WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION 
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE 
ORGANIZACION MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights IP/N/lIHUN/P/2 
10 March 1997 
(97-0949) 
Original: Englishl 
anglaisl 
ingles 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
NOTIFIED UNDER ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
Hungary 
The present document reproduces! the text of Law No. VII of 1994 Amending Industrial 
Property and Copyright Legislation, as notified by Hungary under Article 63.2 of the Agreement (see 
document IP/N I l/HUNIl/Rev .1). 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriete 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET REGLEMENTA TIONS CONSACREES A LA 
PROPRIETE INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIEES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
Hongrie 
Le present document contient le texte de la Loi no VII de 1994 modifiant la legislation sur la 
propriete industrielle et le droit d'auteur!, notifiee par la Hongrie au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord 
(voir le document IP/N/1/HUN/1/Rev.1). 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio 
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA 
PROPIEDAD INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD 
DEL pARRAFO 2 DEL ARTICULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
Hungria 
En el presente documento se reproduce! el texto de la Ley N° VII de 1994 de reforma de la 
legislacion sobre propiedad industrial y derecho de autor, notificada por Hungria en virtud de 10 
dispuesto en el parrafo 2 del articulo 63 del Acuerdo (vease el documento IP/N/1/HUN/1/Rev.1). 
!English only/anglais seulement/ingles solamente. JP INIlIHUN/P /2 
Page 2 
Law No. VII of 1994 
Amending 
Industrial Property and Copyright Legislation 1 
In order to meet the international obligations of the 
Republic of Hungary and to modernize the regulations 
relating to dim .. 1 ent forfl1s of intellectual property, the 
Parliament hereby adopts the following Law 
Chapter I 
AMENDMENTS TO INDUSTRIAL 
PROPERTY LEGISLATION 
A.~lelldJ71ents to Law No 11 of 1969 
011 the Protection of Inventions 
by Patellts 
Section / 
(1) The following plovision shall be substituted for the 
second sentence of Section 11 (I) of the Law No II of 1969 
on the Plotection of Inventions by Patents (hereinafter 
referred to as "the Patent Law") 
"The eycJusive right 0: exploitation shall include the 
making, using, importing and putting on the market of the 
subject matter of the invention within the framework of 
economic activity" 
(2) The following provision shall be substituted for 
S<~ction II (3) of the Patent Law 
"In the absence of plOof to the contrary, a product shall 
be deemed to have been obtained by the patented process, 
if the product is new or a substantial likelihood exists that 
the product was made by the patented process and the 
pa~entee has been unable, despite reasonable efforts, to 
detennine the process actually used A substantial 
likelihood that the product was made by the patented 
process exists, in particular, when the patented process is 
the only one known" 
I Adopted by the Hung:uian Parliament on iL' session of February 8. 1994 and 
published in the February 23. 1994 is .• ue of the "Hungarian Gazelle", the 
official journal of the Republic of Hungary Section 2 
The following provision shall be substituted for Section 21 
of the Patent Law: 
"21 If within four years from the date of filing of the 
patent application, UI within three years from the grant of 
the patent, whichever period expires last, the patentee has 
not worked the invention in the territory of the country to 
satisfy the domestic demand or if he has not undertaken 
serious preparations or has not granted a license for such 
purpose, a compulsory license shall be granted, on request, 
to an enterprise having domicile in the country (Section 
685(c) of the Civil Code is relevant for defining persons 
in this category), unless the patentee justifies the lack of 
working 
Section 3 
The following provision shall be substituted for Section 22 
of the Patent Law 
"22 (1) If the patented inventJon cannot be wOlked 
without infringing another patent (heleinafter referred to 
as "the dominant patent"), a compulsory license shall be 
granted, on request and to the extent necessary for the 
working of the dominant patent, to the owner of the depen­
dent patent, provided that the invention claimed in the 
dependent patent involves an important technical advance 
of considerable economic significance in relation to the 
invention claimed in the dominant patem 
(2) Where a compulsory license has been granted under 
paragraph (1) in respect of a dominant patent, the owner 
of such patent shall be entitled on reasonable terms to a 
license to work the invention claimed in the dependent 
patent according to the common provisions on compulsory 
licenses." Section 4 
(1) The following provision shall be substituted for 
Section 23(1)(a) of the Patent Law 
(Anybody applying for a compulsory license shall es­
tablish that the requirements for a compulsory license are 
complied with, further that.) 
