- Chapter One - GENERAL PROVISIONS
- Chapter Two - PATENTABILITY OF INVENTIONS
- Chapter Three - PATENT
- Legal Protection
- Right to File an Application
- Right to a Patent
- Service Inventions
- Term of Patent
- Extent of Legal Protection
- Provisional Protection
- Contents of the Exclusive Right in an Invention
- Limitations on the Effect of a Patent
- Exhaustion of Rights
- Right of Prior Use
- Right of Subsequent Use
- Assignment of the Right of Prior Use and the Right of Subsequent Use
- Secret Patents
- Patenting Abroad
- Lapse of Patent
- Infringement of Patent Rights
- Patent Infringement Proceedings
- Burden of Proof
- Preparedness for Licensing (License of Right)
- Contractual License
- Compulsory License
- Fees for Maintaining Patent
- Chapter Four - PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE PATENT OFFICE
- Filing of Patent Application
- Contents of Patent Application
- Request for Grant of Patent
- Description of Invention
- Claims
- Abstract
- Unity
- Division of Application
- Amendments to Applications or Patents
- Withdrawal of Application
- Priority RightArt.
- Confidentiality of Application
- Examination
- Examination as to Substance
- Extension of Time Limits
- Renewal of Time Limits
- Publication of Mention of Application
- Publication of Mention of Grant of a Patent
- Other Publications
- Fees for Grant and Publication of Patents
- Chapter Five - DISPUTES
- Disputes Procedure
- Administrative Procedure
- Time Limits for Appeal
- Appeals Authority
- Proceedings Before the Disputes Department
- Review by Court
- Disputes as to the True Inventor
- Disputes Concerning the Service Nature of Inventions and UtilityModels and Remuneration for Them
- Disputes Concerning the Right to File an Application
- Disputes Concerning the Right of Prior Use and of Subsequent Use
- Disputes Concerning Infringement of Exclusive Rights
- Disputes to Ascertain the Fact of Implementation
- Disputes Concerning Remuneration for Compulsory Licenses
- Chapter Six - INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS FILED UNDER THE PATENT COOPERATION TREATY
- Chapter Six "a" - EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATIONS AND EUROPEAN PATENTS UNDER THE EUROPEAN PATENT CONVENTION
- Filing of European Patent Applications
- Equivalence of European Filing with National Filing
- Effect of the European Patent
- Authentic Text of European Patent Application or European Patent.Making Corrections in the Translation
- Maintenance fees for European patents
- Conversion into a national patent application
- Prohibition against simultaneous protection
- Revocation of the European patent
- Register of European patent applications and European patents
- Chapter Seven - UTILITY MODELS
- Chapter Eight - PATENT OFFICE
- Chapter Nine - ADMINISTRATIVE PENAL PROVISIONS
- TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
- ADDITIONAL PROVISION
- TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
PATENT LAW Promulgated in State Gazette No. 27/02.04.1993, in force as from 01.06.1993, supplemented by No. 83/01.10.1996, in force as from 01.11.1996, amended by No. 11/29.01.1998, amended by No. 81/14.09.1999, in force as from 15.12.1999, amended by No. 45/30.04.2002, amended by No. 66/09.07.2002, in force as from 09.07.2002.
Chapter One
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Subject Matter
Art. 1. (1) This Law governs relationships occurring in the process of creation, protection or use of patentable inventions and utility models.
(2) The provisions of this Law shall equally apply to foreign natural and legal persons of States party to international treaties to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party. This Law shall apply to foreign natural and legal persons of other States subject to reciprocity to be determined by the Patent Office. In the case of a bilateral treaty, the provisions laid down therein shall apply.
Inventor
Art. 2. The person who has made an invention or a utility model shall be deemed to be the inventor thereof. If the invention or the utility model was made by two or more persons, the latter shall be recognized as joint inventors.
Right of the Inventor to be Mentioned
Art. 2a. (1) The author of an invention or utility model shall have the right to be mentioned as such in the application, the patent and any publications concerning the invention or utility model. This right shall be personal and non-transferable.
