PATENT PROVITIONS

Definition of Patentable Invention

An invention is any intellectual conceived idea with industrial application capability, which meets the patentability terms and conditions provided by the law. An invention may refer to any product or process.

Subject matters not eligible for Invention Patent Protection

The following are not considered inventions; therefore they may not patentable:

• Discoveries that consist on making known something which already exists in nature, scientific theories and mathematical methods.
• Exclusively aesthetic creations.
• Financial or business plans, principles or methods, and those referring to purely mental or industrial activities or games.
• Presentations of information.
• Computer software.
• Therapeutic or surgical methods for human or animal treatment, including diagnostic methods.
• All kinds of living matter and naturally occurring substances.
• The juxtaposition of already-known invention or combination of products, variation in shape, dimensions or materials, except for combination or fusion which may not otherwise function or which features or functions are modified as to obtain an industrial result nonobvious to a technician with art in the field.
• Already patented products or process that are being used other than as intended for in the original patent.

Requirements for an Invention to Become Patentable

To qualify for a patent, an invention must be susceptible of industrial application, have novelty and a degree of inventiveness.

Regarding the novelty: an invention is new when it does not exist in the prior art. The prior art comprises all that has been disclosed or made accessible to the public, anywhere in the world, by means of a tangible publication, an oral disclosure, commercialization, use or by any other means, before the date of the application for the patent in the Dominican Republic or, if applicable, before the date of the foreign application which priority is claimed according to Article 135. Also comprised in the prior art is the content of a pending application, its priority date is prior to the application under examination, but only as long as such content was included in the prior application when published.

An invention has a degree of inventiveness if the invention is non obvious to an expert or person with skill in the art or results produced were not anticipated by the prior art.

To asses the prior art it will not be taken into consideration whatever was disclosed within the year preceding to the date of the application in the Dominican Republic, as long as such disclosure resulted directly or indirectly form acts by the inventor or its beneficiaries or from a breach of trust, the breach of an agreement or an illicit act against either of them.

The disclosure resulting from a publication by an industrial property office during the patent granting proceedings is not comprised in the above exception, unless the application is filed by whom had no right to the patent or that the publication was wrongfully made.

Patent Application Requirements

A. Particulars of the applicant and the inventor;

B. Spanish description of the invention with the corresponding drawings;

C. One or more claims in the Spanish language

D. Power of Attorney duly legalized by a Dominican Consul

E. Certified Copy of the Priority Document along with its Spanish translation (it must be filed within 3 months from the filing date.

F. An assignment to the applicant, if the inventor is not the applicant.

G. The number and filing office of all applications for patents or other protective titles that have been filed, or of the title or certificate which has been obtained in another country and which refers totally or partially to the same invention claimed in the application filed in the Dominican Republic.

H. Certified copy of any patent application or any other protective title filed, or foreign title or certificate obtained, which makes reference in whole or in part to the same invention claimed in the application filed in the Dominican Republic, inasmuch as they have been filed prior to the Dominican application or, the application originating the priority, if applicable.

I. Name of the Invention:

1-Short, not exceeding 10 words;

2-Referring to essentials of invention;

3-Showing kind or type of category of the invention; should be a product, you may indicate, for instance, substance, compound, apparatus, machine, etc., should be a proceeding, you may indicate, for instances, method, uses, etc.

4-Not including proper names, illusory titles, trademarks or other distinctive signs or special characteristics;

5-Use the terminology commonly employed or recognized in the corresponding technical field.

Duration

Patents are granted for a non-extendible twenty (20) year period from application filing date in the Dominican Republic.

Patent Proceeding

• Filing
• Examination of filing requirements
• Publication of the application
• Observations
• Examination of the Patentability of the invention
• Concession

Publication

Publication of the Application

Upon expiration of the eighteen-month period as of patent application filing date or whenever it called as of applicable date, the application shall be made available to the public for information purposes. The National Office of Industrial Property shall publish in its official organ, at the expense of the interested party, an announcement containing the data and elements established in the regulation.  The applicant may require that the publication be made before the completion of the indicated period.

Any interested person may present substantiated observations regarding the patentability of the invention which is the subject of the application, detailing the relevant factual and legal bases.  The filing of observations shall not suspend the processing of the application.  The observation may be filed within 60 days after the date of the publication.

The National Office of Industrial Property shall notify the applicant of the observations, and the latter shall present such comments, arguments or documents as may be appropriate, within 60 days of receipt of the observations.  The observations and his or her comments must be taken into account in the detailed examination of the application.

Examination of the Merits

The applicant must pay the fee for the examination of the merits of the patent application within a time limit of twelve months counted from the date of the appearance of the announcement of publication of the application.  If this limit should expire without the fee having been paid, the application shall by full law fall into abandonment and shall be filed away automatically.

Annual Fees

Annual fees must be paid in order to keep a patent or pending patent application in force. The Payments shall be made prior to the beginning of the corresponding yearly term. The first annual fee shall be paid before the beginning of the third year, as of the patent application date. Two or more annual fees may be paid in advance.

A grace period of six months shall be granted for the payment of an annual fee, provided the payment of a surcharge established to that effect. During such grace period, the patent or patent application, whichever the case, maintains its full force.

Failure to pay any of the annual fees pursuant to this article 28, automatically causes the expiration of the patent or the patent application, as the case may be.