"a) the patentee was unwilling to grant a voluntary 
license to work the patent under appropriate conditions 
and within a reasonable period of time, and". 
(2) The following provision shall be substituted for 
Section 23(2) of the Patent Law 
"(2) The scope and duration of a compulsory license 
shall be established by the court, taking into account the 
purpose of the working authorized by the compulsory 
license, a compulsory license may be granted with or 
without limitation Unless renounced or cancelled, a com­
pulsory license shall have effect until expiration of the 
duration fixed by the court or of patent protection. Com­
pulsory licenses shall be non-exclusive, they shall be 
recorded in the Patent Register" 
(3) The following sentence shall be added to Section 
23(3) of the Patent Law: 
"The remuneration shall take into adequate account the 
economic value of the compulsory license. In particular, it 
shall be commensurate with the remuneration the holder 
of the cOP1pulsory license would have paid on the basis of 
a contract to work concluded with the patentee, taking into 
account the licensing conditions applying in the technical 
field of the invention" 
(4) The following provision shall be substituted for 
Section 23(5) of the Patent Law 
"(5) If the enterprise holding a compulsory licenseceases 
to exist or if any of its organizational units is separated, the 
compulsory license shall be transferred to the successor in 
title Acompulsory license granted in respect of a dominant 
patent may only be assigned together with the dependent 
patent However. a compulsory license may not be assigned 
or transferred to any other person The holder of a compul­
sory license may not grant a license to work" 
(5) The following paragraph (7) shall be added to Sec­
tion 23 of the Patent Law 
"(7) The patentee may request modification or cancel­
lation of a compulsory license if the drcumstances on 
which it was based cease to exist and are unlikely to recur 
Modification or cancellation shall take a form that does not 
prejudice the legitimate interests of the holder of the 
compulsory license" 
Section 5 
The following second sentence shall be added to Section 
40(2) of the Patent Law' 
"Detailed formal requirements for patent applications 
shall be prescribed by special decree" IP/NI1 IHUN/P/2 
Page 3 
Section 6 
Sections 6(3)(a) and 24, the words "(a) or" in Section 
45(b), the words "fixing the amount of damages for ex­
ploitation" in Section 66(1) of the Patent Law and Sec­
tions 3(1), 6, 9 and 10 of Joint Decree No 
4/l969(XII.28 )OMFB-IM on the implementation of the 
Patent Law shall be deleted 
Amendments lO Law No IX of 1969 
on Trcu1emarks 
Section 7 
The following provision shall be substituted for the first 
sentence of Section 21(2) of the Law No. IX of 1969 on 
Trademarks (hereinafter referred to as "the Trademark 
Law"): 
"The National Office of Inventions may withdraw or 
modify its decisions on trademark matters taken on merits 
only as the result of a request for review made prior to 
transmittal to the court " 
Section 8 
The following provision shall be substituted for Section 
37(4) of the Trademark Law' 
"(4) The request shall be submitted to the National 
Office ofInventions which shall forward, it, together with 
the relevant documents, to the court within fifteen days" 
Amendments to Decree-Law No 28 of 1978 
011 the Protectioll of Industl ial Designs 
Section 9 
(1) The following provision shall be substituted for 
Section 4(1) of the Decree-Law No 28 of 1978 on the 
Protection ofIndustrial Designs (hereinafter referred to as 
"the Designs Law") 
"(1) In the event of licensing or transfer, the owner 
of design protection shall be e:Jtitled to a license fee 
or the purchase price, respectively; where the design 
is exploited, the author of an employee's design shall 
be entitled to remuneration commensurate with the 
economic result The amount of the royalty or of the 
purchase price to be paid to the owner of design 
protection, as also the amount and other conditions of 
the remuneration due to the author of the design, shall 
be governed by contract concluded with the licensee, 
the transferee or the employer" 
(2) The following provision shall be substituted for 
Section 4(3) of the Designs Law: IP INIlIHUN IP /2 
Page 4 
"(3) Disputes concerning remuneration due to the 
author of an employee's design shall be within the com­
petence of the court" 
Section 10 
(I) The following provision shall be substituted for Section 
6( 1) of the Designs Law' 
"( I) The owner of industrial design protection shall have 
the exclusive right -as laid down by legislation -to 
manufacture, put on the market and import a product 
embodying the design within the framework of economic 
activity (working) or to grant a license to work to another 
person" 
Section 11 
(I) The following provision shall be substituted for 
Section 16(4) of the Designs Law 
"(4) The request shall be submitted to the National 
Office of Inventions which shall forward it together with 
