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TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS First. (1) Inventions concerning chemical and pharmaceutical products shall not be patentable before October 7, 1992. (2) Until that date, none of the Articles contained in the present Law dealing with the patentability of inventions of chemical and pharmaceutical products nor other Regulations indissolubly linked to their patentability shall be in force. (3) The provisions of the preceding paragraphs shall not affect inventions of processes or apparatus for obtaining chemical or pharmaceutical products nor processes for the utilization of chemical processes, all of which may be patented in accordance with the provisions of the present Law as soon as it enters into force. (4) Inventions of products obtained by microbiological processes, as referred to in Article 5(2) of the present Law, shall not be patentable until October 7, 1992. Second. As from October 7, 1992, owners of patents applied for before January 1, 1986, may make use of the provisions of Article 61(2), above, unless action for infringement of the patent has been brought against the owner of a patent for a process granted before that latter date. Third. The provisions contained in Chapter II of Title XIII shall enter into force as from October 7, 1992. Fourth. (1) The Government shall specify by Royal Decree the dates on which the provisions concerning the report on the state of the art contained in Chapter II of Title V shall be applicable to patent applications. (2) The Government shall be responsible for establishing the schedule for application of the Regulations concerning the report on the state of the art in the technical sectors corresponding to the International Patent Classification established by the Strasbourg Convention of December 19, 1954, taking into account the capacity of the Registry of Industrial Property for action. (3) Application of the Regulations concerning the report on the state of the art may only be decreed for patent applications filed as from the day following the expiration of a period of three years from the date of promulgation of the present Law. Application shall in any case be decreed before the expiration of a period of four years from the date of promulgation of the present Law. (4) From the day following the expiration of a period of five years from the date of promulgation of the present Law, all patent applications, no matter to what technical sector they belong, shall be dealt with under the general procedure for granting patents provided for in the present Law. (5) Patent applications filed after the entry into force of the present Law and to which the Regulations governing the report on the state of the art do not apply shall be dealt with under the procedure for granting patents provided for in the present Law, with the exception of all the provisions referring to the said report. Fifth. Following the introduction of the report on the state of the art for all patent applications referred to in Transitional Provision Four, the Government, taking into account priorities fixed for the State's technological and industrial development, may by Royal Decree establish progressively those technical sectors in which patent applications shall be subject to the procedure with prior examination laid down in Chapter III of Title V of the present Law, provided that, for at least six months, the Regulations on the report on the state of the art have been applied. Sixth. (1) Applications for patents and utility models filed before the entry into force of the present Law shall be dealt with and resolved according to the legal regulations in force on the date they were filed. (2) For the purpose of the preceding paragraph, in the case of applications following division, change of form or transformation of an application, the date of filing of the original application shall prevail. Seventh. Patents and utility models granted in accordance with the provisions of the Industrial Property Code shall be governed by the provisions of the said Code. The provisions contained in the following Titles and Chapters of the present Law shall, however, apply: (a) Title VI on effects of patents and patent applications, with the exception of Articles 49, 59, 60(2) and 61(2), in accordance with the provisions of the Second Transitional Provision; (b) Title VII on actions for infringement of patent rights; (c) Title VIII on patent applications and patents as objects of property rights; (d) Title IX on the obligation to work and compulsory licenses; (e) Title XI on invalidation and forfeiture of patents, with the exception of Article 112(1); (f) Title XIII on jurisdiction and procedural regulations. Eighth. Legal action commenced before the entry into force of the present Law shall be continued under the same procedure under which it was initiated. Ninth. Until the Higher Courts of Justice are constituted and operative, competence for hearing civil cases related to rights conferred under the present Law shall belong to the judges of first instance in the cities where territorial courts have their seats. Tenth. (1) In order to bring actions for the purpose of giving effect to exclusive rights under a patent applied for after entry into force of the present Law, it shall be necessary first to obtain or request the report on the state of the art, provided that the said report has been implemented for the technical sector to which the patent belongs, in conformity with the provisions of the Fourth Transitional Provision. (2) For the purpose referred to in the preceding paragraph, at the request of the owner of the patent and subject to payment of the relevant fee, the Registry of Industrial Property shall undertake to draw up the report on the state of the art concerning the subject matter of the patent granted, under the terms of Article 34 of the present Law. After it has been drawn up, the report shall be communicated to the applicant and made available to the public together with the patent documentation. (3) Where the action mentioned in paragraph (1), above, is brought without first having obtained the report requested, the defendant may ask for suspension of the period for contestation until the said report is produced or it is proved that six months have elapsed since the request was made without the Registry of Industrial Property having issued it. (4) After the report on the state of the art has been requested and although it has not yet been obtained, proceedings to substantiate the facts may commence, as well as the adoption of preventive measures, provided that those measures do not consist of immobilization or cessation of the defendant's industrial or commercial activity related to the subject matter of the patent and that the procedure is in conformity with the provisions of the present Law. Eleventh. (1) Assistant industrial property attorneys, as referred to in Article 284 of the Industrial Property Code, who at the time of entry into force of the present Law have completed five years in this capacity may be registered in the Special Register of Industrial Property Attorneys with equal rights to those who possess one of the official titles referred to in Article 157(c) of the present Law. (2) Assistants and deputies registered with the Registry of Industrial Property, under the terms of the Article cited in paragraph (1), above, may continue to act on behalf of attorneys as long as the latter have not revoked the corresponding authorization and registration with the Registry. (3) Those who, at the time of entry into force of the present Law, are registered as candidate attorneys and who cannot be appointed industrial property attorneys because there is no vacancy in accordance with the provisions of Articles 277 and 287 of the Industrial Property Code, shall be designated industrial property attorneys at the entry into force of the present Law without the need to fulfill the requirement laid down in Article 157(c) of the present Law. Twelfth. Enterprises which, at the time of entry into force of the present Law, are entered in the Special Register of Enterprises referred to in Article 296 of the Industrial Property Code may avail themselves once only, with respect to their present partners, of the right recognized in Article 297(1); thereafter, the general regulations for entering and retiring from the profession in the special register mentioned shall apply.

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