1. Patents

Art. 12. Patents shall not be granted for:

1. new plant varieties and animal breeds as well as biological processes for the cultivation of plants or breeding of animals;

2. methods for the treatment of diseases in the fields of medicine and veterinary science and in plant protection;

3. inventions whose exploitation would be contrary to law or public policy; this shall not apply where only the sale of a patented product or of a product obtained by means of a patented process is limited by law;

4. computer programs;

5. products obtained by nuclear transformation;

6. scientific theories and discoveries.

Art. 13. [Deleted]

Art. 14. [Deleted]

Art. 15.-

(1) The competent authority for the grant of patents and the issue of letters patent shall be the Patent Office.

(2) Grants of patents shall be entered in the Register of Patents.

Art. 16.-

(1) A patent shall confer the exclusive right to exploit the invention, for profit or for professional purposes, throughout the territory of the State.

(2) The term of a patent shall be 20 years, starting from the date on which the application was filed with the Patent Office.

(3) The scope of protection shall be determined by the claims contained in the patent specification.

(4) A patent granted for a process of manufacture shall also cover products directly obtained by means of that process.

(5) The exploitation of an invention concerning means of transport, or their parts or accessories, temporarily located on the territory of the State, or concerning articles which are in transit through the territory of the State, shall not be considered an infringement of a patent.

(6) The exploitation of an invention for national purposes, to the necessary extent and without detriment to the justified economic interests of the patentee, where it has been found indispensable to prevent or eliminate a state of emergency relating to security or public order, shall not be considered an infringement of a patent.

(7) The fortuitous preparation of a medicine in a pharmacy on a physician's prescription shall not be considered an infringement of a patent relating to phar- maceuticals.

(8) The use of an invention for scientific purposes shall not be considered an infringement of a patent.

Art. 49.-

(1) The Patent Office may, in litigation proceedings, grant authorization (a compulsory license) to exploit an invention that is the subject matter of a patent of another person, where:

1. it is necessary to prevent or eliminate a state of national emergency,

2. it has been found that the exclusive right has been abused within the meaning of Article 42, in particular where:

(a) the patentee, without justified reason, does not offer or prevent the offering of the products manufactured by means of the invention on terms meeting the social demand, or

(b) the patentee, by refusing to conclude a license contract, prevents the meeting of the social demand through the exploitation of the invention that is the subject matter of a dependent patent; in such case, the holder of the original patent may demand that an authorization be given to him for the exploitation of the invention that is the subject matter of the dependent patent (cross-license).

(2) In the case referred to in paragraph (1)1(a), the Patent Office shall decide that an application may be made for a compulsory license and shall publish the decision in Wiadomosci Urzedu Patentowego. Such license, based on an insufficient supplying of the market with the products manufactured by means of the invention, may be granted not earlier than three years from the date of granting the patent.

(3) The person exploiting the invention under a compulsory license shall be required to pay a royalty to the patentee of an amount corresponding to the market value of the license.

(4) The decision regarding the grant of a compulsory license shall specify, in particular, the scope and duration of the license, the detailed conditions for its exercise, the amount of the royalty and the manner and time limits of payment.

(5) Article 46(5) and (6) shall apply to compulsory licenses.

(6) A compulsory license may only be transferred by the licensee together with the enterprise in which it is worked.

(7) A compulsory license may not give the licensee an exclusive right to exploit the invention.