WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION  
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE  
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
13 April 2004 
 (04-1632) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English/ 
 anglais/  inglés 
 
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 
LAWS AND REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER 
ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
 
SLOVAK REPUBLIC 
 
 The present document reproduces the text
1 of Act No. 402/2002 Coll. Amending Act 
No. 435/2001 Coll. on Patents, Supplementary Protection Certificates and on Amendment of Some Acts as Amended (The Patent Act), notified by the Slovak Re public under Article 63.2 of the 
Agreement by means of a communication from its Delegation dated 19 November 2002.   
 
 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriété 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce  
 
 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES À LA 
PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
 
RÉPUBLIQUE SLOVAQUE 
 
 Le présent document contient le texte1 de la Loi n° 402/2002 Rec. portant modification de la 
Loi n° 435/2001 Rec. sur les brevets, les certificat s de protection complémentaires et la modification 
de certaines lois telles qu'elles ont été modifiées (Loi sur les brevets), notifié par la République 
slovaque au titre de l'article 63:2 de l'Accord da ns une communication de sa délégation datée du 
19 novembre 2002.    
 
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 PÁRRAFO 2 DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
 
REPÚBLICA ESLOVACA 
 
 En el presente documento se reproduce el texto
1 de la Ley Nº 402/2002 (recopilación) de 
enmienda de la Ley Nº 435/2001 (recopilación) re lativa a patentes, certificados de protección 
complementaria, y modificación de otras leyes (en su forma enmendada), que la República Eslovaca ha notificado en virtud del párrafo 2 del artícul o 63 del Acuerdo mediante una comunicación de su 
delegación de fecha 19 de noviembre de 2002. 
                                                     
 
 1 In English only./En anglais seulement./En inglés solamente. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 2  
 
Act No. 402/2002 Coll. Amending 
Act No. 435/2001 Co ll. on Patents,  
Supplementary Protection Certificates  
and on Amendment of So me Acts as Amended 
 (The Patent Act)  
 
 
The National Council of the Slovak Republic has adopted the following Act: 
 
Title I 
 
PART ONE 
BASIC PROVISIONS 
 
Article 1 
Subject-matter of regulation 
 
       This Act shall govern the relations ar ising in relation to crea tion, legal protection and 
utilisation of inventions, which are the subject-matter of  a patent applicatio n or granted patent 
or are the subject-matter of suppl ementary protection certificates. 
 
Article 2 
Scope of the Act 
 
This Act shall apply to 
a) patent application (hereinafter  referred to as “application”),  European patent application 
in accordance with Article 3(e), international application in accordance with Article 3(g), 
and to application for granting supplementary protection certificates in accordance with 
Article 74, 
b) patent, European patent in accordance with Article 3(f) and supplementary protection 
certificate in accordance with Articles 69 and 71, 
c) rights and obligations of an inventors, appli cants (hereinafter referred to as ”applicant”) 
and to owners of the patent, applicants of th e European Patent application and to owners 
of the European patent, appli cants of the International application, applicants on granting 
the supplementary protection cert ificate and to its owners,   
d) the legal status of the third party  which is  a holder of other righ ts or obligations in 
relation to application, European patent applic ation, International  applications, patents, 
European patents or to supplem entary protection certificates,  
e) proceedings on subject-matters of the ri ght pursuant to points (a) to (d). 
 
   
 
  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
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Article 3 
Definition of terms 
 
For the purpose of this Act 
a) biological material shall mean any material containing genetic information capable of 
reproducing itself or being reprodu ced in a biological system, 
b) microbiological process shall be any proc ess using microbiological material or 
performed upon or resulting in microbiological material, 
c) essentially biological process for the production  of plants and animals shall be a process 
consisting exclusively of natural phenome na, such as breedin g or selection, 
d) reproduction shall be generative  or vegetative reproduction, 
e) European patent application shall be an app lication for a European patent filed pursuant 
to the Convention on the grant of European patents signed at Muni ch on 5 October 1973 
(hereinafter referred to as “E uropean Patent Convention“), 
f) European patent shall be a patent granted by the European Patent Office pursuant to the 
European Patent Convention, 
g) international application shall be an application filed pursuan t to the Patent Co-operation 
Treaty, 1) 
h) commercial exploitation of  a patent or an invention shall be any activity related to a 
patent as subject-matter of a right or rela ted to an invention as s ubject-matter of a patent, 
performed by the owner or any other author ised person with the purpose of making 
profit. 
 
 
PART TWO 
PATENTS FOR INVENTIONS 
 
Article 4 
 
The Industrial Property Office of the Slova k Republic (hereinafter referred to as 
”Office”) shall grant patents for inventions, whic h meet the conditions, stipulated by this Act. 
 
Article 5 
Patentability of inventions 
 
(1)  Patents shall be granted for inventions in all fields of technology, which are new, 
involve inventive activity and are susceptible of industrial application. 
(2)  Patents pursuant to paragraph 1 shall also  be granted for biotec hnological inventions 
which concern a product consisting of or cont aining biological material, or a process by 
means of which the biological material is pr oduced, processed or used, including the case 
when 
a) biological material which is isolated from  its natural environment or is produced by 
means of a technical process, already occurred in nature, 
                                                      
1)    Communication of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs No 296/1991 Coll. on Deposition of the 
Document on Accession of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic to the Patent Co-operation Treaty agreed 
in Washington on 17 June 1970 as amended. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 4  
 
b) invention concerns a plant or an  animal, if the technical feasibility of the invention is not 
confined to a particular plant or animal variety, 2) 
c) invention concerns a microbiol ogical or other tec hnical process or a product obtained by 
means of such process, 
d) invention concerns an elem ent isolated from the huma n body or otherwise produced by 
means of a technical process, including th e sequence or partial sequence of a gene, 
including the case when the structure of such an  element is identical to the structure of a 
naturally existing element. 
(3) The following, in particular, shall not be  regarded as inventions within the meaning 
of paragraph 1: 
a) discoveries, scientific theo ries and mathematical methods, 
b) aesthetic creations, c) schemes, rules and methods for performi ng mental acts, playing games or doing 
business, 
d) computer programs, 
e) presentation of information. 
(4) Subject-matters or activit ies stated in paragraph 3 shall be excluded from the 
patentability only to the extent to which a pate nt application relates to these subject-matters 
or activities as such. 
 
