National Directorate of Industrial Property
Burkina Faso
- Section 1: General
- Section 2: Private and/or non-commercial use
- Section 3: Experimental use and/or scientific research
- Section 4: Preparation of medicines
- Section 5: Prior use
- Section 6: Use of articles on foreign vessels, aircrafts and land vehicles
- Section 7: Acts for obtaining regulatory approval from authorities
- Section 8: Exhaustion of patent rights
- Section 9: Compulsory licenses and/or government use
- Section 10: Exceptions and limitations related to farmers' and/or breeders' use of patented inventions
- Section 11: Other Exceptions and Limitations
Section 1. General
1. As background for the exceptions and limitations to patents investigated in this questionnaire, what is the legal standard used to determine whether an invention is patentable? If the standard for patentability includes provisions that vary according to the technology involved, please include examples of how the standard has been interpreted, if available. Please indicate the source of law (statutory and-or case law) by providing the relevant provisions and/or a brief summary of the relevant decisions.
Annex I, Articles 1 and 2, revised Bangui Agreement.
Correspondingly, please list exclusions from patentability that exist in your law. Furthermore, please provide the source of those exclusions from patentability if different from the source of the standard of patentability, and provide any available case law or interpretive decisions specific to the exclusions.
Annex I, Article 6, revised Bangui Agreement. Discoveries, mathematical and scientific theories and other inventions contrary to public policy or morality.
2. As background for the exceptions and limitations to patents investigated in this questionnaire, what exclusive rights are granted with a patent? Please provide the relevant provision in the statutory or case law. In addition, if publication of a patent application accords exclusive rights to the patent applicant, what are those rights?
Annex I, Article 10, revised Bangui Agreement.
3. Which exceptions and limitations does the applicable law provide in respect to patent rights (please indicate the applicable exceptions/limitations):
Experimental use and/or scientific research;
Prior use;
Use of articles on foreign vessels, aircrafts and land vehicles;
Exhaustion of patent rights;
Section 2: Private and/or non-commercial use
4.-10.
[Note from the Secretariat: the applicable law of Burkina Faso does not provide exceptions related to private and/or non-commercial use.]
Section 3: Experimental use and/or scientific research
11. If the exception is contained in statutory law, please provide the relevant provision(s):
Annex I, Article 8, revised Bangui Agreement.
12.-22.
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
Section 4: Preparation of medicines
23.-30.
[Note from the Secretariat: the applicable law of Burkina Faso does not provide exceptions related to the preparation of medicines.]
Section 5: Prior use
31. If the exception is contained in statutory law, please provide the relevant provision(s):
Annex I, Article 8, revised Bangui Agreement.
32.-34.
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
35. Does the applicable law provide for a remuneration to be paid to the patentee for the exercise of the exception? Please explain:
No.
36.-41.
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
Section 6: Use of articles on foreign vessels, aircrafts and land vehicles
42. If the exception is contained in statutory law, please provide the relevant provision(s):
Annex I, Article 8, revised Bangui Agreement.
43.-44.
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
45. The exception applies in relation to:
Vessels
Aircrafts
Land Vehicles
Spacecraft
46.-50.
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
Section 7: Acts for obtaining regulatory approval from authorities
51.-59.
[Note from the Secretariat: the applicable law of Burkina Faso does not provide exceptions related to acts for obtaining regulatory approval from authorities.]
Section 8: Exhaustion of patent rights
60. Please indicate what type of exhaustion doctrine is applicable in your country in relation to patents:
Regional
If the exception is contained in statutory law, please provide the relevant provision(s):
Annex I, Article 8, revised Bangui Agreement.
If the exception is provided through case law, please cite the relevant decision(s) and provide its(their) brief summary:
61.-64.
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
Section 9: Compulsory licenses and/or government use
Compulsory licenses
65. If the exception is contained in statutory law, please provide the relevant provision(s):
Annex I, Article 49, revised Bangui Agreement.
66. If the exception is provided through case law, please cite the relevant decision(s) and provide its(their) brief summary:
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
67. What grounds for the grant of a compulsory license does the applicable law provide in respect to patents (please indicate the applicable grounds):
Non-working or insufficient working of the patented invention
Refusal to grant licenses on reasonable terms
Anti-competitive practices and/or unfair competition
Public health
National security
National emergency and/or extreme urgency
68.(a) What are the public policy objectives for providing compulsory licenses in your country? Please explain:
Annex I, Article 56(1): vital interest to the economy of the country, public health or national defense.
