Patent registration in Monaco. Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera close to the Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe. Monaco has the world’s highest GDP nominal per capita at US$185,742, GDP PPP per capita at $132,571, and GNI per capita at $183,150. In addition, according to the CIA World Factbook, Monaco also has the world’s lowest poverty rate and the highest number of millionaires and billionaires per capita in the world. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Monaco.
Patent in Monaco
To be patentable in this country, an invention must meet the requirements of novelty, inventiveness, and industrial applicability.
Process patents and product patents are the two types of patents that can be protected.
The types of patent applications that can be filed in Monaco include Non-Convention Application and Convention Application.
An invention in Monaco is considered to be new when it relates to an innovation that has not already been made available to the public.
If the invention is disclosed, it will damage the chance of successful registration of the invention. Accordingly, the inventor needs to make sure that the invention remains in secret until the filing date.
However, if the disclosure of the invention in the patent application in Monaco is absolutely necessary, the applicant should enter into a non-disclosure agreement with the third parties to whom the invention would be disclosed in order to protect their rights.
If the procedures are too complicated, the applicant should consider enlisting the services of an industrial property consultant.
Contrary to the patentable, the unpatentable subjects in Monaco are:
- discoveries, scientific theories, and mathematical records;
- plant or animal varieties or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals, other than man-made living micro-organisms, microbiological processes, and the products of such microorganism processes;
- schemes, rules or methods for doing business, performing purely mental acts, or playing games;
- methods for the treatment of a human or animal body by surgery or therapy and diagnostic methods practiced on the human or animal body.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Monaco
The necessary documents for patent registration in Monaco include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s and inventor’s names, addresses, citizenships, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
Important notes during the patent registration process in Monaco
To maintain the validity of a patent in Monaco, the patentee needs to pay the annual maintenance fees to uphold the validity of the patent to a maximum period of 20 years.
If the patentee doesn’t pay the maintenance fee or the 20 years period has passed, the invention will enter into the public domain and can be used by normal civilians for all purposes.
The patentee must pay the first annuity at the time of filing the patent application. The second annuity must be paid before the anniversary date of the patent application.
There are currently no regulations on pre-grant opposition. Accordingly, the third parties may only oppose the registration of the invention after it has been granted a patent.
You can see a list of Monaco IP firms here.