Article 6 
Exceptions to patentability 
 
(1) The following shall not be patentable 
a) plant and animal varieties, 
b) essentially biological processes for th e production  plants or animals, 
c) methods of surgical or therap eutic treatment of the human or animal body and diagnostic 
methods and methods of illness prevention practised on the human or animal body. This provision shall not apply to products, in partic ular substances or compositions for use in 
any of the above-mentioned methods of treat ment, diagnostics, or illness prevention, 
d) inventions which concern the human body in  various stages of its formation or 
development or concern the simple discove ry of some elements of the human body, 
including the sequence or partial sequence of a gene, with an exception pursuant to 
Article 5(2)(d), 
e) inventions whose commercial e xploitation would be in contra diction with public order or 
morality. The sole fact that the exploitation of  an invention is prohi bited by law shall not 
be considered to result in a contradiction w ith public order or morality pursuant to this 
provision.  
(2) Pursuant to paragraph 1(e) the following,  in particular, shall not be considered 
patentable 
a) processes for cloning human beings, 
b) processes for modifying the germ line genetic identity of human beings, 
                                                      
2)   Act No 132/1989 Coll. on Protection of Rights to New Plant and Animal Variety as amended by the Act of 
the National Council of the Slovak Republic No 22/1996 Coll.  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 5 
 
 
c) the use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes, 
d) processes for modifying the genetic identity  of animals which are likely to cause 
suffering to the animals while not having substantial medical benefit for people or animals, or for animals which result from such processes. 
 
Article 7 
Novelty 
 
(1)  An invention shall be consider ed to be new if it does not fo rm part of the state of the 
art. 
(2)  The state of the art shall be  held to comprise everything  made available to the public 
by any means of disclosure before the day from  which the applicant enjoys priority right 
referred to in Article 36. 
(3)  The contents of patent app lications and utility model appl ications filed in the Slovak 
Republic with an earlier priority right shall also be considered as the state of the art, if they 
are published in the Official J ournal of the Industrial Property  Office of the Slovak Republic 
(hereinafter referred to as “Journal”) on the day from which the applicant enjoys the priority 
right or after this day. This shall also apply to  international applications with the designation 
for the Slovak Republic where a publication in the Journal in accordance  with Article 41 is 
considered to be the publication of international application and to European patent applications with the designation for the Sl ovak Republic where an announcement in the 
Journal as defined in Article 60(2) is consider ed to be the publication of European patent 
application. Patent applications the subject-matter of which has been made confidential pursuant to Article 59(10) shall be for the pur pose of this provision considered published 
after the expiry of 18 months from the day of the rise of  priority right. 
(4)  Such disclosure of the invention shall not be considered as the state of the art 
provided that such disclosure o ccurred no earlier than six mont hs preceding the filing of the 
patent application and which direct ly or indirectly follows from 
a) an evident abuse in relation to the applicant or his legal predecessor, 
b) the fact that the applicant or his legal pr edecessor has displayed the invention at an 
official or officially rec ognised exhibition pursuant to the international convention. 
3) In 
such a case when filing the pate nt application the applicant shall be obliged to state that 
the invention has been so displayed and wi thin four months of filing the patent 
application file a certificate on the disp laying of the inventi on pursuant to the 
international convention. 3) 
(5)  the paragraphs 1 to 3 shall not exclude the patentability of any substance, or 
composition 
a) comprised in the state of the art, for use in   methods referred to in the provision of 
Article  6(1)(c), provided that such use is not comprised in the state of the art, 
b) referred in point (a) for any sp ecific use in the methods refe rred to in the provision of 
Article 6(1)(c), provided that su ch specific use is not comprise d in the state of the art.  
 
 
 
 
                                                      
3)  Convention on International Exhibitions signed in Paris on 22 November 1928 (Collection of acts and 
regulations of the Czechoslovak State No 46/1932), last revised in Paris on 30 November 1972.  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 6  
 
Article 8 
Inventive activity 
 
(1)  An invention shall be considered as a result of an inventive activity if for a person 
skilled in the art it is not obvious from the state of the art. 
(2)  The contents of applications, European  patent applications and utility model 
applications which have not b een published as defined in Ar ticle 41 or Article 60(2) by the 
day from which the applicant enjoys the prior ity right shall not be considered in deciding 
whether there has been an inventive activity. 
 
Article 9 
Industrial application 
 
An invention shall be consider ed as susceptib le of industrial appli cation if its subject-
matter can be made or used in any kind of i ndustry, mainly in an industrial branch and 
agriculture.   
 
Inventor 
 
Article 10 
 
(1)  The right to a patent including the right to fi le an application (her einafter referred to 
as “ right to a patent”) shall bel ong to the inventor of an inven tion (hereinafter referred to as 
“inventor”). 
(2)  Inventor is the person who has created the invention with his own creative work. 
(3)  Co-inventors of an invention (hereinafter referred to as “co-inventors”) have a right 
to the patent to the extent to which they partic ipated in creating an invention. If co-inventors 
do not agree or unless a court decides otherwise, the shar e of co-inventors in creating the 
invention shall be c onsidered equal.  
(4)  If an invention has been created by several persons independently from each other, 
the right to the patent shall be long to the person with an earl ier priority righ t in accordance 
with Article 36. This shall only apply in cas e the patent application has been published 
pursuant to Article 41 or Article 60(2). 
 
Article 11 
 
(1)  If the inventor has creat ed the invention while fulf illing tasks following from 
employment, similar relationship or from membersh ip relation the right to a patent shall pass 
to the employer, unless the parties to this rela tionship agreed otherwis e. The right of being 
the inventor shall remain unaffected.  
(2)  The inventor who has created the inventi on pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be obliged 
to inform the employer about this fact without delay in writing and at the same time shall 
submit any materials necessary for the assessment of the invention.   
(3)  The employer shall exercise the right to the patent vis-à-vis the inventor in writing, 
within a time limit of three months from  notification pursuant to paragraph 2. 
(4)   If the employer does not exercise the right to the patent in writing within the time 
limit stipulated pursuant to paragraph 3, this  right shall pass back to the inventor. The  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 7 
 
 
employer as well as the inventor shall be ob liged to preserve confidentiality about the 
invention vis-à-vis third parties. 
(5)   The inventor, against whom the right to the patent pursuant to paragraph 3 has been 
exercised, shall be entitled to an appropriate remuneration from the employer.   The technical 
and economic importance of the invention and th e benefit achieved throug h its exploitation or 
other application shall be deci sive for determining the amount of remuneration, while the 
material share of the employer in  creating the invention, as well as the scope and contents of 
work tasks of the inventor shall be taken into  consideration. If the remuneration agreed or 
determined by the court is clearly dispropor tionate to the benefit achieved by a later 
exploitation or other application of the invention, the inventor shall be entitled to an additional settlement.  
(6)   If no agreement on the amount of the rem uneration is reached between the inventor 
and the employer and for reasons caused by th e employer the benefit achieved through the 
exploitation or other applica tion of the invention is not proportionate to the technical and 
economic importance of the invention or the inven tion is not used or otherwise applied at all, 
the benefit achievable through potential exploitati on or other application of the invention with 
regard to objective economic circumstances prev ailing during at least 3 years, starting with 
the calendar year following the year of the proper exercise of the right to the patent pursuant 
to paragraph 3 shall be decisive for the exer cise of the right to a remuneration and for 
determining the amount of remune ration pursuant to paragraph 5. 
(7)   Rights and obligations following from provi sions of paragraphs 1 to 6 shall remain 
unaffected after the legal relationship between  the inventor and the employer has ceased. 
 
