No person may claim an exclusive right in a mark unless he has validly filed an application.

Where a registered mark has been used publicly and continuously on the national territory for at least three years without having given rise to legal action that has been upheld, property in the mark shall belong to the owner of the registration without possible opposition on the grounds of prior use by another person unless it be proved that at the time of filing the applicant could not have been unaware of such other person’s mark.