- Section 1 Amendments to the Patents, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Law
- 1)
- 2)
- 3)
- 4)
- 5)
- 6)
- 7)
- 8)
- 9)
- 10)
- 11)
- 12)
- 13)
- 14)
- 15)
- 16)
- 17)
- 18)
- 19)
- 20)
- 21)
- 22)
- 23)
- 24)
- 25)
- 26)
- 27)
- 28)
- 29)
- 30)
- 31)
- 32)
- 33)
- 34)
- 35)
- 36)
- 37)
- 38)
- 39)
- 40)
- 41)
- 42)
- 43)
- 44)
- 45)
- 46)
- 47)
- 48)
- 49)
- 50)
- 51)
- 52)
- 53)
- 54)
- 55)
- 56)
- 57)
- 58)
- 59)
- 60)
- 61)
- 62)
- 63)
- 64)
- 65)
- 66)
- 67)
- 68)
- 69)
- 70)
- 71)
- 72)
- 73)
- 74)
- 75)
- 76)
- 77)
- 78)
- 79)
- Section 2 Entry into Force
COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY ORDER NUMBER 81
Pursuant to my authority as Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and under the laws and usages of war, and consistent with relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 1483 and 1511 (2003),
Having worked closely with the Governing Council to ensure that economic change as necessary to benefit the people of Iraq occurs in a manner acceptable to the people of Iraq,
Acknowledging the Governing Council’s desire to bring about significant change to the Iraqi intellectual property system as necessary to improve the economic condition of the people of Iraq,
Determined to improve the conditions of life, technical skills, and opportunities for all Iraqis and to fight unemployment with its associated deleterious effect on public security,
Recognizing that companies, lenders and entrepreneurs require a fair, efficient, and predictable environment for protection of their intellectual property,
Noting that several provisions of the current Iraqi Patent and Industrial Design Law and related legislation does not meet current internationally-recognized standards of protection,
Recognizing the demonstrated interest of the Iraqi Governing Council for Iraq to become a full member in the international trading system, known as the World Trade Organization, and the desirability of adopting modern intellectual property standards,
Acting in a manner consistent with the Report of the Secretary General to the Security Council of July 17, 2003, concerning the need for the development of Iraq and its transition from a non-transparent centrally planned economy to a free market economy characterized by sustainable economic growth through the establishment of a dynamic private sector, and the need to enact institutional and legal reforms to give it effect,
In close consultation with and acting in coordination with the Governing Council, I hereby promulgate the following:
Section 1
Amendments to the Patents, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated
1) The Patent and Industrial Designs Laws and Regulations (No. 65 of 1970) is hereby renamed the Patents, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Law (the “Law”).
2) Article 1.1 is amended to read as follows: “Minister—Minister of Industry.”
3) Article 1.4 is amended to read as follows: “Invention—Any innovative idea, in any of the fields of technology, which relates to a product or a manufacturing process, or both, and practically solves a specific problem in any of those fields.”
4) Article 1.6 is amended to read as follows: “Patentee—The natural or legal person to whom the patent is granted.”
5) Article 2 is amended to read as follows: “Patents of invention shall be granted pursuant to the provisions of this Law for each invention that is industrially applicable, novel and involves an inventive step, either concerning new industrial products, new industrial methods, or new application of known industrial methods”
6) Article 3.2 is suspended.
7) Article 4 is amended to read as follows: “An invention shall not be considered as new in the following three cases:
a) If, the invention has been publicly worked out in or outside Iraq, or if the description or drawing of the invention has been publicized in periodicals within Iraq or outside it in such a clear way that enables experts to exploit;
b) If, letters patent had been granted to the invention or part thereof to a person other than the inventor or to whom the rights of the invention have been assigned, or that others had already applied for the same patent, or part thereof; or
c) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (a) and (b), the disclosure of the invention to the public shall not be taken into account if it occurred twelve months before the filing date of the application or its priority date, if any, and it occurred by actions taken by the applicant or applicant’s predecessor or due to an abuse by third parties against the applicant or predecessor.
8) Article 5 is amended to read as follows: “Notwithstanding the grant of the patent, a person who, in good faith, manufactures, uses an industrial manufacturing process of a product, or makes serious preparations therefore, before the filing date of an application by another person, or before the priority date of the application pertaining to the same product or process, shall have the right to continue such use or to use the invention as envisioned in such preparations. Assignment or transfer of the said right is only permitted together with the establishment or with that part of the establishment in which the use or preparations for use have been made.”