Article 12 
 
(1)   The right to the patent shall also belong to  legal successors in title of persons listed 
in Article 10(1) and (3 ) or in Article 11(1). 
(2)  The right to the patent shall be transferre d to another person in cases stipulated by 
special regulations. 4) 
(3)  An agreement on the assignment of the right to the patent shall be made in writing, 
otherwise it is invalid. 
(4)  Together with the assignment or the transfer of the right to the patent, which occurred 
after the filing of the pa tent application, there is simultane ously a transfer or assignment of 
the rights to the patent application. Transfer or assignment of the rights to the patent 
application however shall become  effective vis-à-vis third parties as from its entry to the 
patent applications register referred to in Article 57. This shall not  apply vis-à-vis third 
parties that knew or according to the circumst ances should have known on such transfer or 
assignment.   
 
     
 
                                                      
4)  For example Articles 69, 479 and 487 of the Commercial Code, Articles 460 and 469 of the Civil Code, 
Articles 12 to 17 of the Act No 111/1990 Coll. on State Enterprise as amended. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 8  
 
Article 13 
Scope of protection 
 
(1)  The scope of protection following from the pa tent shall be determined by the contents 
of the patent claims. The description and draw ings shall be used fo r interpretation of the 
patent claims. 
(2)  The scope of protection follo wing from the patent applicat ion shall be determined in 
a preliminary way by the contents of the patent  claims published pursuant to Article 41. 
However, the granted patent or the patent pa rtially revoked shall retroactively modify the 
scope of this preliminary protec tion; this does not apply if wi der protection follows from the 
granted patent than from the published patent application.  
(3)  Protection following from a patent granted fo r a process shall also apply  to a product 
directly obtained th rough that process. 
(4)  Protection following from a patent granted for biological material with specific 
characteristics, which are result of invention sh all also apply to any ot her biological material 
derived from the original biolog ical material by reproduction in  identical or divergent form, 
which possesses the same characteristics. 
(5)  Protection following from a patent granted for a process enabling biological material 
to be produced possessing specific characteristics as a result of the invention, shall also apply 
to biological material directly  obtained through that process as  well as to any other biological 
material derived from directly obtained biolog ical material by reproduction in identical or 
divergent form which possess those same characteristics. 
(6)  Protection following from the patent grante d for a product containing or consisting of 
genetic information shall apply to all material  in which the product is incorporated and in 
which the genetic information is contained and pe rforms its functions. This shall not apply in 
case pursuant to Article 6(1)(d). 
(7) A product, which is identical with the pr oduct protected pursuant  paragraphs 3 and 5 
shall be deemed to be a product achieved by th e protected process directly until it is proved 
otherwise. 
 
Article 14 
Exploitation of the patent 
 
(1)  The owner of the patent in accordance with Article 19 shall have the exclusive right 
to exploit the invention, to gr ant consent for the exploitation of the invention, to assign the 
patent to another person or to establish a lien to the patent. 
(2)  The patent shall be effective from the day on which the notification of the 
announcement on the grant of the pate nt is published in  the Journal. 
 
Article 15 
Prohibition of exploitation of an invention 
 
(1)  Without the consent of the owner it shall be prohibited  
a) to produce, exploit, offer or place on the market, or store or import for this purpose a 
product  which is the subject-matter of the patent,  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 9 
 
 
b) to exploit a production process which is the subject-matter of the patent (hereinafter 
referred to as “protected process”) or offer such a protected process for exploitation to 
another person, 
c) to produce, exploit, offer or place on the market, or store or import for this purpose a 
product directly obtained by the protected process, 
d) to supply or offer for delivery  to a person not entitled to ex ploit the invention any means 
enabling him to carry out the invention, if the person infringing the right knows or with 
regard to the circumstances he should know th at these means are intended or suitable to 
realise the invention; this shall not apply if these means are currently available on the 
market and the supplier did not instigate the pe rson not entitled to act  to perform acts in 
contradiction to points (a) to (c). 
(2)  Exclusive rights pursuant to paragraph 1 sh all also belong to the applicant, starting 
from the day of publication of the patent applicat ion in the Journal, provided that a patent has 
been granted for the invention, which is the subject-matter of the a pplication. However, 
execution of these rights vis-à- vis third parties shall be poss ible only as from the day on 
which the effects of the patent begin. 
 
Article 16 
Exhaustion of rights 
 
(1)  The owner of the patent shall not be enti tled to prohibit third parties activity related 
to the product which is the subject-matter of th e patent protection afte r the product has been 
placed on the market in the Slovak Republic by the patent owner or with his explicit consent. 
This shall not apply if there are reasons for the extension of rights to a patent for such 
treatment. 
(2)  Provisions of paragraph 1 shall also apply to biol ogical material obtained by 
reproduction of protected biologi cal material provided that su ch reproduction necessarily 
follows from the use for which the biological ma terial has been placed on the market, unless 
such obtained biological material is subse quently used for its further reproduction. 
(3)  Acquisition of protected plant propaga ting material by a farmer within any 
commercial relation with the patent owner or w ith his consent implies authorisation for the 
farmer to use the product of his harvest for reproduction of this product on his own farm. 
(4)  Acquisition of protected animal reproductive material by a farmer within any 
commercial relation with the patent owner or w ith his consent implies authorisation for the 
farmer to use the protected livestock for an agricultural purpose including the use of animal reproductive material for his ag ricultural activity with exception of sale of animal 
reproductive material within the framework of  business activities or the purpose thereof 
5) in 
the form of a subsequent reproductive activity.  
     
