WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE 
ORGANIZACION MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights IP/N/1/PRTII/1/Add.l 
7 August 1998 
(98-3100) 
Original: Englishl 
anglaisl 
ingles 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
NOTIFIED UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
Portugal 
Addendum 
By means of a communication from its Permanent Mission, dated 14 May 1998, Portugal has 
complemented its notification under Article 63.2 of the Agreement, as circulated in 
document IPINIlIPRTII/1 in conjunction with document IPINI 1 IPRTI 1 , by the submission of the 
Decree-law No. 15195 of 24 January 1995, concerning Industrial Property Agents, which is 
reproduced in the present document.! 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriete 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce 
PRINCIP ALES LOIS ET REGLEMENTATIONS CONSACREES A LA PROPRIETl!: 
INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIEES AU TITRE DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
Portugal 
Addendum 
Par une communication de sa Mission permanente datee du 14 mai 1998, le Portugal a 
complete sa notification au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord, distribuee sous couvert du document 
IPINIlIPRTII/1 parallelement au document IPINIlIPRT/1, en faisant parvenir le Decret-loi nO 15/95 
du 24 janvier 1995 concernant les agents de la propriete industrielle, qui est reproduit dans le present 
document.! 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio 
PRINCIP ALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA 
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD 
DEL P ARRAFO 2 DEL ARTicULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
Portugal 
Addendum 
Portugal ha completado la notificaci6n hecha de conformidad con el parrafo 2 del articulo 63 
del Acuerdo y distribuida con la signatura IPINIlIPRTII/1, junto con el documento IPIN/1/PRT/1, 
mediante una comunicaci6n de su Misi6n Permanente, de fecha 14 de mayo de 1998, en la que ha 
presentado el Decreto-Ley N° 15/95, de 24 de enero de 1995, relativo a los mandatarios en asuntos 
relacionados con la propiedad industrial, que se reproduce en el presente documento.! 
1 In English onlylEn anglais seulementlEn ing!es solamente. IPINIIIPRTII/1/Add.l 
Page 2 
Supplementary Legislation 
Ministry of Industry and Energy 
Decree-Law nr 15/95 of 24th January 1995 
The entry into force of a new Industrial Property Code requires a strengthening 
of the institutions responsible for its implementation. At the same time, in order 
that the rendering of specialised services in this field should more adequately 
meet the requirements of the foreseeable increase in demand that the new and 
more far-reaching regulations will inevitably cause, the legal framework of the 
services of official industrial property agents and authorised legal representatives 
is now changed. 
Likewise, it seemed advisable to include rules which, by clarifying certain internal 
procedures of the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property, will contribute to 
a greater understanding of its functioning and thus benefit the pUblic. 
Thus: 
In accordance with article 1, number 3, paragraphs of Law n°. 11/94 of 11th 
May 1994, and within the provisions of article 20 1, number 1, paragraphs a) and 
b) of the Portuguese Constitution, the Government decrees the following: CHAPTER I 
INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY AGENTS 
ARTICLE I 
(Official Industrial Property Agents) IP/N/IIPRTIIIIIAdd.l 
Page 3 
Official industrial property agents are those persons recognised as such by the 
Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property on the date that the Industrial 
Property Code shall enter into force and any person who shall be subsequently 
appointed as an official agent within the provisions of the present statute. 
ARTICLE 2 
(Requirements for appointment) 
1. In order to act as an official agent, the following requirements shall be met: 
a) Portuguese nationality, of age with full civil and political rights; 
b) Freedom from any ban on carrying out professional activities by a decision 
res judicata; 
c) Fulfilment of the requirements of military law, if applicable; 
d) Place of business in Portugal; 
e) Degree in the fields of engineering, law or economics studies. 
2. For the purposes of the present statute, citizens of Member States of the 
European Community shall be considered as Portuguese nationals. 
ARTICLE 3 
(Examination) 
1. Appointment of official industrial property agents shall be made by means of 
a qualifiyng examination open to any person holding any of the degrees indicated 
in number 1, paragraph e) of the preceding article. 
2. The examination papers shall be conducted in Portuguese and shall consist 
of a written paper and an oral discussion. 
3. The final 'classification shall be the average of the written and oral 
examinations. 
4. The list of candidates who have passed the examination shall be submitted for 
recognition by the competent Minister and then published in the "Diario da 
Republica" . IPINIlIPRTIIIlIAdd.l 
Page 4 
ARTICLE 4 
(Examining board) 
The examining board shall be composed of the President of the Portuguese 
Institute of Industrial Property, the directors of the Trademark and Patent 
Departments and an official agent designated jointly by existing agents. 
ARTICLE 5 
(Holding of examinations) 
1. Examinations shall be set through notices published in the "Diario da 
Republica" and two daily newspapers at least six months before their start. 
2. Applications for the enrolment for the examination shall be submitted for a 
period not less than 30 days. 
3. Candidates shall present the following documents with the application for the 
enrolment: 
a) Photocopy of identity card, to be certified upon presentation; 
b) Certificate indicating academic qualifications; 
c) Certificate of criminal record. 