9) Article 7.3 is amended to read as follows: “Nationals of States Party to a relevant international agreement to which Iraq is a member.”
10)Article 7.5 is amended to read as follows: “Companies, societies and establishments formed in Iraq or in countries that are members of a relevant international agreement to which Iraq is a member, and enjoying juridical personality, industrialists, manufacturers, merchants or laborers, provided that the invention shall be primarily registered in the name of the inventor, unless when the invention had already been patented outside Iraq, in which case such invention may be registered in the name of the company, establishment or society that owns it.”
11)Article 12 is amended to read as follows: “A patent shall grant its owner the following rights:
a) Where the subject of the patent is a product, the right to prevent any person who has not obtained the owner's authorization from making, exploiting, using, offering for sale, selling or importing that product.
b) Where the subject of the patent is an industrial process, the rights to prevent any person who has not obtained the owner's authorization from using the process or the product directly made by the process, offering for sale, selling or importing the product.”
12)Article 13.1 is amended to read as follows: “The term of duration of the patent shall not end before the expiration of a period of twenty years for registration under the provisions of this Law as from the date of the filing of the application for registration under the provisions of this Law.”
13)Article 13.2 is suspended.
14)Article 16.2 is amended to read as follows: “(2) An applicant for a patent shall disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for the invention to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.
(2)bis An applicant for a patent shall provide information concerning the
applicant’s corresponding foreign applications and grants.”
15)Article 17 is suspended.
16)Article 18(2) is amended to read as follows: “That the specification and drawing disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for the invention to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.”
17)Article 27 is amended to read as follows: “The Registrar may grant a license to use a patent to third parties without obtaining the patentee's consent in any of the following cases exclusively:
A. If the use of the patent by the state authorities or licensed third parties is a necessity for national defense or emergency or for noncommercial public good provided that the patentee is notified as soon as it becomes possible.
B. 1. If the patentee does not exploit it or exploits it insufficiently before the elapse of four years as of the application date or three years as of the granting date, the period to be applied is the one that elapses later. However, the Registrar may grant the patentee an additional grace period if it is deemed that reasons beyond the control of the patentee have prevented exploitation.
2. For the purposes of item (1) of this paragraph, and without prejudice to the provisions of the relevant International Conventions, the importation of the subject goods of the patent to Iraq shall be deemed utilization of the patent.
C. If rights are exercised by the patentee in such a way as to prevent others from competing fairly.”
18)Article 28 is amended to read as follows: “The following shall be taken into consideration when compulsory licenses are granted:
A. Each application for a license shall be decided separately for its specific conditions and circumstances.
B. The applicant shall have tried to obtain a license from the patentee under reasonable remuneration and conditions but did not reach an agreement during a reasonable period of time in the case provided for in paragraph (B) of Article 27
of this Law.
C. The scope and duration of the license shall be limited to the purpose for which it is granted. If the license application relates to semiconductor technology, then it shall only be granted for noncommercial public good or to rectify practices deemed by the competent judicial or administrative authority to be anticompetitive.
D. The license to exploit shall not be exclusive.
E. The license shall not be assignable to third parties.
F. The license shall only be granted for meeting the demand in the local market except in cases where practices have been deemed by the competent judicial or administrative authority to be anticompetitive.
G. The patentee shall receive an equitable remuneration which takes into account the economic value of the patent.”
19)Article 29 is amended to read as follows: “The Registrar may cancel the compulsory license sua sponte or on the strength of an application from the patentee if the reasons for its grant lapsed. This license cancellation shall, however, preserve the rights of those involved in the compulsory license.”
20)Article 30 is amended to read as follows: “The provisions and procedures related to licensing of patent utilization shall be prescribed pursuant to regulations to be issued to this aim.”
21)Article 30bis is added following Article 30 to read as follows: “The Registrar's compulsory license decision shall be appealable to the Minister within 60 days of its notification.”
22)Article 34 is amended to read as follows: “Patentee’s rights shall not be affected by the exploitation of the invention in land, sea or air means of transport belonging to any of the countries that are members of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property or the World Trade Organization or that treat Iraq on a reciprocal basis, during their temporary or accidental existence in Iraq.”
23)Article 36.2bis is added following Article 36.2 to read as follows: “The application for registration of industrial designs or models shall be granted where the industrial design or model is new or original.”
24)Article 36.2ter is added following Article 36.2bis to read as follows: “The industrial design or model applied for is not considered novel if: 25)Article 36.2quater is added following Article 36.2ter to read as follows: “Application for registration of industrial designs that are dictated essentially by technical or functional considerations shall not be granted.”
