April 1, 2024
Although the EP validations are uniformly regulated by the European patent Convention, here are a few curiosities you may find useful.
In Republic of Serbia, translation of the whole patent is required, unlike in all other territories where only patent claims are translated
In Croatia, it is necessary to file an unofficial English translation of the patent description, if the EP itself is in another language
The same translation can is accepted when the EP is validated in Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro.
In Albania the standard 3 month period from publication date, can be extended to 4 months with a surcharge.
Serbia and Montenegro remain only jurisdictions where payment for the Patent Document is separate from the fees for validation and determined at a later date by the IPO.
However, from December 2022, in Serbia, obtaining a paper copy of a Patent document is no longer compulsory as there is a now a way of receiving the patent document in electronic form (including the Granting decision) at a flat fee of Euro 64.
In RS, patent annuities can be paid 3 months before the deadline and the grace period is the usual 6 months
Patent annuities can be paid 6 months before the deadline and the grace period is the usual 6 months in BA, ME & KS.
In Slovenia and Croatia, patent annuities can be paid 1 year before the deadline and the grace period is the standard 6 months.
North Macedonia and Albania have the longest grace periods for annuity payments – 9 and 8 months, respectively, doubling the official fees in the process. And the annuities can be paid at the earliest 6 and 12 months before the payment deadline.
POAs need to be simply signed (RS, BA & ME), and additionally:
In Slovenia, full name and position of the signatory at the authorizing entity must be noted
In Croatia, POA needs to be signed by the authorized person with mandatory full name, position of the signatory and place of signing
In North Macedonia – position of the signatory must be noted
In Kosovo, full name, date, and place of signing is a necessary part of the POA
In Albania – it is mandatory that POA has a company seal/stamp.
In case when the owner is a natural person, the company seal would not be required but the POA would have to be notarized.
Notarization/legalization is not required in any of the jurisdictions.
Although many filings are electronic today, and we therefore use scanned copies, it is still advisable for the local agent to have the POA on file.
