When Slovenia broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991, the Ministry of Science and Technology established a tradition for protecting industrial property. In the same year, Slovenia joined WIPO. SIPO has been a separate entity inside the Ministry of the Economy since December 2000.
Slovenia is a partner and participant in many other international organizations and conventions, including the Paris Convention, Madrid Agreement on International Trademark Registration, Hague Agreement on International Registration of Industrial Designs, and TRIPS Agreement, well as the EPO.
It’s interesting to note that Slovenia is no longer a PCT member (since 2001). Hence, it is impossible to file a PCT patent there or be one of the directly designated states. (The Slovenian PCT national phase is still open for applications submitted before December 7, 2001. Additionally, PCT applications submitted after this date may only enter Slovenia via the PCT/EP route, provided Slovenia (SI), and European Patent (EP) are designated among the designated states.
Filing requirements
File an application for a patent comprising:
- A request for the grant of a patent (application form SIPO-P1).
- A specification containing a description of the invention (to allow others to see how it works), one or more claims defining the matter for which protection is sought, and any drawings needed for the disclosure to illustrate the invention.
- An abstract (not more than 150 words) containing a summary of the matter in the specification.
- The appropriate application fee must accompany the application.
Foreign natural and legal persons having neither residence nor real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in Slovenia shall have a representative whose name has been entered in the register of patent agents.
Novelty grace period
A novelty grace period is not stipulated for patents according to Slovenian legislation.
Validity term
20 years from the filing date, provided that written evidence is submitted to the Office no later than the expiry of the ninth year from the filing date; otherwise, the term is ten years.
Also, contact for patent registration in Slovenia.