the relevant documents to the court, within fifteen days" 
(2) In Section 16(3) of the Designs Law, the words "to 
the National Office of Inventions or to the court" shall be 
deleted 
Amendments to Law No XXXVIll of 1991 
on Utility Model Protection 
Section 12 
In Section 12 of Law No XXXVIll of 1991 on Utility 
Model Protection the words "within the framework of 
economic activity" shall be substituted for the words "for 
commercial purposes" and, in Section 17(2), the words 
"the exploitation of a utility model in the interest of nation­
al defense" shall be deleted 
ChapterII 
AMENDMENTS 70 COPYRIGHT 
LEGISLATION 
Amendments to Law No J/J of 1969 on Copyright 
Section 13 
The following provision shall be substituted for Section 
1 (2) of the Law No III of 1969 on Copyright (hereinafter 
referred to as the Copyright Law) "(2) This Law shall provide protection for the activities 
related to the creative work of authors and also for the 
activities of performers, producers of sound recording, 
radio and television organizations and of those who trans­
mit their own program by wire to members of the public" 
Section 14 
The following provision shall be substituted for Section 15 
of the Copyright Law 
"(I) The economic rights shall be protected during the 
lifetime of the author and for seventy years counted from 
his death. 
(2) The seventy-year term of protection shall be calcu­
lated from the first day of the year following the author's 
death and, in case of co-authors /5(1)/, from the first day 
of the year following the death of the last of cn authors to 
die 
(3) If the identity of the author cannot be established, 
the term of protection shall be seventy years following the 
year in which the work is first made available to the public 
If, however, during this term the author presents himself, 
paragraph (2) shall apply to the calculation of the term of 
protection 
(4) The term of protection of films shall be se':enty years 
calculated from the first day of the year following their 
showing." 
Section 15 
(1) The following provision shall be substituted for 
Section 18(2) of the Copyright Law 
"(2) The public lending of copies of the work, except 
for the lending of computer programs and with the restric­
tions referred to in paragraph (3), shall be free use" 
(2) The following paragraph (3) shall be added to Sec­
tion 18 of the Copyright Law 
"(3) The public lending of copies of cinematographic 
and other audio-visual works and of works incorporated in 
sound recordings shall be deemed as free use only in case 
of public libraries operating as a budgetary organization2 " 
Section 16 
The following provision shall be substituted for Section 34 
of the Copyright Law' 
"34 (1) Under a contract for broadcasting, the author 
shall make the work available to the radio or television 
organization. The radio or television organization shall, 
for the period of time stipulated in the contracl, acquire 
the right to broadcast the work and the right to make 
2 For the purposes of this translation "budgetary organization" means any 
institution financed directly from the national budget or from that of the local 
authorities (e g state owned public libraries) sound and visual fixation thereof with his own devices 
and for its own purposes, and also the right to subtitle 
the fixation. 
(2) The additional consent of the author shaH be required 
to a fixation which enables repeated broadcast 
(3) A remuneration shall be due for each use of the 
fixation 
(4) If the use of a work created for broadcasting pur­
poses does not take place within the period of time stipu­
lated in the contract, or, in the absence of such stipulation, 
within a reasonable period of time, the author shall be 
entitled to terminate the contract forthwith and to demand 
payment of his remuneration 
(5) On behalf of writers, composers and lyricists -
except for the use of literary works intended for stage 
presentation and musical works with dramatic composi­
tion or scenes and cross-sections thereof -the Bureau for 
the Protection of Authors' Rights shall be entitled to enter 
into an agreement with the user concerning the broadcast 
of works already made available to the public and the 
authorization of their fixation as referred to in par:tgraph 
(2) and also the amount of remunerations payable for the 
uses mentioned previously 
(6) The broadcast of the work by satellite shall also be 
deemed as a broadcast, provided that it is capable of being 
directly received by members ofthe·public Abroadcast by 
satellite shall be regarded as capable of being d;rectly 
received by members of the public if program carrying 
signals are transmitted, under the control and responsibility 
of the I adio or television organization, to the satellite and 
from thl'1 e down towards the Earth uninterruptedly, with 
the intention of being leceived by members of the public 
(7) The provisions in paraglaphs (1) to (S) shall accord­
ingly apply to the transmission of one's own program by 
wire to members of the public .. 
