Without prejudice to the provisions of this article and article 105 of this Law, the Minister
shall have the authority, on advice of the empowered authority or at the request of any
interested party, of declaring the patent rights of an industrial design or model exhausted, and
thus of authorizing others to import the patented product or a product manufactured directly
or indirectly by means of the patented invention of an industrial design or model (“the
product”) from another territory when that product:
1° is not available in the territory of Rwanda;
2° is available in the territory of Rwanda with unreasonably low quality standards;
3° is in a quantity that is not sufficient to meet the local demand; or
4° is at prices that the Minister deems abusive; or
5° for any other reason of public interest, including anticompetitive practices.
The decision shall be taken considering the following:
1° the product has been put in the channels of commerce in the territory from which it will
be imported by the owner of the patent of an industrial design or model or with his
consent;
2° a patent of registration of an industrial design or model claiming the product or the
process for its manufacture is in force in the territory from which the product will be
imported and is owned by the same person who owns the patent of an industrial design or
model in Rwanda or by a person under his control.
If the importer fails to fulfill the purpose that justified the Minister’s decision to consider the
patent rights of an industrial design or model exhausted, the Minister shall, ex officio, or at
the request of the owner of the patent of registration of an industrial design or model, cancel
the authorization.
If the conditions that gave rise to the Minister’s decision to consider the patent of an industrial
design or model exhausted cease to exist, the Minister may, ex officio or at the request of the
patent of an industrial design or model or trademark owner, cancel the authorization, provided
that the legitimate interests of the importer are taken into account, including but not
exclusively that the importer will retain the right to commercialize the products that remain on
stock.
Article 105: Duration of rights and renewal
Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of this article, the duration of validity of the
registration of an industrial design or model shall be fifteen (15) years from the filing date of
the registration application.
Registration may be renewed for two consecutive periods of five (5) years each, at fifth and
tenth year, in return for payment of the prescribed fee.
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