ARTICLE 6 
(Formalities) 
1. After the expiration of the period for sUbmitting applications to sit the 
examination, the names of the candidates shall be published in the"Diario da 
Republica" . 
2. This notice shall indicate the date and time of the written paper. 
3. The date and time of the oral discussion shall be set by the President of the 
Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property. 
ARTICLE 7 
(Taking up of appointment) 
The candidates who have passed the examination shall take up appointment 
before the President of the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property within three 
months from the date they have passed the respective examination. ARTICLE 8 
(Deposit and guarantees) IP/N/l/PRTfI/1/ Add.1 
Page 5 
The President of the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property may make 
appointment subject to the provision of a deposit or other guarantees, the amount 
and nature of which shall be deter mined by a decree of the Minister of Industry 
and Energy. 
ARTICLE 9 
(Register of signatures) 
1. The full and abbreviated signatures of official agents and their assistants shall 
appear on a special register at the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property. 
2. No document signed by an official agent or assistant shall be accepted without 
legible indication of the respective name and office near the signature. 
ARTICLE 10 
(Assistant of an industrial property agent) 
1. An official agent may have an assistant for the fulfilment of his duties and 
shall be responsible for the actions of the assistant. 
2. The assistant shall be a Portuguese citizen or a citizen of a Member State of 
the European Community, have a good reputation and provide the Portuguese 
Institute of Industrial Property with guarantees that he will properly fulfil his 
duties. 
3. Documents signed by the assistant shall be considered, for all legal purposes, 
to have been signed by the official agent. 
4. Assistants who fulfil the requirements of article 2, number 1, paragraphs a), 
b), c), and e) may, in the event of the death or permanent impediment of the 
respective official agent, continue to sign any official documentation until 
applications for enrolment for the next examination may be submitted. 
5. The President of the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property may authorise 
the assistant to continue to sign such documentation until the result of the 
examination is known, if the assistant has applied for the position of official 
agent. 
ARTICLE 11 
(Transition from assistant of an agent or legal representative to agent) 
Assistants of official industrial property agents and authorised legal 
representatives may be appointed official agents, if they apply for the position 
within a period up to three years after the entry into force of the present statute 
and provided that the following requirements are met: IP/N/IIPRTIIIlIAdd.l 
Page 6 
a) On the date of the entry into force of the present statute, the candidate 
shall be acting as an assistant of an official agent or be authorised to take 
action and handle the prosecution of proceedings at the Portuguese Institute 
of Industrial Property; 
b) The candidate shall hold a degree in any of the subjects indicated in article 
2, number 1, paragraph e) or complete the degree within a three years period 
after the date of the entry into force of the present statute; 
c) If no such degree is held, the candidate shall have been accepted onto a 
university course and have at least a three year experience as an assistant of 
an official agent or, under authorisation, have taken action and handled the 
prosecution of proceedings at the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property; 
d) The candidate shall not be forbidden to carry out professional duties in the 
field. 
ARTICLE 12 
(Supplementary law) 
Activities of official agents that are not expressly stipulated in the present statute 
shall be governed by the provisions of civil law in respect of legal representation. 
ARTICLE 13 
(Exemption) 
1. Official agents shall be exempt from filing a power of attorney in order to act 
on behalf and in the interest of their clients and parties that they represent, 
except in the case of acts involving the withdrawal of an application for a patent, 
deposit or registration or the renunciation of industrial property rights. 
2. The competent head of department may, however, request at any time that 
official agents provide proof of their capacity as such by presenting instructions 
from clients or a notarised power of attorney. 
ARTICLE 14 
(Omission of references) 
Official agents may only indicate their name and title of office in applications and 
correspondence with the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property. 
ARTICLE 15 
(Suspension of activities) 
1. Official industrial property agents may suspend their activities provided that 
they notify the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property thereof. IP/N/IIPRT/I/lI Add.1 
Page 7 
2. Suspension of the activities of an agent shall mean that the assistant shall 
cease his activities carried out before the Portuguese Institute of Industrial 
Property. 
3. An agent who has suspended his activities may at any time make a request 
to resume activity. 
ARTICLE 16 
(Undue reference to the position of industrial property agent) 
Any person who falsely calls himself an official agent or who in any way pUblicises 
this fact shall be subject to the penalty for the crime of usurpation of functions 
stipulated in the Portuguese Penal Code. 
ARTICLE 17 
(Acts forbidden of employees) 
1. Employees of the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property shall be strictly 
forbidden to substitute official agents or other legal representatives or to 
illegitimately make contact with them, directly or indirectly, in matters falling 
within the competence of the Institute. 
2. It shall be presumed that any person providing verbal or written information 
or clarification is acting as an authorised representative, except in the case of 
employees competent to do so. 
ARTICLE 18 
(Authorised legal representatives) 
1. Individual persons who are not official industrial property agents and who, on 
the date of the entry into force of the present statute, have taken action and 
handled the prosecution of proceedings at the Portuguese Institute of Industrial 
Property during the previous three years with special authorisation, may request 
that they be appointed as authorised legal representatives. 
