitled to full ownership of the industrial property title in
question, they may, at their entire discretion, waive the title.
Article 285: Local communities may also protect elements of their traditional knowledge in a
complementary or different fashion by means of other industrial property
regimes, without prejudice to the rights and interests protected by this Section.
Article 286: The provisions of this Section shall apply to traditional knowledge that has been
registered or protected in other countries if these countries grant protection that
is identical or equivalent to the protection conferred by this Law on the
traditional knowledge belonging to the local communities in Burundi.
Nevertheless, the provisions of this Article shall not apply to traditional
knowledge that belongs to foreign communities that is not protected or ceases to
be protected in the country of origin for any reason whatsoever, in particular on
the grounds set out in Article 268.
PART THREE: DISTINCTIVE SIGNS
TITLE I. PRODUCT MARKS, SERVICE MARKS, COLLECTIVE MARKS, TRADE
NAMES AND CERTIFICATION SIGNS
Chapter I: Acquisition of exclusive rights in a mark and its registration
Article 287: Exclusive rights in a mark shall be acquired via registration in accordance with
the provisions of this Law.
Article 288: A mark may not be validly registered if:
- it does not make it possible to distinguish the products or services of a firm
from those of other firms; the smell, taste or any other material characteristic
of a product shall not be deemed to distinguish the product if they are the
normal result of the ordinary composition of this product;
- it is contrary to public order or morality; nevertheless, the nature of the goods
or services to which a mark is to apply may not in any case hinder the
registration of the mark;