                                                      
5)  Article 2(1) of the Commercial Code. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 10  
 
Limitation of the effects of the patent 
 
Article 17 
 
(1)  The right of the patent owner shall not be  exercised vis-à-vis a person who before the 
rise of the priority right pursua nt to Article 36 has exploited the invention in good faith or has 
made appropriate arrangements immediately aiming at the exploitation of the invention 
independently from the inventor or  patent owner (hereinafter refe rred to as “prior user“) in 
the territory of the Slovak Republic . In case of doubt th e action of the prior user is considered 
acting in good faith, unless proved otherwise. 
(2)  Assignment or transfer of the right of the prior user for the exploitation of the 
invention pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be possible exclusively as a part of assignment or 
transfer of ownership of a company or its pa rt, within which the invention is being used. 
 
Article 18 
 
(1)  The rights of the patent owner shall not be infringed if the invention is used 
a) on board vessels of other states pa rty to the intern ational convention 6) or party to the 
World Trade Organisation 7) (hereinafter referred to as “Union countries“) binding for 
the Slovak Republic, in the body of vessel, mach inery, tackle, gear and other accessories, 
if these vessels temporarily or accidentally enter the territory of the Slovak Republic provided the invention is used exclus ively for the needs of the vessel, 
b) in construction or operation of aircraft or land vehicles of  the Union countries, or of 
accessories of these aircraft or land vehicles when they tem porarily or accidentally enter 
the territory of the Slovak Republic, 
c) when conducting activity pursuant to international convention, 
8) if these activities relate 
to an aircraft of the State which benefits  from the advantages of this convention, 
d) in individual preparation of a medici ne in a pharmacy according to a medical 
prescription or in activity related to a medicine prepared in such a manner, 
e) in activity being conducted privatel y and for non-commercial purposes, 
f) in activity being conducted for experimental purposes. 
 
(2)  Persons using the invention pursuant to para graph 1(d) to (f) shall not be considered 
as persons entitled to exploit the inve ntion pursuant the Article 15(1)(d).  
 
 
  
Article19 
                                                     
 
6)   Decree of the Minister of Foreign Affairs No 64/1975 Coll. on Paris Convention on Protection of Industrial 
Property of 20 March 1883 revised in Brussels on 14 December 1900, in Washington on 2 June 1911, in the 
Hague on 6 November 1925, in London on 2 June 1934, in Lisbon on 31 October 1958 and in Stockholm on 
14 July 1967 as amended by Decree No 81/1958 Coll. 
7)   Communication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic No 152/2000 Coll. on Conclusion 
of the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation. 
8)   Article 27 of the Treaty on In ternational Civil Aviation of 7 Decem ber 1944 (Decree No 147/1947 Coll.).  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 11 
 
 
Owner of the patent 
 
       A legal or natural person entered as the owner in the patent register of the Office 
(hereinafter referred to as “Register“) sh all be considered th e patent owner.  
 
Article 20 
Co-ownership of patent 
 
(1)  Provisions of a special regulation 9) shall apply to the regula tion of the relationships 
among the co-owners of the patent mutatis mutandis , if this act does not state otherwise.  
(2)  The share of a co-owner to the patent shall be derived from the sc ope of the right to a 
patent belonging to the co-invent or referred to in Article 10(3) as the owner of the patent or 
to co–inventor as a legal predece ssor of the owner of the patent. 
(3)  Each of the co-owners is entitled to expl oit the invention, whic h is the  subject – 
matter of a patent within its own company, unless the agreement between co-owners states 
otherwise. 
(4)  An agreement on cancelling of co-ownership and on mutual settlement shall be made 
in writing, otherwise it is invalid.  
(5)  An agreement pursuant to paragraph 4 shal l have legal effects vi s-à-vis third parties 
from the day of entry in the Register. The O ffice is obliged to enter changes following the 
agreement in the Register no later than within six months from its delivery to the Office or 
notify a decision specifying the reasons on the ba sis of which it is not possible to enter the 
modifications in the Register within this time limit.   
(6)  In case of the patent co-owner’s death or  forfeiture without any legal successor, a 
share of such patent co-owner shall be assigned to the rest of the co-owners in an adequate 
ratio to their shares.   
(7)  As far as the relations between co-appl icants are concerne d the provisions of 
paragraphs 1 to 5 shall apply mutatis mutandis .     
 
Article 21 
Assignment of patent 
 
(1)  An agreement on assignment of a patent shall be made in writing, otherwise it is 
invalid.  
(2)  The assignment shall have legal effects vis- à-vis third parties from the day of entry in 
the Register. This shall not  apply vis-à-vis persons wh o knew or should have known 
according to the circumstances about the assignment. The Office is obliged to enter this assignment in the Register no later than within six months from delivery of the agreement on 
assignment to the Office or notify the decision sp ecifying the reasons on the basis of which it 
is not possible to enter the assignment in the Register within this time limit.   
 
(3)  Third party rights being acquired before the day of entry of the patent assignment to 
the Register shall remain unaffected.  
 
 
                                                      
9)  Articles 136 and 142 of the Civil Code. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 12  
 
Article 22 
Transfer of patent 
 
(1)  Patent ownership shall be transferred to a new owner pursuant to Article 48 including 
the cases stipulated by special regulations. 4) 
(2)  The transfer shall have legal effects vis-à-vis third parties from the day of entry in the 
Register. This shall not apply vis-à-vis pers ons who knew or should have known according to 
the circumstances about the transfer. The office is obliged to enter this tr ansfer in the Register 
no later than within six months from its de livery to the Office or notify the decision 
specifying the reasons on the basis of which it is  not available to enter the transfer in the 
Register within this  time limit.   
(3)  With the exception pursuant to Article 48, third party rights being acquired before the 
day of patent transfer shall remain unaffected. 
 
Article 23 
Right of lien 
 
(1)  The right of lien on the pate nt can be established.  
(2)  As far as the right of lien and the relati ons between pledge creditor and pledge debtor 
are concerned, provisions of a special regulation 10) shall apply mutatis mutandis . 
(3)  Agreement on establishing the right of lien sh all be made in writing, otherwise it is 
invalid. 
 The contractual right of lien shall begin on th e day of entry in the Register. The Office is 
obliged to enter the right of lien in the Register  no later than within si x months from delivery 
of the agreement on establishing  the right of lien to the Office or notify the decision 
specifying the reasons on the basis of which it is not possible to enter the right of in the 
Register within this  time limit.   
(5) As far as the sub-lien right is concerned,  provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 as well as 
provisions of a special regulation 11) shall apply mutatis mutandis . 
 
