Once an application for the registration of a patent is filed, it is examined as to form only. The Tunisian Patent Office does not carry out any examination as to novelty or merit of the invention.
A patent application is published in the Al-Muwassafat quarterly gazette published by the Institut National de la Normalisation et de la Propriete Industrielle (INNORPI), together with a summary of the contents thereof. The grant of a patent is also published. An opposition to the grant of a patent may be lodged within two months as from the date of publication of the application. There are no provisions in the law as to appealing the decisions of the Registrar.
The provisions of the Patent Law in Tunisia stipulate that a patent application should be filed before the invention has been published, or used, or has otherwise received sufficient publicity to allow it to be put into practice either in Tunisia or abroad.
