Filing an application that meets the required formalities gives the applicant a right of priority. In practice, this means that, unless and until the Office decides to refuse the application, no patent can be granted to another applicant for the same or a functionally interchangeable invention.
Proceedings before the Office are then divided into two stages – the preliminary examination and the full examination. In the first stage, the Office makes a preliminary assessment of the patent application for obvious unpatentability of its subject matter, i.e. whether it is an invention at all within the meaning of the Patent Act, whether it provisionally meets the 3 basic conditions, and whether it is an invention expressly excluded by law from patent protection.
Example:
A patent cannot be granted either for a sequence of steps designed to guarantee the diagnosis of a particular disease, or for a purely theoretical scientific theory describing the components of an active substance to be administered in treating a certain disease.
The Patent Act expressly excludes patents for diagnostic and therapeutic methods, even though at first glance they might appear to be inventions based on a technical solution. The second case does not concern inventions at all, since it is merely a theoretical model with no tangible result. However, the active substance itself, manufactured in the form of a medicine suitable for use in the human body, may indeed be patented.
If the applicant is unable to remedy or rebut the errors and defects identified by the Office, the application will be refused. Otherwise, 18 months after the priority date, the Office publishes the application in its Journal. From that point, anyone may submit observations on the patentability of the published invention to the Office, and these are then considered in the next stage – the full examination in the patent grant proceedings.
The Office is not obliged (although it is entitled) to begin the full examination itself. It is therefore advisable, once the application has been published, to file a request for full examination as well. If the Office does not start the full examination of its own accord and receives no such request within 36 months of the application being filed, the proceedings will be discontinued. During the full examination, any observations against patentability and the fulfilment of the patentability conditions themselves are examined in detail, in cooperation with the applicant. If it is found that a patent cannot be granted, the application is refused. Otherwise, the Office grants the patent to the applicant, who thereby becomes the patent holder; the Office issues a patent certificate and also announces the grant in its Journal. A patent is valid for 20 years from the date the application was filed. So-called renewal fees, set out separately in the schedule of fees, must be paid for each year the patent remains in force.
Discovered an Invention? Patent It!
“Eureka!!!” – did you shout? Has an idea that once fired your imagination, and inspired you so much that you willingly spent long hours, days, months or even years researching, testing and turning it [...]
What to Expect at the Patent Office
Have you developed a new idea, devoted your time to inventing, and is your invention capable of industrial application? If you can answer “yes” to all three questions and you are the inventor, congratulations [...]
Inventions from Slovakia
Could you imagine life without the light bulb, the fridge, the computer or the humble wheel? Although most inventions were made abroad, Slovakia too can boast of contributions that have changed the world for [...]
Patent Protection and Its Scope
In practice, patent protection for an invention means the patent holder's exclusive right to use the invention, to create a lien over the patent or to transfer the patent to another person. No one may [...]
Preliminary and Full Examination, Priority Right and Proceedings
Filing an application that meets the required formalities gives the applicant a right of priority. In practice, this means that, unless and until the Office decides to refuse the application, no patent can be [...]
Filing a Patent Application for an Invention
To start proceedings for the grant of a patent for an invention, you must first file a written application with the Office in 2 copies. The person entitled to file the application is always the [...]
Patent Application Procedure and Grant Conditions
Patent protection for inventions is administered, under industrial property legislation, by the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic (the “Office”), which grants a patent by its decision. An invention is protected by patent law [...]
Patents and Fees: Costs and Types
If you are considering expanding abroad or bringing in an external investor, you have no doubt already thought about patenting some of your technology, inventions or know-how. At this early stage, however, you are [...]
Trade Secrets as an Alternative to Patents
When dealing with business partners in the USA, England or Asia, or when taking investment from business angels or venture capital funds, you need to ask yourself whether to protect your ideas at all, [...]