(b) Where possible, please explain with references to the legislative history, parliamentary debates and judicial decisions:
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
69. If the applicable law provides for the grant of compulsory licenses on the ground of “non-working” or “insufficient working”, please provide the definitions of those terms by citing legal provision(s) and/or decision(s):
“Non-working” means that “the invention is not being worked on the territory of a Member State”. “Insufficient working” means that “the working of the invention does not meet, on reasonable terms, the demand for the protected product”
70. Does the importation of a patented product or a product manufactured by a patented process constitute “working” of the patent? Please explain your answer by citing legal provision(s) and/or decision(s):
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
71. In case of the grant of compulsory licenses on the grounds of non-working or insufficient working, does the applicable law provide for a certain time period to be respected before a compulsory license can be requested?
Yes
If yes, what is the time period?
Three years from the date of grant of the patent and four years from the filing date of the patent application (Article 46, revised Bangui Agreement).
72. In case of the grant of compulsory licenses on the grounds of non-working or insufficient working, does the applicable law provide that a compulsory license shall be refused if the patentee justifies his inaction by legitimate reasons?
Yes
If yes, what are “legitimate reasons”?
Non-voluntary license for a dependent patent
73. If the applicable law provides for the grant of compulsory licenses on the ground of refusal by the patentee to grant licenses on “reasonable terms and conditions” and within a “reasonable period of time”, please provide the definitions given to those terms by citing legal provision(s) and/or decision(s):
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
74. If the applicable law provides for the grant of compulsory licenses on the ground of anti-competitive practices, please indicate which anti-competitive practices relating to patents may lead to the grant of compulsory licenses by citing legal provision(s) and/or decision(s):
Annex I, Article 46, revised Bangui Agreement
75. If the applicable law provides for the grant of compulsory licenses on the ground of dependent patents, please indicate the conditions that dependent patents must meet for a compulsory license to be granted:
(a) failure to work or insufficient working;
(b) refusal by the patentee to grant patents on reasonable terms and conditions;
(c) prejudice suffered during commercial or industrial activity on the territory concerned.
76.-78.
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
79. Is the applicable legal framework for the issuance of compulsory licenses considered adequate to meet the objectives sought (for example, are there any amendments to the law foreseen)? Please explain:
A revision process is currently underway that takes into account these various aspects in the revised Bangui Agreement.
80. Which challenges, if any, have been encountered in relation to the use of the compulsory licensing system provisions in your country? Please explain:
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
Government use
81. If the exception is contained in statutory law, please provide the relevant provision(s):
Annex I, Article 56, revised Bangui Agreement.
82. If the exception is provided through case law, please cite the relevant decision(s) and provide its(their) brief summary:
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
83. What grounds for the grant of government use does the applicable law provide in respect to patents (please indicate the applicable grounds):
Public health
National security
National emergency and/or extreme urgency
Vital interest linked to the global economy
84.(a) What are the public policy objectives for providing government use in your country?
Aims of strategic interest linked to public health, national defense or the national economy.
(b) Where possible, please explain with references to the legislative history, parliamentary debates and judicial decisions:
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
85.-86.
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
87. Is the applicable legal framework for the issuance of government use considered adequate to meet the objectives sought (for example, are there any amendments to the law foreseen)? Please explain:
The Bangui Agreement is currently being revised and such aspects will be taken into account.
88. Which challenges, if any, have been encountered in relation to the use of the government use mechanism in your country? Please explain:
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
Section 10: Exceptions and limitations related to farmers' and/or breeders' use of patented inventions
Farmers' use of patented inventions
89. If the exception is contained in statutory law, please provide the relevant provision(s):
These issues come under Annex 10 of the Bangui Agreement on plant varieties.
90.-94.
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
Breeders' use of patented inventions
95.-100.
[Note from the Secretariat: response was not provided.]
Section 11: Other Exceptions and Limitations
101.-103.
[Note from the Secretariat: the applicable law of Burkina Faso does not provide other exceptions and limitations.]
[End of Questionnaire]
May 2012