Renewal fees and grace period

To safeguard the rights of the applicant or the patent holder, payment of the renewal fee to the Registration Authority shall begin after two years have elapsed from the date of filing of the application, and shall then continue annually or periodically, within the two-month period before the expiry of validity. Delay in paying this fee is permitted for a maximum of six months, conditional upon payment of a penalty equal to twice the renewal fee; otherwise, the application shall be deemed withdrawn, or the patent shall become invalid, and the Registration Authority is obliged to publish the invalidity of the patent within forty-five days.

Note 1 — The amount of the annual or periodic installments for the invention shall be determined in the Implementing Regulation of this Act, and the future installments of inventions registered before the adoption of this Act and its Implementing Regulation shall be calculated according to the new tariffs.

Note 2 — The holder of the application or the patent may pay the fee for the five-year period in a lump sum.

Note 3 — Where early publication is effected under Article 27 of this Act, and where, for other reasons, registration of the invention takes place before two years have elapsed from the date of filing of the application, the initial registration fee must be paid in a lump sum and ahead of time.

Note 4 — The Registration Authority is obliged, one month before the due date for payment of the annual installments referred to in this Article, to inform the patent holder, in an appropriate manner, of the need to pay the renewal fee.