Patent registration in Slovenia. Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. Slovenia is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy; ranking very high in the Human Development Index. Measured by Gini, Slovenia has one of the lowest rates of income inequality in the world. It is a member of various international organizations, including the United Nations, the European Union, the Eurozone, the Schengen Area, the OSCE, the OECD, the Council of Europe, and NATO. 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 Slovenia.
Patent in Slovenia
According to Slovenia law, a patent in this country is a grant of a property right given by the Government to an inventor. With a patent, the inventor, or the patentee will have the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling the invention in a country, or importing the invention into a country, along with other rights to protect their best interests.
To be patentable in Slovenia, an invention must satisfy the requirement of new, inventive, and industrially applicability.
In addition, an invention that is patentable can also be an improvement on existing items or methods.
On the other hand, the subjects that are patentable in Slovenia are:
- Discoveries, laws of nature, and mathematical methods;
- Aesthetic designs;
- Systems, rules, and methods for the performance of mental labor, games or management, computer programs;
- Presentation of data and abstract ideas.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Slovenia
The necessary documents for patent registration in Slovenia include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s names, addresses, 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.
The procedure for patent registration in Slovenia
To obtain a patent in Slovenia, the applicant needs to file their patent application to the IP Office of Slovenia.
The application can be filed by the Slovenia applicants themselves or through an IP representative.
There are many ways to obtain patent protection in Slovenia.
The most common method is through the national registration in which a patent is protected for 20 years, provided that the maintenance fees are paid in full yearly.
One other requirement for maintaining the validity is that before the end of the 9th year of the patent’s validity, the patentee must submit written evidence to the Office that the patented invention meets all the substantive criteria, i.e. novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.
If the written evidence is not presented to the IP Office according to the regulations, the validity of the patent lapses irrevocably after the 10th year.
It should be noted that written evidence may also be necessary if there is a conflict with a third party about the patent.
Besides the traditional national patent, the applicant can also register a short-term patent that only lasts for a maximum of 10 years.
The short-term patent doesn’t require proof but it can’t protect processes or new plant varieties or animal breeds.
You can see a list of Slovenia IP firms here.