SLOVENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Nataša Pipan Nahtigal, Veronika Novak and Katarina Čepon, Šelih & partnerji
Patent Attorney Representation Patent attorney representation before SIPO is required only for foreign legal and natural persons that do not have residence or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the Republic of Slovenia. Such applicant can only be represented by a patent attorney who is entered in the register of representa- tives at SIPO and shall appoint the patent attorney by means of a Power of Attorney. Such Power of Attorney is then part of the patent application. 1.3 Scope, Term and Maintenance of Patent Rights Rights Stemming From a Granted Patent The owner of the patent has the right to prevent third parties from: • making, offering, placing on the market or using a product which is the subject matter of the patent, or importing or stocking such product for these purposes; • using a process which is the subject matter of the patent or, where a third party knows or should have known that the use of the process without the con- sent of the patent holder is prohibited, offering the process for use; or • offering, placing on the market or using, or import- ing or stocking for these purposes, a product obtained directly by a process which is the subject matter of the patent. Since SIPO does not perform a substantive examina- tion of the patent, the patent is valid but “weaker” since its validity can be challenged more easily in invalidation proceedings. Standard Term of Patent Protection Since SIPO does not perform a substantive examina- tion, the patent owner must by the end of the ninth year of the patent’s validity submit a document stating that the invention meets the requirements of novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability. After that, SIPO may issue a declaratory decision that the inven- tion meets all the requirements. In such cases, the patent’s validity is 20 years from the application date.
term of ten years; however, no substantive exami- nation is carried out; ie, novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability are not assessed prior to grant. A short-term patent cannot be granted for inven- tions relating to processes, plant varieties and animal breeds. The patent application is filed with the Slovenian Intel- lectual Property Office (SIPO), which is responsible for examining and granting patents. The applicant must file the patent application together with: (i) descrip- tion of the invention; (ii) patent claims; (iii) abstract; (iv) drawings; (v) proof of payment of the official applica- tion fees; and (vi) Power of Attorney, where applicable. SIPO examines the application for any deficiencies based on the Rules on the Content of a Patent Appli- cation and the Procedure for Divisional Patents and examines whether the invention is patentable in line with the provisions of the Industrial Property Act. SIPO does not perform a substantive examination to check whether the invention is novel, has an inventive step and is industrially applicable. If certain deficiencies are found, the examiner issues an invitation to rem- edy those deficiencies. The applicant then has three months from the receipt of the invitation to remedy the deficiencies; otherwise, the application is deemed to be withdrawn. In case the official fee is not paid at the time of the application filing, this deficiency can be remedied within three months from the receipt of the invitation from SIPO. 1.2 Patent Granting Procedure Procedure for Obtaining a Patent After this preliminary examination, SIPO issues a deci- sion on the publication of the patent. The patent is published in the Official Gazette of SIPO 18 months after the patent application date, and SIPO issues a decision to grant the patent. The Cost of a Patent Application The application fee before SIPO, which includes maintenance of the patent for the first three years, is EUR110.
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