Page:British and Foreign State Papers, vol. 144 (1952).djvu/401

Rh amount declared in the Customs as the value of all imports of said article in the 12 months prior to the promulgation of this Constitution, the maximum limit of said bond being $50,000.

Only one industrial introduction patent can be granted for each class of articles and those analogous to it, classified or comprised in each item of the Customs Tariff in force, the right of priority being determined by strict chronological order in the filing of the applications, which at the time of presentation shall be entered in a Register in the Ministry of Commerce, and the interested party shall be given, in addition to the corresponding certificate of entry, a duplicate of his application, the Minister certifying at the foot thereof the day, hour and minute of presentation, serial number, bond furnished, and whether or not any other application covering the same article has been presented earlier. If none has, and it is proved that the article which it is proposed to produce is not manufactured at that time in the national territory or is manufactured in an amount less than 15 per cent. of the average consumption in the last 5 years, and the applicant gives the corresponding surety bond, the Industrial Introduction Patent, valid or effective for 15 years shall be issued without further steps, by a final resolution of the Ministry of Commerce, within a week from filing of the application, the corresponding record being made, and it being published in the Official Gazette of the Republic, and in case any of the specified requisites are not met, the Minister shall deny the application and return the surety bond. Against this denial an appeal can be taken to the competent courts. after exhaustion of administrative proceedings.

Manufacturers of articles that are being produced at present in the territory of the Republic in an amount which in total is less than 15 per cent. of its consumption, who do not take advantage of the benefits referred to in the first paragraph of this transitory provision, shall each be entitled to continue producing, as an annual quota, the same amount of said article that they produced during 1939, with an increase or reduction proportional to the increase or reduction occurring in future in domestic consumption, as compared to said year.

3. When the patent has been granted, has been placed in effect, and a productive capacity in excess of 80 per cent. of domestic consumption of the articles which it covers has been