Temporary protection and effect of a European patent on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria

Temporary protection

Temporary protection for published applications for European patents, under which the Republic of Bulgaria (BG) is a specified country is provided on the basis of Art. 18 of the APRUM. The protection is granted retroactively from the publication for granting the patent, in case a European patent is issued and the same is valid on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The applicant has the right to receive fair compensation from any person who, without his permission, has committed any of the actions under Art. 19, para. 3 of the APRUM for the period from the publication of a received translation of the patent claims under a filed and published patent application until the date of publication for the grant of a European patent in the European Patent Bulletin.

Effect of a European patent on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria

• The European patent is issued by the European Patent Office. The fee for the grant of the European patent must be paid to the European Patent Office and the version of the patent claims for which the European patent is granted must be translated into the three official languages of the European Patent Office (EN, DE, FR).
• Once a notice of the grant of a European patent has been published in the European Patent Bulletin, the European patent must be validated in each of the selected countries previously mentioned within a specified period in order to maintain the protection on the territory of the country concerned and the patent law to be applicable against infringers.
• The need to take action before the Patent Office arises when the Republic of Bulgaria (BG) is selected by the holder of the issued European patent.