Sectioll 17 
The following provision shall be substituted for Section 
35(2) of the Copyright Law. 
"(2) The term of protection of suC'h works shall be 
seventy calendar years following the year of first publica­
tion .. 
Section 18 
The following Chapter XI shall be substituted for the 
present Chapter XI of the Copyright Law: IP 1Nl 1 IHUN/P 12 
Page 5 
"Chapter XI 
Protection of Rights Neighbouring to Copyright 
The Protection of Performers 
49 (I) Unless otherwise provided by this Law, the 
consent of the performer shall be required 
a) to the fixation of his unfixed performance, 
b) to the reproduction of a fixation of his performance, 
if thc? original fixation itself was made without his consent, 
if the reproduction is made for purposes different from 
those for which he gave his consent or if the original 
fixation was made in accordance with the provisions of 
Section 501I.(2), and the reproduction is made for purposes 
different from those referred to in Section SOIl (2), 
c) to the broadcasting or other communication to the 
public of the performance, except where the performance 
broadcast 01 communicated is made from a fixation 
authorized for purposes of distribution or is itself already 
a broadcast performance 
(2) Participants of performers' groups shall exercise the 
rights referred to in paragraph (I) by way oftheirrepresen­
tative 
(3) Once the perfolmer has consented to the tixation of 
his performance in a cinematographic or other audio­
visual work, paragraph (\) shall have no further applica­
tion. This provision shall have no effect on the performer's 
right to obtain remuneration under Sections 50lG and SOil 
SI (1) Unless otherwise provided by this Law, a 
remuneration shall be due to the performer for the uses 
mentioned in Se.;tion 49(1) 
(2) Concerning the lemuneration tor the fixation of a 
performance for purposes of broadcasting or transmission 
to members of the public, the provisions under Section 34 
shall also apply accordingly to performers and their 
representative organizations 
SOlA (1) In the case of uses mentioned in Section 49( I) 
the moral right to have his name indicated -depending or. 
and corresponding to the nature of the use-shall be vested 
in the performer In the case of performers' group this right 
shall cover the indication of the group's name, that of its 
leader and the principal participants 
(2) The distortion of a performer's performance is al 
infringement of his moral right 
Protection of Producers of Sound Recordings 
501B (I) Unless otherwise provided by this Law, thl 
consent of the producer of sound recording shall be re 
quired 
a) to make a copy, directly or indirectly, of his SOUIl, 
recording, IP/N/I/HUN/P/2 
Page 6 
b) to the distribution of the copy of the sound recording 
to the public, including the importation of the sound 
recording into the country for such purposes. 
(2) Unless otherwise provided by this Law, a remunera­
tion shall be due to the producer of sound recording for the 
uses mentioned in paragraph (1) 
50le (I) If a sound recording published for commercial 
purposes, or a copy made of such sound recording is used 
directly for broadcasting or for any other communication 
to the public, the user shall pay an additional remuneration, 
supplementary to the remuneration paid for the use of 
copyright protected works, to which, unless otherwise 
agreed between the rightowners, the performer and the 
producer of sound recording is entitled half-and-half. 
(2) The representative organizations of performers and 
producers of sound recordings shall be entitled to agree 
amongst each other and with the users on the amount, 
collection and distribution of the remuneration. 
(3) The rightowners shall exercise their right to obtain 
remuneration by way of their representative organizations, 
and may renounce ~heir remuneration only to the extent of 
their personal share and effective from a date following its 
distribution. 
50/0 (I) In addition to the consent of the author of the 
work incoI porated in a sound recording, the consent of the 
producel of sound recording and, in the case of a sound 
recordi ng of a performance, that of the performer shall also 
be requiled to the public lending and rental of copies of a 
sound recoluing distributed to the public 
(2) A lemuneration shall be paid in return for the use 
defined under paragraph (\) of which, unless otherwise 
agreed amongst them, rightowners shall have equally 
proportioned shares Authors and performers shall enforce 
their right to obtai n remunel ation by way of their represen­
tative 01 ganizations, and may renounce their remuneration 
only to the extent of their personal share and effective from 
a date following its distribution. 
