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Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Bulgaria

Title:Articles 45a-46b and 47 of the Law on Patents and Utility Model Registration No. 27/2 of 1993 as last amended on 20/07/2007
Field of IP:Patents
Type of flexibility:Substantive examination
Summary table:PDF

Provisions of Law

Examination as to the Availability of Classified Information

Art. 45a (1) Where the applicant is a Bulgarian citizen with a permanent address in the Republic of Bulgaria or a legal person with a principle place of business in the Republic of Bulgaria, the competent authorities referred to in Article 24(3) shall, within one month from the filing date of the application, examine it as to whether it contains classified information within the meaning of Article 25 of the Law on the Protection of Classified Information.

(2) Where the application is found to contain classified information, it shall be sent in due order to the competent authorities, and the latter shall, within three months from receipt thereof, determine the level of security classification.

(3) If, on expiry of the term referred to in paragraph (2), no information is received at the Patent Office concerning the security classification level, it shall be considered that the application is not a secret patent application.

(4) Where the application has been filed as a secret patent application and, after the examination referred to in paragraphs (1) to (3), no security classification level has been determined by the competent authorities, the Patent Office shall inform the applicant that the application contains no secret invention and shall ask for his express consent for the application to be examined in accordance with the ordinary provisions. In case no such consent is received within three months, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

Examination of the Formal Requirements

Art. 46. (1) Within one month following the examination referred to in Article 45a (1) or (3) or from the date of filing of an application by a foreign applicant, any application bearing a filing date shall be subjected to examination as to its compliance with the requirements of Article 35, paragraph (1), items 1, 2 and 3, paragraph (4), and Article 36. If deficiencies are ascertained, the applicant shall be informed thereof and shall be given a three-month time limit to correct them. If the applicant fails to respond or to make the corrections within the above time limit, a decision shall be taken to terminate the procedure.

(2) Where the patent application is not accompanied by a document certifying payment of the fees referred to in Article 35(2), the applicant shall be given three months to pay them. If the applicant fails to do so, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

(3) Where on expiration of the three-month time limit referred to in Article 35(3) it is established that no Bulgarian translation has been furnished, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn and the applicant shall be informed thereof.

(4) Where priority is claimed according to Article 44(2) or (3), examination shall be carried out on expiry of the three-month time limit referred to in Article 44(2) as to whether the requirements of Article 44, Article 35, paragraph (1), item 4 and paragraph (2) are satisfied. If discrepancies are ascertained, the applicant shall be informed thereof and shall be given one month to submit his comments. If the applicant fails to respond or his arguments are groundless, the priority claim shall not be granted and the applicant shall be informed respectively.

Preliminary Examination and Examination as to Legal Protection Admissibility

Art. 46a Within three months following the examination referred to in Article 46, an examiner from the Examination Department shall carry out preliminary examination under Articles 37, 38 and 40. If deficiencies are ascertained, the applicant shall be informed thereof and shall be given three months to eliminate them. If the applicant fails to respond within this period or fails to remove the deficiencies, a decision shall be taken to terminate the procedure.

(2) Within the term referred to in paragraph (1), examination shall be performed also for compliance with the requirements of Article 6(2) and (4) and Article 7. If deficiencies are ascertained, the examiner from the Examination Department shall inform the applicant thereof and shall give him three months to submit his comments. If the applicant fails to respond or his arguments are groundless, a decision shall be taken to refuse grant of a patent.

Request for Search and Examination

Art. 46b Until the expiration of 13 months from the filing date of the application or the priority date, as appropriate, the applicant may file a search and examination request.

(2) Along with the request referred to in paragraph (1), the applicant shall pay a search and examination fee, as well as a publication fee for the application. In case of failure to pay the fees at the time of filing the request, they may still be paid at twice the rate within one month following the filing date of the request referred to in paragraph (1).

(3) Where no request under paragraph (1) is filed with regard to the application, and/or the fees referred to in paragraph (2) are not paid, the application may be transformed into an application for utility model registration at the request of the applicant, which shall be filed prior to the expiration of 15 months from its priority date in accordance with a procedure as laid down in the Regulation referred to in Article 34(1). If no such request is filed, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn and the applicant shall be informed thereof.

(4) A patent application relating to the subject matter referred to in Article 73(5) may not be transformed into an application for utility model registration according to paragraph (3). Where a transformation request is received with respect to such application, an examiner from the Examination Department shall inform the applicant of the transformation inadmissibility and shall give him one month comments and corrections. If the applicant fails to respond or his arguments are groundless, the transformation request shall not be granted and the patent application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

Search and Examination

Art. 47 (1) In respect of each application, for which a request has been filed and the fees have been paid as referred to in Article 46b, an examiner from the Examination Department shall investigate the state of the art in accordance with Article 8 and shall draw up a search report and a written statement concerning the patentability of the invention in correspondence with Article 6(1) and Article 7a in connection with Articles 8, 9 and 10.

(2) The report, the statement referred to in paragraph (1) and the written objections referred to in Article 46d, if any, shall be sent to the applicant no later than six months upon expiration of the term referred to in Article 46d, except for the cases where as a result of the search a conflict application was found under Article 8 (3) or (4), and in such case the report and the statement shall be sent after its publication. The applicant shall dispose of three months to comment upon the statement and the objections received.

(3) Where it is determined in the statement referred to in paragraph (1) that the invention is not patentable within the meaning of Article 6(1) and Article 7a, for it does not satisfy the requirements of Article 8, 9 or 10, and the applicant fails to respond within the term referred to in paragraph (2), fails to remedy the deficiencies or his arguments are groundless, a decision shall be taken to refuse grant of a patent.

(4) Where the examiner from the Examination Department reveals that the invention applied for is patentable, but the specification and/or the patent claims do not comply with the requirements of Article 37(1) and/or Article 38, he shall invite the applicant to rectify them within a three-month time limit. If the applicant fails to make the necessary corrections within the prescribed time limit, or fails to reply or files a groundless objection, the examiner shall take a decision to terminate the proceedings in the application.

(5) Where, following the examination and the correspondence with the applicant, it is revealed that the invention is patentable and the requirements of Article 37(1) and Article 38 are satisfied, the examiner from the Examination Department shall invite the applicant in writing to pay the fees referred to in Article 33(4) and Article 53.

(6) The examiner from the Examination Department shall take a decision to grant a patent, provided that the fees referred to in paragraph (5) are paid. If the applicant fails to pay the fees, the application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

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