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(2) The confiscated articles shall be handed to the owner of the design, without
prejudice to damages, posting or publication of the decision.
116.—(1) The beneficiary of a registered license may, by registered mail with
acknowledgment of receipt, require the owner of the design to institute proceedings with
regard to any infringement of the design that he has notified to him.
(2) If the owner of the design refuses or fails to institute such proceedings within three
months of notification, the licensee may act in his own name where not otherwise stipulated
in the contract.
Title IV
Provisions on Trade Names and Unfair Competition
Section 1
Trade Names
117. For the purposes of this Ordinance, a trade name shall constitute the designation
under which an enterprise or commercial, industrial, handicraft or agricultural establishment
belonging to any natural or legal person is known and conducted.
118. A name or designation may not constitute a trade name if, by reason of its nature
or the use to which it may be put, it is contrary to morality or public policy and if, in
particular, it is liable to mislead trade circles or the public as to the nature of the commercial,
industrial, handicraft or agricultural establishment or the enterprise identified by that name.
119.—(1) Subject to the provisions that follow, a trade name shall belong to the person
who was first to use it or has obtained a registration for it.
(2) The use of a trade name can be proved only by written matter, printed matter or
documents that are contemporary with the use they are claimed to prove.
(3) Where a registered trade name has been used publicly and continuously on the
national territory for at least five years without having given rise to legal action that has been
upheld, property in the trade name shall belong to the owner of the registration without
possible opposition on the grounds of prior use by another person unless it be proved that at
the time of filing the applicant could not have been unaware of such other person’s trade
name.
120.—(1) It shall be unlawful to use on the national territory a trade name registered
for the same commercial, industrial, handicraft or agricultural activity as that of the owner of
the registered trade name if such use is liable to cause confusion between the enterprises
concerned or to mislead the public.
(2) However, the owner of a trade name may not prohibit others from using in good
faith their own names, addresses, pseudonyms, geographical names or precise statements
relating to the kind, quality, quantity, purpose, value, place of origin or time of production of
their goods or the furnishing of their services on condition that such use be limited to
purposes of simple identification or information and is not liable to mislead the public as to
the origin of such goods or services.
(3) A person who bears a surname or a forename that is similar to a registered trade
name shall, if his rights in the trade name used for his establishment are subsequent to those
attaching to the registered trade name, take all steps to distinguish such trade name from the
registered trade name.
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