1. What is a patent?
2. Who may submit a patent application?
3. What shall a patent application include?
4. What does a patent application procedure involve?
5. What is the duration of patent protection and what administrative fees apply?
6. What are the rights of a patent proprietor?
7. What are the differences between a patent and a utility model?

1. What is a patent?

A patent is a protective document giving the patent proprietor a right to exploit the invention during a certain period. It is granted for an invention that is new, involves an inventive step and is susceptible of industrial application (substances, medicines, micro-organisms as well as biotechnological processes are also patentable). It is not granted for discoveries, scientific theories, computer programs, plant or animal varieties, diagnosis of diseases, treatment methods, cloning methods and the use of human embryos.

2. Who may submit a patent application?

• An inventor or several co-inventors,
• An employer, if the invention was created within the framework of fulfilling tasks from employment or a similar relationship,
• Legal representatives or successors in title of the persons specified above.

3. What shall a patent application include?

• Applications for registration shall be submitted on the prescribed form in two copies (the form is available only in Slovak);
• application for granting a patent on a prescribed form (one copy);
• description of the technical solution (three copies);
• at least one claim for protection (three copies);
• abstract (three copies);
• drawings (if applicable) (three copies);
• identification data of the applicant or co-applicants;
• identification data of the inventor or co-inventors;
• identifier of the party to the proceedings and identifier of the representative, if the party to the proceedings appointed a representative;
• if the applicant is not the inventor, a document on acquiring the right for protection with a patent, or information that the subject matter of the application is an employee solution (company design).

Instructions on how to properly fill in the application are available in the Instruction of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic.

4. What does a patent application procedure involve?

• The application shall be submitted in person to the filing office of the Industrial Property Office in Banská Bystrica, by post to the Office’s address in Banská Bystrica or electronically (the service is available only in Slovak).
• By submitting the application, the applicant shall acquire the right of priority, i.e. a procedural advantage over anyone who later files for registration of an identical or similar patent.
• The Office shall enter the application to the application register and carries out a preliminary examination.
• After 18 months from filing, the patent application shall be published in the Office’s Official Gazette.
• Anyone shall be entitled to submit comments as to why patent protection should not be granted.
• The Office shall perform a full examination, at the request of the applicant or other person within up to 36 months from filing of the application.
• Also, the payment of the administrative fee is required.
• If the invention meets the criterion of being new, involving an inventive step and being susceptible of industrial application, the Office shall grant patent protection, otherwise the application shall be rejected (if there are formal deficiencies in the application, the office invites the applicant to remedy them within a specified deadline and unless the applicant remedies them or requests for deadline extension, the Office shall terminate the proceedings).

5. What is the duration of patent protection and what administrative fees apply?

The duration of patent protection is 20 years from filing the patent application.

The following administrative fees apply to registration and maintenance of patent protection:

More information on the fees is available at the Office's website.

6. What are the rights of a patent proprietor?

The patent proprietor shall have an exclusive right to use the invention, meaning that no one shall be authorised to use it without the proprietor’s authorisation. The proprietor is entitled to authorise other persons to use the patent. Authorisation to use a patent is granted by a license agreement. A patent may be sold or transferred to another person, both a natural person and legal entity.

7. What are the differences between a patent and a utility model?

Explanatory laws:

• Act on Patents
• Act on patent attorneys