Article 24 
Licence agreement 
 
(1)  The rise, lapse and enforcement of the right from the licence agreement shall be 
regulated by provisions of  a special regulation. 12) 
(2) .  The licence agreement shall have legal eff ects vis-à-vis third part ies from the day of 
entry in the Register. This shall not apply vis-à-vis persons who knew or should have known 
according to the circumstances about signing of licence agreement. The Office is obliged to 
enter the licence in the Register no later than within six months from delivery of the licence 
agreement to the Office or notify the decision specifying the reasons on the basis of which it is not possible to enter the licence in the Register within this time limit 
(3)  Unless the licence agreement stipulates ot herwise, the granted licence shall be 
considered non-exclusive 
                                                      
10)  Article 151(a) to (j) and Article 552 of the Civil Code.  
11)  Article 151(k) to (m) of the Civil Code. 
12)  Articles 508 to 515 of the Commercial Code.  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 13 
 
 
(4) Assignment or transfer of the right of the contractual licence holder shall be possible 
exclusively as part of assignment or transfer of the company or its part, within which the 
invention pursuant to the cont ractual licence is being exploite d, unless the licence agreement 
stipulates otherwise 
 
Licence offer 
 
Article 25 
 
(1)  If the patent applicant or patent owner  (h ereinafter referred to as “provider“) files a 
written statement with the Office that he sha ll provide to any person the right to use the 
invention for appropriate compensation (hereinafter  referred to as “licence offer“), the Office 
shall enter the licence offer in the Register. 
(2)  The licence offer may be withdrawn un til a written statement about accepting the 
licence offer is delivered to the provider. 
(3)  If the licence offer is not withdrawn by the provider, the entry of an exclusive licence 
in the Register shall be impossible.  
(4)  A statement on the licence offer may not be validly filed if an exclusive licence is 
entered in the Register. 
(5)  On the day of entry the decision on forfe iture of the patent pr otection and transfer 
pursuant to Article 48 in the Register, the licen ce offer shall be deemed to be withdrawn, 
unless a new patent owner or patent applican t delivers a written request on maintenance of 
the licence offer to the Office w ithin a time limit of 30 days form the day of validity of the 
decision on forfeiture of protection and transfer. 
 
Article 26 
 
(1)  The person who accepts the licence offer and notifies the provider and at the same 
time the Office in writing shall obtain the right to exploit the invention. 
(2)  A licence obtained pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be considered contractual, non-
exclusive, concluded for indefinite time and va lid within the territory of the Slovak Republic. 
(3)  If no agreement on compensation for the gr anted licence is reach ed among the parties 
to the licence rela tionship, notwithstanding negotiations relating thereto, the amount of the 
appropriate compensation as well as terms of  payment shall be determined by a court on 
proposal of one of the parties to the licence relationship. The importance of the invention and 
usual licence prices in the par ticular field shall be taken into  consideration. In case of a 
substantial change of circumstances decisive for determining the appropriate compensation, 
the court on proposal of one of the parties to the licence relationship is entitled to change the 
method of compensation originally agreed or determined by the court, if no agreement has been reached among the parties, notwithst anding negotiations relating thereto.  
 
Compulsory licence 
 
Article 27 
 
(1)  On request the court is entitled to gran t a compulsory licence to any person who can 
demonstrate the capability to exploit the invention, which is the subject-matter of the granted patent, in the territory of th e Slovak Republic, provided that IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 14  
 
a)  4 years have expired since the filing of the application or 3 years have expired from the 
grant of the patent, where the time limit,  which expires later, shall apply,  
b) the person who requests the granting of a compulsory licence before filing the request 
has made to the patent owne r a proper offer for concludi ng a licence agreement, where 
this offer has not been accepted by the patent owner, and 
c) the invention is not exploite d in the territory of the Slovak Republic, without an 
appropriate reason by the patent owner, or it is exploited in sufficiently, while the subject-
matter of the patented invention as a product is  not supplied to the market of the Slovak 
Republic in a sufficient quantity. Non-exis tence of appropriate  reason shall be 
presupposed, unless proved otherwise.  
(2)  Compulsory licence may be granted onl y as a non-exclusive licence, whilst its 
duration and scope is limited to the purpose for wh ich it is granted with the proviso that the 
domestic market needs are satisfied preferentially. 
(3)  If the subject-matter of the patent is  a technology of semiconductor products, the 
compulsory licence may be granted only for the public non-commercial use or to prevent further action of the pate nt owner, which pursuant to a d ecision of the competent body can be 
considered as an action abusing or  restricting economic competition, 
13) or in case of serious 
public interest menace.  
(4)  Notwithstanding paragraph 1(a) and (b) th e compulsory licence may be granted in 
case of serious public interest menace.  
(5)  Notwithstanding presuppositions pursuant to  paragraph 1 and conditions pursuant to 
paragraph 2, a court is entitled to grant a compulsory non-exclusive licence for use of a 
biotechnological invention on reques t, in case that the breeder is not able to acqui re or exploit 
a plant variety right  without infringing an earlier right to  the patent, if the plaintiff can 
demonstrate that  
a) before filing the request he has made to the patent owner a proper offer to conclude a 
licence agreement, where this offer has not  been accepted by the patent owner within 
three months from the filing date, and 
b) the plant variety represents an  important technical progress of an considerable economic 
importance comparable with the invention which is the subject-matter of request for granting the compulsory licence.  
(6)  In case of granting the compulsory licence pursuant to paragraph 5, the patent owner 
shall have a right for granting the licence for the use of the plant variety pursuant to a special 
regulation.   
(7)  Assignment or transfer of the right of the compulsory licence holder shall be possible 
exclusively as part of an assignment or transfer  of the company or the part thereof, within 
which the invention is being used on th e basis of the compulsory licence.  
(8)  The holder of the compulsory licence is en titled to repudiate the rights from the 
compulsory licence by a written notice delivered to the Office. The repudiation of the right shall come into effect from the day of on whic h a notice to this effect is delivered to the 
Office or a later day which is stated in the no tice as a day from which the compulsory licence 
rights holder repudiates the rights. 
  
                                                      
13)  Act No 136/2001 Coll. on Protection of Economy Competition and on Amendment of the Act of the 
National Council of the Slovak Republic No 347/1990 Coll. on Organisation of Ministries and Other Central 
State Administration Authorities of the Slovak Republic as amended.  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 15 
 
 
Article 28 
 
(1)  By granting the compulsory licence, the right of the patent owner to adequate 
compensation shall remain unaffected; for the pu rposes of determining the compensation for 
the exploitation of the invention, which is the subject-matter of the compulsory licence, the 
provision of Article 26(3) shall apply mutatis mutandis . 
(2)  In case of a substantial change of circ umstances, which had led to the grant of 
compulsory licence, the court is entitled, on re quest of one of the parties to the licence 
relationship, to cancel the decision on gran ting the compulsory licence, provided that 
repeated occurrence of reasons for granting the compulsory licence is improbable or the 
compulsory licence rights have not  been used during one year. 
(3)  The Office shall enter the valid decision on granting and cancelling the compulsory 
licence in the Register.  
 