501E The right to have his name indicated on the copies 
of the sound recording shall be vested in the producer of 
the sound lecording 
Protection of Radio ana Television 
organization r 
50IF (\) Unless otherwise provided by this Law, the 
consent of the radio or t~levision organization shall be 
required 
a) to the broadcasting and communication to the public 
of its program by other radio or television organizations or 
by those who carry out transmission by wire to members 
of the public, 
b) to the fixation of its program; 
c) to the reproduction of its program following its fixa­
tion, if the fixation was made without its consent, or if the fixation was made in accordance with Section 501I (2), and 
the reproduction is made for purposes different from those 
referred to in Section 501I (2). 
(2) Unless otherwise provided by this Law, the consent 
of the television organization shall also be required to the 
communication to the public of its program in such places 
that are accessible to members of the public against pay­
ment of an entrance fee. 
(3) Unless otherwise provided by this Law, a remunera­
tion shall be due for the uses mentioned in paragraphs (1) 
and (2) 
(4) The provisions of paragraphs (I) to (3) shall accord~ 
ingly apply to the transmission of one's own program by 
wire to members of the public 
50lG (1) The consent of the author, the radio or 
television organization and that of the one who transmits 
its own program by wire to members of the public shall be 
considered as given to the simultaneous transmission by 
wire of works broadcast or transmitted by wire in a 
program to the members of the public via an organization 
other than the original one, provided that the organization 
carrying out the simultaneous transmission has paid to the 
Bureau for the Protection of AuthOls' Rights the fee es­
tablished with the approval of the minister of culture and 
education Prior to the establishment of the fee the opinion 
of the rightowners' representative organizations shall be 
requested 
(2) From the amount of fees paid in under paragraph (I) 
and remai ning after deduction of costs, fifty per cent shall 
be due to the authors and copyright owners, thirty per cent 
to the perfonners, twenty per cent to the radio or television 
organizations and to those who transmit theirown program 
by wire to members of the public 
(3) The share of fees due to authors and copyright 
owners shall be distributed by the Bureau for the Protec­
tion of Authors' Rights. based on a distribution scheme 
approved by the minister of culture and education 
(4) The shal e of fees due to pel formers shall be trans­
ferred by the Bureau for the Protection of Authors' Rights 
to their representative organization 
(5) The share of fees due to the radio or television 
organizations and to those who transmit their own program 
by wire to members of the: public shall be transferred by 
the Bureau for the Protection of Authors' Rights to their 
representative organization or. in the absence of such 
organization, shall be distributed by the same, based on a 
distribution scheme approved by the minister of culture 
and education 
(6) The rightowners shall exercise their right to obtain 
remuneration by way of their representative organizations, 
and may renounce their remuneration only to the extent of 
their personal share and effective from a date following its 
distribution 
501H In the case of uses mentioned in sections 50IF and 
50/G the right to have its name indicated shall be vested in the radio or television organization and in those who 
transmit their own program by wire to members of the 
public. 
Common Rules Regarding 
the Protection of Peliormers, Producers 
of SOllnd Recording alld Radio and Television 
Organizations 
5011 (1) The protection of rights provided for in this 
Chapter shall in no way effect the protection of 
copyright which subsists in literary, scientific and artis­
tic creations 
(2) The consent of the performer, producer of sound 
recording, radio or television organization or that of the 
one who transmits its own program by wire shall not be 
required in cases where this Law does not require the 
consent of the author to the use of copyright protected 
works ei ther 
5011 (I) With regard to the reproduction of their wo; \:, 
their ped'Olmances and their sound recordings for private 
purposes a remuneration shall be due to the authors, per­
formers and producers of works, performances and sound 
recordings lespectively, broadcast in the program of radio 
and television organizations, incorporated in the program 
of those who transmit their own program by wire tl) 
membels of the public or distributed to the public on sound 
or visual carriers 
(2) The fee mentioned in paragraph (\) shall be es­
tablished, as approved by the minister of culture and 
education, by the Bureau for the Protection of Authors' 
Rights PI ior to settling the fee the opinion of performers' 
representati ve organizations and that of the producers of 
sound I ecording shall be requested The fee shall be paid 
to the BUleau for the Protection of Authors' Rights by the 
manufactul el of blank sound and audio carrier withi n eight 
days following its distribution to the public, while in case 
of sound and video carriers manufactured abroad by the 
person being liable under the law to pay customs within 
eight days following completion of customs administra­
tion 
(3) The liability to pay the fee does not cover 
a) distJ ibution for exportation purposes, and 
b) sound and video carriers operational exclusively on 
equipments (e g. studio equipment, dictating machine) 
which, if used properly, are not suitable for reproducing 
copies of works for private purposes. 
