Petty Patents

– Decree No. 01/PM on Patent, Petty Patent and Industrial Designs of January 17, 2002.
– Regulation No. 322/STEA-PMO of February 18, 2003 on the implementation of Decree on Patent, Petty Patent and Industrial Designs.
– Law on Intellectual Property No. 38/NA of November 15, 2017, published on May 25, 2018, in force since June 9, 2018.

Filing and Protection

Definition: a “petty patent” means a title granted to protect device whereas a “device” means a technical creation utilizing rules of nature.

Applicant: the author or the organization or person to whom the right to file has been transferred.

Right of the owner: the owner of a petty patent shall be entitled to possess the protected object and be entitled to utilize it exclusively and to transfer the ownership right or the right to utilization of the protected object to other organizations or persons.

Classification: as per the International Patent Classification, Strasbourg 1971, as last revised.

Priority: according to the Paris Convention.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Application form;
2. Power of attorney, legalized;
3. Assignment of inventor’s right, legalized;
4. Specification and abstract;
5. Formal drawings (if any);
6. Assignment of priority right, if any, legalized;
7. Certified priority document with translation;
8. Certificate of international depositary authority.

Note: from June 2023 notarization of the PoA, Deed of Assignment, Declaration of Change and other required documents is no longer required, legalization will suffice.

Examination: formal and substantive examination.

Duration – extension: ten years counted from the official filing date with two years renewal for one consecutive period.

Annuities: yearly, prior to the anniversary of the filing date.

Opposition – cancellation: same as for “Patents of Invention“.