Patents

BULGARIAN PATENTS

General Information

On June 1st, 1993 a New Patent Law came into force in Bulgaria, introducing very important changes in the Patent System. Only physical persons, included in the Official list of representatives issued by the Patent Office in connection with the protection of their patent and trademark objects in Bulgaria.
The only form of legal protection is the patent. Patents are granted for an invention, which is new, involve an inventive step and are industrial applicable.
The duration of the patent is increased up to 20 years from the date of filing of the patent application in Bulgaria. The patent applications are published 18 months after the filing, respectively after the priority date. Licence of right is introduced (upon request of the Applicant), putting the patented invention under the treatment of preparedness for licensing results in 50% reduction of the annual patent fees.
For the first time a patent for Utility model is introduced with duration of legal protection of 10 years from the filing date.