Article 29 
Validity of the patent 
 
The term of the patent shall be  20 years fr om the filing date of the patent application 
as defined in Article 35.  
 
Article 30 
Abandonment of the patent 
 
(1)  The patent owner may abandon the patent by a written notice deliver ed to the Office. 
Partial abandonment of the patent is not admissible. 
(2)  If the patent co-owner waives his share, it  shall be assigned to the rest of the co-
owners in a ratio equivalent to their shares. 
(3)  Abandonment of the patent shall come into  effect on the day of delivering the notice 
pursuant to paragraph 1 to the Office, or a later day, which is stated in the notice as a day on 
which the owner abandons the patent.  
(4)  Abandonment of the patent affecting th ird party rights which are entered in the 
Register, shall come into effect only after subm ission of a written consent of the party whose 
rights and justified interests ma y be damaged by the lapse of the patent. The same shall apply 
in case of existence of litigation entered in th e Register whose subject-matter is the right to 
the patent namely to the expiration of a time limit of six months as from the day of validity of 
the court decision. 
 
Article 31 
Lapse of the patent 
 
(1)  The patent shall lapse: 
a) by expiry of the patent term, 
b) by expiry of the time limit set for payment of the administrative fees for the maintenance 
of the validity of the patent 12) (hereinafter referred to as “maintenance fees“) pursuant to 
Article 79(8), 
c) from the day of effectiveness of abandonment of the patent pursuant to Article 30(3). IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 16  
 
(2) From the day of the delivery of the request fo r the entry of the litigation on the right to 
a patent in the Register as defined in Artic le 50(4), the running of the time limits for the 
payment of maintenance fees shall be interrupted  to the expiry of a time limit of six months 
as from the validity day of the court decision. 
(3) If the pledge debtor as the owner of the patent has not paid the maintenance fees 
within the fixed time limit, the pledge credit or in accordance with Article (23) shall be 
entitled to file a written request to the Office where he asks the Office to invite him as the 
pledge creditor to pay the maintenance fees. 
(4) In the case pursuant to paragraph 3, the pate nt shall lapse after the expiry of the time 
limit of three months from the delivery of the notice of the Office to the pledge creditor 
where he is asked to pay the maintenance fees.  
 
Article 32 
Infringement of rights 
 
(1)  In case of unauthorised interference with  the rights protected by this Act or 
jeopardising these rights, the person whose ri ghts have been infringed or jeopardised is 
entitled to claim that the infringement or jeopa rdising of the right to be prohibited and the 
consequences of infringement removed.  
(2)  In case of interference with  the rights pursuant to para graph 1 or jeopardising these 
rights, the damaged party is entitled to claim  the party who jeopardises or infringes his rights 
to submit to the damaged party da ta related to the or igin of the product and circumstances of 
its placing on the market.  
(3)  If damage has been caused by the interfer ence with the rights pursuant to paragraph 
1, the damaged party is entitled to its comp ensation including the lost profit. If the 
interference caused a non-pecuni ary injury, the damaged part y is entitled to adequate 
satisfaction, which may be represented by pecuniary compensation.  
(4)  The right to compensation or  satisfaction pursuant to paragraph 3 shall also belong to 
the damaged party whose pecuniary or non-pec uniary injury has been caused directly by 
enforcement of the preliminary injunction declar ed by the court on pro posal filed without a 
reasonable title.  
 
Disputes hearing 
 
Article 33 
 
(1)  Disputes on rights pursuant to this Act sh all be heard and ruled by courts, unless this 
Act stipulates otherwise.  
(2)  On request the court is entitled to orde r that products, materi als or instruments 
through which the infringement or jeopardising of right is directly performed to be 
a) disposed of outside the channels of commerce, 
b) rendered to the plaintiff, 
c) otherwise secured by a method preventing furt her infringement or jeopardising of the 
right, 
d) destroyed in a suitable manner at the cost of the person infringing the right, unless a 
more appropriate solution is available.   IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 17 
 
 
(3)  The request of the plaintiff pursuant to pa ragraph 2(d) in the part related to the 
manner of destruction of objects shal l not be binding for the court. 
(4)  The court shall not grant the right to submit the data pursuant to Article 32(2), if the 
seriousness of jeopardising or in fringing the right is disproportio nate to the seriousness of 
consequences following from the fulfilment of obligation imposed in this manner.  
 
Article 34 
 
(1)  When protecting the rights pursuant to th is Act, a court by means of preliminary 
injuction 14) is entitled to impose obligations identic al in content with decision on the matter 
as such in case any delay may cause to the en titled party a damage, which can be repaired 
only with difficulties, or a non-pecuniary injury. 
(2)  Within a decision on the preliminary injunction the court is also ex officio  entitled to 
impose on the plaintiff an obligation to deposit a financial security in a reasonable amount, or 
it is entitled to condition the effectivene ss of the decision by fulfilment of imposed 
obligation. When taking a decision on the amo unt of the financial security, the court shall 
take into consideration the scope  of pecuniary or non-pecuniary injury which can occur to the 
counterpart, as well as to the financial situati on of the plaintiff, where the imposition of the 
obligation to deposit a financial security shall not create a substantial obstacle for effective 
enforcement of the right. 
(3)  On proposal the court is entitled to decide  upon releasing the financial security to the 
counterpart, as a compensation of  pecuniary injury or satisf action of non-pecuniary injury 
caused directly by the enforcem ent of the injunction decision without a reasonable title.  
(4)  If within a time limit of six months from the finding of the injury pursuant to 
paragraph 3, the claim to compensation or satisf action is not exercised before the court or if 
no agreement of the parties is reached on the us e of the financial security, the court shall 
return the financial security. 
 