26)Article 37bis is added following Article 37 to read as follows:
“1. The owner of a protected industrial design shall have the right to prevent a third party not having the owner's consent from making, selling or importing articles bearing or embodying a design which is a copy, or substantially a copy, of the protected design, when such acts are undertaken for commercial purposes.
2. The Minister may, by regulation, provide limited exceptions to the protection of industrial designs, provided that such exceptions do not unreasonably conflict with the normal exploitation of protected industrial designs and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the owner of the protected design, taking account of the legitimate interests of third parties.”
27)Article 41 is amended to read as follows: “The term of protection of industrial designs shall be ten years as from the date of issue of the certificate, provided payment of the prescribed renewal annual fees is carried out.”
28)Article 44 is amended to read as follows:
“A. The owner of a patent or industrial design registered in Iraq, upon bringing suit to prevent the infringement of rights in the patent or design, may file a complaint with the competent court, with a bond, which the court shall accept for the following provisional measures: B. 1. The patent or design owner, before bringing a claim of infringement, may, with a bond, request the court to order any of the procedures provided in paragraph (A) of this Article without notifying the defendant. The court may grant the owner’s request if the owner proves any of the following: C. The defendant may file a request, with a bond, to ask the court to discontinue the precautionary measures including the closure of the enterprise, factory, or other related businesses. This decision shall be appeal able within eight days as of the date of its notification. The decision of the Court of Appeals shall be final.
D. The defendant may seek equitable compensation for damages suffered if the court concludes that the plaintiff’s lawsuit is without merit or was not filed within the prescribed period.
E. The court may, in all cases, seek the help of experts and specialists.
F. The court may order the confiscation of the infringing products, as well as the materials and tools substantially used in the infringement of the patent. The court may order them destroyed or disposed of for noncommercial purposes.”
29)Chapter Threebis is added following Article 54 for protection of Undisclosed Information.
30)Article 1 is added as the first article in Chapter Threebis to read as follows: “Natural and legal persons shall have the possibility of preventing information lawfully within their control from being disclosed to, acquired by, or used by others without their consent in a manner contrary to honest commercial practices so long as such information:
a) is secret in the sense that it is not, as a body or in the precise configuration and assembly of its components, generally known among or readily accessible to persons within the circles that normally deal with the kind of information in question;
b) has commercial value because it is secret; and
c) has been subject to reasonable steps under the circumstances by the person lawfully in control of the information to keep it secret.”
31)Chapter Threebis, Article 2 is added to read as follows: “If the Minister requires the submission of data pertaining to secret tests, or any data which has been derived as a result of considerable efforts in order to approve the marketing of pharmaceuticals or chemical agricultural products which contain new chemical substances, then the Minister shall comply with the following:
a) Protection of such data from unclassified commercial use through prohibiting any other person who did not obtain the consent of the submitter to rely on it for marketing that other person’s pharmaceuticals and products except after the lapse of five years as of the date of obtaining the submitter of such data the approval to market those products; and
b) The protection of this data from disclosure with the exception of the following:
i) Should disclosure be necessary for the protection of the public; or
ii) Should the Minister realize the necessary precautions to guarantee unclassified commercial use of such data.”
32)Chapter Threeter is added following Chapter Threebis for protection of Integrated Circuits.
33)Chapter Threeter, Article 1 is added to read as follows: “The following words and phrases shall have the following meanings wherever mentioned in this Chapter, unless otherwise indicated: 34)Chapter Threeter, Article 2 is added to read as follows:
“A. A Register shall be established under the supervision of the Registrar and shall be entitled “Register of Integrated Circuit Designs.” In such Register, all information related to designs, rights holders, their addresses and certificates issued on their behalf shall be handwritten and registered together with the measures and legal procedures taken to include:
B. Any transfer, acquisition, assignment or licensing from rights holder to third party/parties; and
1. Any mortgage, lien, seizure, levy or any constraint in utilizing such design.
C. The public may access the Register pursuant to regulations issued by the Minister as published in the Official Gazette.
D. Computers may be used to register designs and related information. Information and documents certified by the Registrar are presumed evidence of registration, unless otherwise proven.”
35)Chapter Threeter, Article 3 is added to read as follows: “The design is registrable, if: A. The design is original in the sense that it is the result of its creator’s own intellectual effort and is not commonplace among creators of integrated circuit designs and manufacturers of integrated circuits at the time of its creation; and
PATENT, INDUSTRIAL DESIGN, UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION, INTEGRATED CIRCUITS AND PLANT VARIETY LAW
Circuits and Plant Variety Law