Juche

    The DPRK enables the people to defend the right of those who hold the right to invention and patent right and strictly keep the order of their use.

    Protecting the right to invention or the patent right is decided by the scope of an applicant’s claim for invention. Techniques with the right to invention are utilized by organs, enterprises and organizations and patent techniques by patent holders. No one is allowed to utilize the patent techniques without permission of patent holder.

    Protection term of patent right is 15 years from the day when its application is registered and the term can be renewed to five years at the request of a patent holder. Protection term of patent right for practical techniques is 10 years from the day when its application is registered.

    Patent holder is obliged to pay the protection fee, fixed during his invention period, from the year when the holder obtains patent right. Protection fee is calculated from the day when the patent right is registered for application.

    Organs, enterprises and organizations that obtained patent right for the invention made in preforming their duty or by using their material and technical means must make necessary repayment for the inventor.

    In case of allowing to utilize his patent technique or assigning the right after patent holder concludes contract with consumer, the contract can come into force when it is registered at invention administrative organ, and the organs, enterprises and organizations who got permission for use of the patented techniques cannot allow the 3^rd person to use the techniques without the patent holder’s permission.

    Citizen exercises patent right in the method allowing the relevant organs, enterprises and organizations to utilize his patent technique or assigning the right to them.

    The technique that got patent right in common is utilized by the common patent holders, and when they are willing to assign or give the permission to utilize their patent technique, they must make agreement with each other.

    Invention administrative organ can force the relevant organs, enterprises and organizations to utilize patent technique without patent holder’s permission when he does not utilize his patent technique without any proper reason even though three years passed from the date of getting the patent right or when his patented technique is urgently needed for social interests. In this case the situation is informed to the patent holder and the public.

    The organs, enterprises and organizations which were allowed to utilize the patented technique by the invention administrative organ without the patent holder’s permission must make due payment to the patent holder.

    The patent holder who is willing to utilize together with his patented technique the other one that is more advanced than his can make application to the invention administrative organ in case the holder of other patented technique does not give permission for its use. The administrative organ can give by force the permission for utilization if the application is recognized to be legal or permit to exchange the techniques at the request of the other holder.