PART THREE 
PROCEEDINGS ON GRANTING OF A PATENT 
 
Article 35 
Filing date of patent application 
 
(1)  Proceedings on granting of a patent shall star t by filing a patent application  with the 
Office. 
(2)  Unless stated otherwise below, the filing da te of the application shall be considered 
the day of delivering or supplementing the s ubmission which as a minimum shall contain 
a) data indicating an apparent intention of the applicant to file a patent application,  
b) data allowing identification of the applicant to be established and allowing the applicant 
to be contacted, 
c) part of  description clearly expressing  the subject – matter of  invention. 
                                                      
14)  Articles 74 to 77 and Article 10 2 of The Rules of Civil Procedure. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 18  
 
(3)  The obligation of the applic ant pursuant to Article 79(7) shall not apply for the 
purposes of determining the filing date of the application in relation to data pursuant to 
paragraph 2(c). 
(4)  If the Office finds out that the part of  submission pursuant to paragraph 2(c) is 
missing, it shall request the appl icant to supplement the missing pa rt of the submission within 
a set time limit. 
(5)  In the case pursuant to paragraph 4 the da te of supplementing the missing part of the 
submission shall be considered as the filing date of the application. 
(6)  The determination of the filing date of the application pursuant to paragraph 5 shall 
not be applied if 
a) a priority right was claimed pursuant to Article  36(2) in the original submission  and the 
applicant at the same time when supplemen ting of the missing part of the submission 
pursuant to paragraph 2(c) asks for determinin g of filing date of the application to the 
filing date of the submission is filed, or 
b) after supplementing of the submission pursuan t to paragraph 4 the applicant within the 
set time limit withdraws his submission in the part supplemented pursuant to paragraph 4. 
Article 36 
Priority right 
 
(1)  The priority right for the applicant shall be established   
a) on the filing date of the application or 
b) on the priority date according to the international convention 6) following from an earlier 
patent application, utility model application or author’s certificate or  utility certificate. 
(2)  The priority right, which follows from the international convention 6) has to be 
claimed by the applicant in the application.  
(3)  A priority right pursuant to paragraph 2 may be claimed if  an earlier application is 
filed in the State or in relation to a State wh ich is a contracting party to the international 
convention 6) or which is a member state of  the World Trad e Organisation. 7) Otherwise this 
right may be claimed exclusively in case of the reciprocity. 
(4)  If the applicant who has filed an applic ation within a time limit of 12 months from 
the date of rise of the priority right, does not claim the priority right pursuant to paragraph 2, 
the Office shall grant priority right on the ba sis of a request for subsequent granting of 
priority right filed within 16 months from the da te of rise of the prio rity right, but no later 
than  
a) within a time limit of four months from the filing date of application, 
b) on the day of submitting the request for an earlier publication of the application 
according to Article 41(2), 
(5)  If the applicant files the application after th e expiry of 12 months from the day of rise 
the priority right, the Office shall grant priority right on the basis of the request for subsequent granting of prio rity right, provided that 
a) the application as well as the request for subseq uent granting of priority right have been 
filed within the time limit of 14 months fr om the date of rise of priority right,  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 19 
 
 
b) in his request the applicant shall justify in an  appropriate manner th e delayed filing of the 
application and particularly st ate the facts which had preven ted him from timely filing of 
the application, not caused by him. 
(6)  The Office is entitled to request the applic ant to prove the claime d priority right by a 
priority right document (hereinafter referred to  as “priority document“) within a time limit 
stipulated by the Office, however not earlier th an 16 months from the day of rise priority 
right.  
(7)  If the applicant fails to prove the existen ce of the priority right properly and in time 
pursuant to paragraph 6, the Office shall grant the priority right on the basis of a justified 
request for subsequent recognition of the priority document, provided that 
a) the request for an issue of the priority document was submitted to the competent 
authority within a time limit of one month as  from the day of submitting the request to 
the Office pursuant to paragraph 6 at the latest, 
b) request for subsequent recognition of prio rity document together with the priority 
document was submitted within one month from  delivering of the priority document to 
the applicant. 
(8)  If the assessment of patentability of the invention depends on the granting of the 
priority right, the Office is entitled to invi te the applicant to submit a translation of the 
priority document in Slovak langua ge or one of the official la nguages of the European Patent 
Office, which is at the discretion of the applicant. 
(9)  In case of reasonable doubt about the ve racity of the justif ication pursuant to 
paragraphs 5 and 7, the Office may invite the applicant to prove his statements.  
(10) For the requests pursuant to paragraphs 4, 5, and 7 the a pplicant is obliged to pay an 
administrative fee pursuant to Article 79(8).  
(11) Claiming and proving the existence of th e priority right which fails to meet the 
requirements pursuant to this provision and pur suant to the generally binding regulations, 
shall be disregarded by the Office during the proceedings. The Office shall notify the applicant on this fact. 
       (12) On the basis of the request of the applic ant or patent owner the Office shall, after the 
payment of the administrative fee pursuant to  Article 79(8), issue a priority document 
certifying the priority right following from th e application, international application or 
European patent application filed with the Office.  
 
Article 37 
Application 
 
(1)  A patent application may be filed by a pe rson or persons who have the right to a 
patent pursuant to Article 10(1) and (3), Article 11(1) or Article 12(1). 
(2)  If the right to a patent belongs to several persons, one or some of these persons in his 
or their own name may file th e application. On the basis of  a request supported by a written 
agreement between the applicant or applicants and the person, that has the right to file the application pursuant to paragraph 1, the Office shall enter such a person as a co-applicant in 
the Register. 
(3)  The application may contain only one inve ntion or a group of inventions, which are 
mutually related in such a manner, that th ey create a single inventive concept.  
(4)  The invention has to be described and explained  in the application clearly and 
completely so that it can be carried  out by a person skilled in the art. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 20  
 
(5)  The patent application shall contain: 
a) a request for granting the patent, 
b) a description of the invention, abstra ct and drawings, if appropriate,  
c) at least one patent claim applied for, 
d) the identification data of the applicant or co-applicant, 
e) the identification data of the inventor or co-inventors, 
f) a document on acquisition of right to the pate nt, if the applicant is not the inventor. 
(6)  For filing the application the applicant is obliged to pay the administrative fee in 
accordance with Article 79(8).  
 
Article 38 
Special provision on the application of biotechnological invention 
 
(1)  If the subject-matter of an invention is biological material or the use of biological 
material, which is not publicly available and which cannot be de scribed in the application in 
such a manner so as to be carried out by a pers on skilled in the art, the description shall be 
considered adequate only on condition that 
a) the biological material has been deposited in a recognised depository institution no later 
than by the filing date of the application, 
b) the application as filed contains inform ation on the characteristics of the deposited 
biological material, which was available to the applicant, 
c) the application states the name and seat of the recognised depository institution, as well 
as the deposit number of the deposited sample. 
(2)  In case of doubt about making the biological material available or the adequacy of 
the description pursuant to paragraph 1, it shall be deemed that the availability condition or 
adequacy of description condition is not met, unless proved otherwise.  
(3)  If the subject-matter of the application is a sequence or partial se quence of a gene, the  
industrial application of th e invention has to be expl ained in the application. 
(4)  The recognised depository institution is the institution for the deposition of biological 
material, which acquired a status pursuant to the international convention 15) or it was 
recognised by the Office. 
 
