Any new technological advancements with an industrial application potential are eligible for patent protection. A patent attests to the owner’s sole ownership of the innovation. The first-to-file approach is used in Bulgaria to register patents. The Bulgarian Patent Office must grant a patent to protect an invention there. The title of the invention and any supporting scientific information must appear in the patent application in Bulgarian. Typically, a patent application is examined 13 months after filing. Twenty years from the application’s filing date is the patent’s expiration date.
Any foreign person or entity from countries that are parties to international treaties to which the Republic of Bulgaria is also a party, such as countries party to the Paris Convention (PC) or the World Trade Organization (WTO), etc., may file a Bulgarian patent application in addition to natural persons and legal entities based in Bulgaria.
Filing requirements in Bulgaria
The following information must be included in the Bulgarian patent application to receive a filing date:
- a request for grant of a patent containing the title of the invention for which the patent is sought, as well as identity information about the applicant in Bulgarian;
- a description of the invention, describing at least its fundamental concepts.
Novelty grace period
When the invention is disclosed within six months of when the invention application was submitted or before the priority date, and it results from any of the following:
- an obvious misuse of the invention by the applicant or the previous owner of the right to the application;
- the applicant or the previous owner of the right to application exhibiting the invention at an official or officially recognized exhibition.
If the applicant specifies that the invention will be displayed when submitting the application and in three months after that date shows documentation for this, the disclosure at an official or officially recognized exhibition should not affect the uniqueness.
Validity Term
The annual patent fees up until the decision are made to grant a patent, as well as the cost for the current patent year, must be paid at the same time as the fees for granting a patent and for publishing that fact. Bulgarian patents are valid for 20 years after the date of filing. If a Supplementary protection certificate (SPC) has been requested and approved for patents covering pharmaceutical and plant protection products; this period may be increased by a maximum of 25 years. During the duration of the awarded Bulgarian patent, maintenance costs must be paid annually to the Bulgarian Patent Office in respect of each patent year beginning on the day the Bulgarian patent application was filed. The final day of the month the prior patent year expires is the latest date by which the yearly patent fee for each succeeding patent year must be paid. More than one patent years’ worth of payment cannot be made. Within the 6-month grace period, late payments are permitted with the payment of a comparable premium.
Also, get in touch with us of Bulgaria trademark registration.