(2) The Patent Office shall ex officio see to it that the inventor (joint inventors) is mentioned in the application and the patent for invention or utility model.
Representation
Art. 3. (1) The applicant, the patent owner or any person entitled under this Law to act in proceedings before the Patent Office may do so either in person or through a local industrial property representative. The Council of Ministers shall issue rules governing
the admittance of such representatives and shall lay down the
requirements that must be satisfied. Transfer of Rights
Art. 4. All rights afforded by this Law shall be transferable, unless otherwise provided.
Fees
Art. 5 (1) All acts relating to the filing of patent applications, proceedings before the Patent Office, grant, publication and maintenance of patents shall be subject to fees payable in accordance with a tariff established by the Council of Ministers. Fees for filing, examination and appeals against examination decisions shall be paid at a reduced rate according to the tariff, provided that the applicants are the inventors themselves, micro-or small enterprises under the Law on the Small and Medium-Sized
Enterprises, state schools or academic research organizations financed by the state budget. Chapter Two
PATENTABILITY OF INVENTIONS
Patentable Inventions
Art. 6. (1) Patents shall be granted for inventions in any field of technology, which are new, involve an inventive step and are susceptible of industrial application. Exceptions to Patentability
Art. 7. Patents shall not be granted for: Novelty
Art. 8. (1) An invention shall be considered to be new if it does not form part of the state of the art.
(2) The state of the art shall be held to comprise everything made available to the public by means of a written or oral description, by use, or in any other way, anywhere in the world, before the filing date or the priority date, as appropriate, of the application.
(3) The state of the art shall comprise also the content of all national, European and international patent applications designating the Republic of Bulgaria, of which the filing date or priority date, as appropriate, are prior to the date referred to in paragraph 2 and which are published in the Official Bulletin of the Patent Office after that date.
(4) Substances or compositions, comprised in the state of the art under paragraphs 2 and 3, for use in the methods referred to in Article 7, item 2, shall be considered as new, provided that their use is not comprised in the state of the art.
Inventive Step
Art. 9. An invention shall be considered to involve an inventive step if, having regard to the state of the art in accordance with Article 8(2),
at the filing date or the priority date, respectively, it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art.
Industrial Application
Art. 10. An invention shall be considered susceptible of industrial application if it can be made or used repeatedly in any branch of industry or agriculture.
Disclosure Which is not Prejudicial to Novelty
Art.11. (1) A disclosure of the invention shall not be prejudicial to novelty if it occured within six months preceding the filing date or the priority date, as appropriate, of the patent application and if it was in consequence of: (2) The disclosure referred to in paragraph 1, item 2 shall not be prejudicial to novelty, if the applicant states, when filing the application, that the invention has been so displayed and presents evidence of that within three months following the
Chapter Three
PATENT
Legal Protection
Art. 12. (1) Legal protection for an invention shall be afforded by means of a patent.
(2) A patent shall attest to the existence of a patentable invention, to its priority, to the inventor and to the exclusive right of the patent owner in the invention.
(3) A patent shall have effect with respect to third parties as from the date when a mention of the grant thereof appears in the Official Bulletin of the Patent Office.
Right to File an Application
Art. 13. (1) The right to file an application shall belong to the inventor or to his sucessor in title. Where the right to file belongs to two or more persons it shall be exercised by them jointly. The refusal of one or more such persons to participate in the filing procedure or in the patent granting procedure shall not prevent the others from
carrying out the acts set out in this Law. Right to a Patent
Art. 14. (1) The right to a patent shall belong to the person who has the right to file an application in accordance with Article 13.
(2) If two or more persons file applications for the same invention at different times, the right to the patent shall belong to the person who was first to file.
(3) If two or more persons file independently of each other
patent applications for the same invention and with the same filing date or priority date, as appropriate, the right to a patent shall belong to each of them.
