Patents

Your patent application must include:

• a patent application
• a description of the invention with at least one example of an embodiment of the claimed invention
• at least one patent claim which will define the subject matter for which protection is sought
• an annotation of the invention

If the nature of the invention so requires, the application may include drawings.

The patent application may be filed in paper form, either in person at the Office's filing office in Banská Bystrica or by mail - it is recommended to use the form (application), or to file through the Office's electronic services*.

The Authority's electronic services (Elektronické služby úradu) are available through three systems:

• Electronic Services Portal (PES of the Office) (Portál elektronických služieb (PES ÚPV SR)
• Central Portal of Public Administration (Ústredný portál verejnej správy (ÚPVS)
• Online Filing (EPTOS) (Online Filing (EPTOS)

Together with the application form you can request a search to be carried out within the priority period. Filing the application is one of the conditions for inclusion in the fast-track procedure, FAST TRACK - patenty, where, under certain circumstances, if the above conditions are met, a patent can be granted within 24 months of the filing of the patent application. If the filed documents do not have any major formal and substantive deficiencies, the Office shall, within nine months of the filing of the application, carry out a search on the subject matter of the application, deliver the search report to the applicant within that period and publish it together with the application. The filing of a request for a search within the priority period shall not be a substitute for the filing of a request for a full examination.

Conditions for the accelerated procedure:

• Filing of the request for search within the priority period (at the time of filing the application),
• the documents submitted cannot have any fundamental formal or substantive defects (if the Office has invited the applicant to remedy formal defects in the application or to comment on the identification of certain substantive defects, it is not obliged to carry out the search within the priority period),
• requesting early publication of the application (within 10 months of the filing of the application),
• requesting a full examination of the application (within 10 months of the filing of the application); and
•  the conditions for patentability of the invention (podmienky patentovateľnosti vynálezu) are fulfilled on the basis of the searches carried out.

* for electronic submissions it is possible to apply a fee discount pursuant to § 6 of Act No. 145/1995 Coll. on Administrative Fees, as amended

After filing a patent application, it is ascertained whether:

• the conditions for the grant of a filing date are fulfilled (Section 35 of the Patent Act) (§ 35 patentového zákona);
• the application contains your personal identifier.

If the formal filing requirements are not met, the Office will ask you to complete the missing parts of the application.

If the formal filing requirements are met, the Office will grant the patent application a filing date and the applicant will be entitled to priority. You will then receive an acknowledgement of the filing of the patent application together with a request to pay the application fee, which must be paid within 15 days of receipt of the request to pay.

Once the application fee has been paid, the Office will proceed with the preliminary examination of your application.

The preliminary examination will determine whether:

• the conditions for priority are fulfilled;
• the application has been filed by a person entitled to a solution;
• the application does not contain subject matter which does not appear to meet the conditions for patentability or is not considered to be an invention or subject to an exclusion from patentability;
• the application describes the invention so clearly and completely that it can be carried out by a person skilled in the art;
• the application satisfies the requirement of unity of invention;
• the application complies with the formal requirements laid down by the Ordinance (vyhláškou);
• the application contains a power of attorney if the applicant is represented.

If, in the course of the preliminary examination, formal deficiencies in the application have been identified, the Office will invite you to remedy them. If you fail to do so, your application will be discontinued or refused. *

* The filing of a patent application confers a right of priority on the applicant. After the patent application has been filed and entered in the Register of Patent Applications, the Office shall carry out a preliminary examination, the purpose of which is to exclude from further prosecution those patent applications the subject matter of which is not considered to be an invention or is subject to an exclusion from patentability (e.g. methods of treatment), or in which the invention is not described and explained so clearly and fully as to enable a person skilled in the art to carry it out.

Your patent application will be published in the Bulletin of the Office (Vestníku ÚPV SR) as soon as possible after 18 months*. After its publication, anyone can submit comments on the patentability of the subject matter of the patent application, which will be taken into account by the Office when conducting a full examination. You will be notified of any comments and will have the opportunity to comment on them.

Upon request for early publication, the patent application may also be published earlier, for example if you wish your patent to be granted within 24 months (24 mesiacov).

Once the patent has been granted, you can assert exclusive rights against any infringers of your patent and claim damages for any losses that have occurred since the date of publication of the patent application.

* From the filing date of the patent application or from the filing date of the priority application.

The Office will carry out a full examination on the basis of a fee-paying request* filed within 36 months of the filing of the patent application.

At this stage, patent examiners will look for identical or similar technical solutions in relation to your invention. Identical or similar earlier solutions are referred to as "prior art".

Next, the prior art will be examined and compared with the subject matter of your patent application and it will be determined whether the prior art is an obstacle to the recognition of the novelty of the subject matter of your patent application. The patent examiner will also evaluate whether other patentability criteria (such as inventive step and industrial applicability) are met.

If no documents are found to show that the patentability conditions are not met, a decision to grant a patent will be issued and you will then be issued with a patent deed upon payment of the relevant administrative fee. The notice of the grant of the patent will also be published in the Bulletin of the Office.

If the search shows that your invention does not meet the conditions for patentability (podmienky patentovateľnosti), you will be sent a full examination report with proper reasons and an invitation to comment.

The response to the invitation may be:

• A written response to the full examination report rebutting the grounds found
• Modification of the patent application documents on the basis of the results of the full examination (e.g. limitation of the scope of the protection sought so that it does not cover subject matter that does not meet the conditions of patentability)

If the invention does not meet the conditions of patentability even after the amendment of the documents, the Office will reject the application.

If formal defects in the application are found which prevent the grant of a patent, the Office shall invite the applicant to remedy them. If the applicant does not remedy those deficiencies within the prescribed period and does not refute the justification for the request to remedy them, the Office shall discontinue the proceedings on the patent application. The time limit set by the Office may be extended at the request of the applicant.

* na elektronické podania je možné uplatniť zľavu z poplatku v zmysle § 6 zákona NR SR č. 145/1995 Z. z. o správnych poplatkoch v znení neskorších predpisov

Your invention will be granted a patent if the Office finds, after a full examination, that the invention meets all the legal requirements for patentability and the appropriate administrative fees have been paid. Thus, an invention can only be granted patent protection if it is not excluded from protection, meets the novelty requirement, the inventive step requirement and also the industrial applicability requirement.

As the applicant, you thus become the owner of the patent. The owner of the patent has the exclusive right to exploit the invention, to grant consent to the exploitation of the invention to other persons or to transfer the patent to them or to create a pledge over the patent.

The scope of protection under a patent is determined by the patent claims. A patent is valid for 20 years from the filing of the patent application. The effects of the patent shall take effect from the date of the notification of the grant of the patent in the Gazette of the Office.

Administrative fees (správne poplatky) shall be payable for acts in the prosecution of the patent application and maintenance fees (udržiavacie poplatky) shall be payable for maintaining the validity of the patent.

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