(4) From the amount of fees paid in and remaining after 
deduction of costs, 
a) in case of sound carriers fifty per cent shall be due to 
the authors, thirty per cent to the performers, twenty per 
cent to the producers of sound recordings; 
a) in case of video carriers seventy per cent shall be due 
to the authors and copyright owners, thirty per cent to the 
performers IP IN I lIHUN/P 12 
Page 7 
(5) The share of fees due to performers and producers 
of sound recordings shall be transferred by the Bureau for 
the Protection of Authors' Rights to their representative 
organization, respectively. The share of fees due to authors 
and copyright owners shall be distributed by the Bureau 
for the Protection of Authors' Rights, based on a distribu­
tion scheme approved by the minister of culture and educa­
tion 
(6) The rightowners shall exercise their right to obtain 
remuneration by way of their representa!ive organizations, 
and may renounce their remuneration only to the extent of 
their personal share and effective from a date following its 
distribution 
501K. The rights provided for in this Chapter shall be 
protected during the following periods of time: 
a) sound recordings and performances incorporated 
therein shall be protected for fifty years calculated from 
the end of the year in which the sound recording was first 
distributed to the public or, if it was not distributed during 
this period of time, for fifty years calculated from the end 
of the year in which the sound recording was made; 
b) unfixed perfonllances shall be protected for tifty 
years calculated from the end of the year in which the 
performance was held, 
c) a broadcast program or a program of one's own 
transmitted by wire to members of the public shall be 
protected for fifty years calculated from the end of the year 
in which the broadcasting or transmission was effected" 
Section 19 
a) Sections 17(3) and (22) to (24), as also the words 
"lastingly or substantially" in Section 52(2) of the 
Copyright Law, 
b) Decree-Law No 19 of 1975 on the Protection of the 
prodncers of sound recordings; 
c) The second sentence in Section 8, Sections 14/ A, 19, 
24 and the second sentence in Section 39( I) of the Decree 
No 9/1969. (XII 29 ) MM on the implementation of Law 
No III of 1969 on Copyright 
shall be deleted 
Chapter III 
TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS 
Claiming Product Protection in Pending 
Patent Matters 
Section 20 
(1) On the basis of a patent application filed before the 
entry into force of this Law concerning the production of 
a medicine, a product produced chemically or food used 
for human or animal consumption, the applicant may claim IP/N/I/HUN/P/2 
Page 8 
the protection, with an amended priority date (Section 
43(1 )(a) of the Patent Law) subsequent to the entry into 
force of this Law, also of the product itself until the 
decision on the grant of the patent becomes final, however, 
not later than one year from the date of entry into force of 
this Law 
(2) Rights deriving from patent protection granted for 
the product under paragraph (I) may only be enforced in 
respect of working subsequent to the amended priority 
date. 
(3) Restoration of lights may not be considered in the 
event of failure to comply with the time limit laid down in 
paragraph (I) for claiming produc~ protection 
Transitional Patent Protection 
Section 21 
Under the provisions of this Law, transitional patent 
protection shall be afforded to any pharmaceutical 
product -active substance or composition -that has 
been granted patent protection abroad before the expira­
tion of one year from the date of entry into force of this 
Law, provided that the priority date of the foreign 
patent is 
a) at least twelve months earlier than the date of entry 
into force of this Law and 
b) it is not earlier than January I, 1987. 