Service Inventions
Art. 15. (1) An invention shall constitute a service invention if it has been made in the performance of duties under an employment relationship or other legal relationship of the inventor, unless otherwise provided by contract.
(2) An invention shall constitute a service invention III accordance with the preceding paragraph if, in making it: (3) Where an invention constitutes a service invention in relation to one or some only of several inventors or executants, as appropriate, the prOVISIOns of the preceding paragraphs and of Article 13 shall apply in respect of such inventors, their employers and commissioning persons only. The remuneration shall be paid by the employer or, where the employer is not the patent owner, by the employer and the patent owner jointly.
(6) If the remuneration referred to in the preceding paragraph is not considered equitable in view of the real profit obtained and the value of the invention, whether on a contractual basis or determined in accordance with the applicable regulations, it may be increased at the request of the inventor.
(7) The employer, the commissioning person, the inventor and the executant shall refrain from any action which infringes the rights referred to in this Article and in Article 13.
Term of Patent
Art. 16. The term of validity of a patent shall be 20 years from the date of filing of the application.
Extent of Legal Protection
Art. 17. (1) The extent of legal protection shall be determined by the claims. The description and the drawings shall be used to interpret the claims.
(2) The claims shall cover not only the elements as expressed in the claims but also their equivalents. An element shall be considered equivalent to an element expressed in the claims where: the claims, could be obtained by the equivalent element. Provisional Protection
Art. 18. (1) Provisional protection shall subsist for the period from the publication of a mention of the application up to the publication of a mention of the grant of a patent; the scope of such protection shall be defined by the claims as formulated in the application. provisional protection, provided that a patent IS granted for the invention concerned.
Contents of the Exclusive Right in an Invention
Art. 19. (1) The exclusive right in an invention shall comprise the right to use the invention, the right to prohibit other persons from using it without the consent of the owner of the patent and the right to dispose of the patent. acts:
1. making the product;
2. offering for sale, putting on the market, import included, proper use or warehousing of the product for the purpose of offering, putting on the market or use thereof.
(5) Where the subject matter of the patent is a method, the patent owner shall have the right to prohibit others from performing the following acts: Limitations on the Effect of a Patent
Art 20. The effect of a patent shall not extend to: Art. 20a. The exclusive patent right in an invention shall not extend to acts relating to a product enjoying patent protection, where that product has been put on the market in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria by the patent owner or with his consent.
Right of Prior Use
Art. 21. A person who, pnor to the filing date of the patent application, has used the invention in good faith or has made the necessary preparations for its use may continue to use the invention after such date on condition that the volume remains the same.
Right of Subsequent Use
Art. 22. A person who, after the lapse of a patent, has used the patented invention or has made the necessary preparations for such use may continue to use the invention III the same volume after
renewal of the patent under Article 26(2).
Assignment of the Right of Prior Use and the Right of Subsequent Use
Art. 23. The right of prior use and the right of subsequent use may be transferred only together with the enterprise or that part of the enterprise in which such rights have arisen and may be exercised, subject to there being no increase in the volume of such use outside the enterprise.
Secret Patents
Art. 24. (1) Secret patents shall be granted for inventions, which contain classified information representing a state secret within the meaning of Article 25 of the Law on the Protection of Classified Information.
(2) When filing a secret patent application, the applicant must declare that the invention represents a state secret. Patenting Abroad
Art. 25. (1) Applicants with a permanent address or main-office in the Republic of Bulgaria shall have the right to seek patents for their inventions abroad on the expiry of three months from the date of filing of a patent application for the same invention with the Bulgarian Patent Office, provided that no prohibition under paragraph (2) has been imposed within that period.
filing date of the application.
for the purposes of this Article, to notify the employer or
commissiorung person, as appropriate, in writing within three
months that the invention has been made.
right to be mentioned and the right to equitable remuneration,
unless otherwise provided by contract.
The amount of remuneration shall be determined on the basis of
the following elements:
investments for the creation of the invention, equipment,
materials, knowledge, experience, personnel and other
assistance.
Exhaustion of Rights