2. Authorised legal representatives, in their capacity as such, may take action 
and handle the prosecution of proceedings by filing a simple power of attorney 
with special powers for each file. 
ARTICLE 19 
(Penalty system) 
The penalty system in respect of the breach of the professional duties of official 
industrial property agents shall be the subject of a separate statute. IP/N/I/PRT/IIl/Add.l 
Page 8 
CHAPTER II 
PORTUGUESE INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY 
ARTICLE 20 
(Access to information) 
The Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property shall provide information 
concerning all the categories of industrial property. 
ARTICLE 21 
(Organisation of information) 
1. The Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property shall be required to have 
available information organised in such a way as to make it possible to identify 
and verify the following acts: 
a) The filing of any documents concerning the various categories of industrial 
property, in particular the date of the filing of applications; 
b) Decisions given by the Institute concerning action taken, the prosecution 
of proceedings and records endorsed on certificates; 
c) Judicial decisions affecting the various categories of industrial property 
rights; 
d) Receipt and dispatch of correspondence; 
e) Collection and possible refunding of fees and revenue from servIces 
rendered. 
2. Besides the information organised in the manner indicated in this article, 
there may be other elements of information or ways of organising these elements 
which are of recognised utility. 
ARTICLE 22 
(Keeping of records) 
1. In the basic records of the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property all 
documents shall be kept in such a way as to facilitate the consultation thereof. 
2. After the expiry of the legally established terms, the documents mentioned in 
the preceding number may be destroyed or put on record at the Portuguese 
Institute of Industrial Property using an appropriate support, allowing them to be 
reproduced in full without losing any of their content. 
ARTICLE 23 
(Guarantee of retention of documents) IPINIIIPRTIIIIIAdd.l 
Page 9 
1. Filed or pending documents shall not be removed from the Portuguese 
Institute of Industrial Property for any reason whatsoever, except in the case of 
force majeure, and any judicial or extrajudicial measures requiring the 
presentation of such documents shall be carried out at the Institute itself. 
2. The submission of a file to the court competent to rule on an appeal against 
a decision given shall also be exempt from the provisions of the preceding 
number. 
3. The submision of a file to court and the receipt thereof shall be recorded by 
the respective department when the file is submitted and received. 
ARTICLE 24 
(Filing register) 
Applications for patents, models, designs and registrations shall, at the time of 
filing, be recorded in accordance with legal procedure, indicating the number, 
date and time of receipt thereof, the name and address of the applicant and his 
legal representative, if applicable, and the relevant legal category of industrial 
property. 
ARTICLE 25 
(Fiscal duties) 
No act submitted for registration and subject to duties or taxes due to the 
Portuguese Public Treasury may be considered as being permanently registered 
without proof of the payment of duties or taxes previously due or a guarantee that 
outstanding duties and taxes shall be paid, in accordance with the stipulations 
of the respective regulations. 
ARTICLE 26 
(Return of documents) 
1. Documents whose original or certified copy is, in Portugal, permanently kept 
in any national archive or notary's office shall be returned to the interested 
parties after tl).e record is carried out. Any other documents shall be kept in the 
files on the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property, except in the cases 
stipulated in this statute. 
2. If the documents and copies filed are written or drawn up in such a way as to 
hinder the reading or examination thereof, the interested party may be required 
to file copies that may be easily read or examined. 
3. Documents issued by foreign authorities or departments shall only be 
accepted, for any purpose, after they have been legalised in accordance with the 
terms of procedural law. IP/N/l/PRTlIllIAdd.1 
Page 10 
4. Cases in which current international conventions expressly exempt the 
legalisation of documents drawn up in countries where such conventions are 
applicable shall be excepted from the stipulations of the preceding paragraph. 
ARTICLE 27 
(Checking of applications) 
1. When applications are filed, the employees responsible for the receipt of 
documents shall only verify that they are directed to the correct department and 
duly signed, what fees are due and whether all the documents mentioned in the 
applications are attached thereto. 
2. Any discrepancies detected shall be notified. 
ARTICLE 28 
(Certified copies) 
Certified copies shall be drawn up in time to be provided the day after they are 
requested. 
ARTICLE 29 
(Forms) 
Requests shall be made on the approppriate printed form whenever required by 
the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property. 
ARTICLE 30 
(Bulletin) 
A complete collection of the Bulletin shall be available at the Portuguese Institute 
of Industrial Property for consultation by the pUblic. 
ARTICLE 31 
(Entry intoforce) 
The present statute shall enter into force on 1st June 1995. IPINIlIPRTIIIIIAdd.1 
Page 11 
Seen and approved by the Council of Ministers, 10th November 1994. -Anibal 
Ant6nio Cavaco Silva -Alvaro Jose Brilhante Laborinho Lucio -Luis Femando 
Mira Amaral. 
Enacted on 28th December 1994. 
To be published. 
The President of the Republic, MARIO SOARES. 
Countersigned on 2nd January 1995. 
The Prime Minister, Anibal Ant6nio Cavaco Silva. 