Section 22 
(I) Pharmaceutical products marketed in the country 
prior to the date of entry into force of this Law shall be 
excluded from transitional patent protection 
(2) The exclusive right deri ving from transitional patent 
protection shall have no effect against a person who 
manufactured the pharmaceutical product in the country 
prior to the date of entry into force of this Law, provided 
tlat prior manufacture is proved by an appropriate ufticial 
document issued by the competent authorities prior to the 
date of entry into force of this Law 
t3) The right to manufacturO! a pharmaceutical product 
belonging to an enterprise under paragraph (2) shall be 
transferred to the successor in title if the enterprise ceases 
to exist or any of its organizational units is separated, 
however, it may not be assigned or transferred to any other 
person 
Section 23 
(1) Transitional patent protection shall subsist on the 
grant of such protection (Section 27), its effect shall be retroactive to the date of entry into force of this Law The 
term of protection shall expire at the same time as the 
original term of the foreign patent 
(2) The annual fees for maintenance of transitional 
patent protection, prescribed by special decree, shall be­
come due on the date of entry into force of this Law and 
in advance on the anniversaries of that date 
Section 24 
Unless otherwise provided by this Law, the provisions of 
the Patent Law, of its implementing dec.ee and of the 
decree concerning court procedure in patent matters shall 
apply mutatis mutandis with respect to the maintenance, 
scope, limitations and expiration of transitional patent 
protection, as well as the related succession in title, ex­
ploitation contracts and infringement 
Section 25 
In the case of transitional patent protection, the patent shall 
be cancelled if 
a) it did not meet the requirements of Section 21 or was 
excluded from transitional patent protection under Section 
22(1), 
b) the original foreign patent did not meet, at the date of 
priority, the requirements laid down in Sections 1 to 5 and 
Section 41(1) of the Patent Law or was excluded from 
patent protection under Section 6(3)(b) or (c) of the Patent 
Law 
Section 26 
(1) The request for grant of tran,itional patent protec­
tion, stating the number of the original foreign patent and 
the name and address of the applicant, shall be submitted 
to the National Office of Inventions within one year from 
the date of entry into force of this Law Transitional patent 
protectiorl may not be claimed after the expiration of that 
time limit 
(2) The document certifying the grant of the original 
foreign patent, the description of that patent and the Hun­
garian translation of the description in two copies in a form 
that permits printing shall be enclosed with the request 
The request shall be subject to the payment of a fee for 
administrative services prescribed by special decree 
(3) The documents specified in paragraph (2) shall be 
submitted not later than three months from the date of 
receipt of the request 
(4) Restoration of rights may not be considered in the 
event offailure to comply with the time limit for submit­
ting the request for transitional patent protection and for 
the relevant documents, respectively. Section 27 
(1) The National Office of Inventions shall decide on 
the grant of transitional patent protection following ex­
amination of the requirements prescribed under Sections 
21 and 26 
(2) The grant of the transitional patent protection 
shall be recorded in the Patent Register and published 
in the Official Gazette of the National Office of Inven­
tions. 
(3) The printed patent specification in Hungarian and 
the drawings sha11 be attached to the patent document 
issued on the grant of transitional patent protec­
tion. however. in the event of disp.)te. the text.of the 
foreign patent description sha11 be considered authen­
tic. except in cases where the scope of protection is 
narrower according to the text of the Hungarian 
description 
Section 28 
Unless otherwise provided by this Law. the provisions of 
the Patent Law. of its implementing decree and of the 
decree concerning court procedure in patent matters sha\1 
apply mutatis mutandis to the application procedure for the 
grant of transitional patent protection and the procedures 
concerning the granted protection. including court 
procedures IP IN 11 IHUN/P 12 
Page 9 
Transitional Provisions concerning 
Copyright Legislation 
29 (1) The provisions in Sections 14 and 17 shall not apply 
to works whose term of protection has already expired by 
the time this Law comes into force 
(2) Performers. producers of sound recordings. radio and 
television organization and those who transmit their own 
program by wire to members of the public sha11 not be entitled 
to the rights spedfied in this Law if twenty years already 
elapsed from the end of the year mentioned in their respect in 
Section 501K. as enacted by Section 18 of this Law. 
Chapter IV 
FINAL PROVISIONS 
Entry into Force 
Section 30 
This Law sha11 enter into force on July I. 1994. 
Authorization 
Section 31 
The Minister of Justice sha11 be authorized to establish by 
decree. in accord with the President of the National Office 
ofInventions. the detailed formalities to be complied with 
in patent applications