Article 39 
Interruption of the patent application proceedings 
 
(1)  After the start of court proceedings in litigat ion for the right to the patent, the Office 
shall interrupt the patent application proceedings.  
(2) During the interruption of the proceedings th e time limits pursuant to this Act stop 
running, with the exception of the ti me limit pursuant to Article 41(1). 
(3) After a decision by which the proposal for fo rfeiture of the appl ication rights and a 
transfer of these rights referred to in Article  48(3) has been approved to become valid, the 
Office shall continue the proceedings interrupted pursuant to paragraph 1. 
 
                                                      
15) Decree of the Minister of Foreign Affairs No 22/1989 Coll. on Budapest Agreement on International 
Recognition of Micro organism Deposit for purposes of patent proceedin g and its implementing regulation.  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 21 
 
 
Preliminary examination of the application 
 
Article 40 
 
(1)  Within the preliminary examinati on the Office shall ascertain whether 
a) conditions for determining the filing date of the application pursuan t to Article 35 have 
been met, 
b) conditions for granting the priority right pursuant to Article 36 have been met, 
c) the application meets conditions purs uant to Articles 37, 38 and 59, 
d) the application meets conditions  pursuant to the generally binding regulation as defined 
in Article 80, 
e) the applicant has paid the appropriate administrative fee pursuant to Article 79(8),  
f) the applicant is represented by an authorised  representative pursuant  to Article 79(1), 
g) the application does not contain subject-ma tter which clearly does not meet conditions 
pursuant to Article 5(1) or is not considered  an invention pursuant to Article 5(3), or 
which is subject to exception from pate ntability pursuant to Article  6. 
(2)  In case of doubt the Office may invite the applicant to prove th e application of the 
subject-matter of the application, by demonstra ting it or in another suitable manner. If the 
applicant fails to prove the application or fails  to comply with the invitation, the subject-
matter of the application shall be deemed to be inapplicable.  
(3)  In case irregularities are f ound pursuant to paragraph 1(e) and (f) or Article 35(2), or 
Article 37(3) and (5), or Article 79(8), or pur suant to the implementing regulation as defined 
in Article (80), the Office shall invite the applicant to correct the relevant irregularities or to react to the invitation. If the applicant fails to  comply with the invita tion within a time limit 
set or his statement fails to render the invita tion unjustified, the Office shall suspend the 
application proceedings. The applicant has to be notified about this consequence in the 
invitation.  
(4)  If the application fails to meet conditions pursuant to Article 37(1)  and (4) or Article 
38(1) to (3) or the subject-matte r of the application clearly fails  to meet conditions pursuant 
to Article 5(1), or is not cons idered an invention pur suant to Article 5(3) , or is subject to 
exception to patentability pursuant to Article 6, or an assumption pursuant to paragraph 2 
applies, the Office shall refuse the application. Before the refusal of the application the Office 
shall enable the applicant to react to the ascert ained reasons on the basis of which it is to be 
refused. 
(5)  If the conditions for claiming the priority right pursuant to Artic le 36(2) to (9) and 
pursuant to the generally binding regulation in accordance with Article 80 failed to meet, the 
Office shall grant to the applicant the prio rity right pursuant to Article 36(1)(a). 
 
Article 41 
 
(1)  The Office shall without delay publish the application after an expiry of 18 months 
from the rise of the priori ty right and shall announce this  publication in the Journal. 
(2)  The application may be published before th e expiry of the time limit stipulated in 
paragraph 1, if the applicant a pplies for it no later than within 12 months from the rise of the 
priority right and if he pays the administrativ e fee pursuant to Article 79(8). The Office shall 
publish the application before the expiry of the time limit stipulated in paragraph 1, if a patent IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 22  
 
has already been granted for the invention; how ever, without the consent of the applicant the 
Office shall not publish the application before th e expiry of 12 months from the rise of the 
priority right.  
(3)  Together with the application the Office may publish a search report related to the 
invention applied for in the application.  
 
Article 42 
 
(1)  After the publication of the applicati on any person may file with the Office 
oppositions on the patentability of its subject- matter; the Office shall take them into 
consideration during substantive ex amination of the application. 
(2)  Persons who have filed oppositions pursuant to paragraph 1 shall not become parties 
to the application proceedings. However, th e applicant has to be notified about the 
oppositions and he is allowed to respond to them. 
 
Substantive examination of the application 
 
Article 43 
 
(1)  Upon request of the applicant, of third party or ex officio , the Office shall without 
delay conduct substantive examination of the pa tent application, in which it shall assess 
whether the application meets the conditions for granting a patent stipulated by this Act.  
(2)  The request for conducting substantive exam ination has to be filed no later than 
within 36 months from filing the application as defined in  Article 35 and it cannot be 
withdrawn. Together with the request the person who requests sha ll be obliged to pay 
administrative fee pursuant to Article 79(8).  
(3)  If request for conducting a substantive ex amination was not properly filed within the 
time limit stipulated in paragraph 2, or if within the same time limit the Office failed to start the substantive examination of the application ex officio , the Office shall suspend the 
application proceedings.  
(4)  The Office shall notify the a pplicant without delay about the starting of substantive 
examination on requst of a third party or ex officio . 
 
Article 44 
 
(1)  If the conditions stipulated for granting the patent are not met referred to in Articles 
5, 7, 8 and 9, the Office shall refuse the app lication. Before refusing the application the 
Office shall enable the applicant to react to the ascertained reasons on the basis of which it 
has to be refused.  
(2)  If the Office additionally finds  out irregularities in  the application or failure to meet 
conditions, which are the subject-matter of pre liminary examination of the application, it 
shall proceed according to Article 40(2) to (5). 
(3)  If more applications have been filed with  an identical subject-matter, one applicant 
shall be granted only one patent.  
(4)  If the subject-matter of the application meets the stipulated conditions and the 
applicants pays the appropriate administrativ e fee in accordance with Article 79(8), the 
Office shall grant the patent to the applicant, whereby the applicant becomes the owner of the  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 23 
 
 
patent. The Office shall issue a pa tent deed to the owner and th e granting of th e patent shall 
be published in the Journal. 
(5)  Owner of the patent shall be obliged to pay administrative fee for maintenance of the 
patent in accordance with Article 79(8).  
 
Article 45 
Amendment of the application 
 
(1)  The applicant is entitled to amend the app lication in the course of the proceedings on 
application in the form and to the scope, whic h does not extend the cont ent of the application 
as filed.  
(2)  Amendment of the application pursuant to paragraph 1 shall mean also the exclusion 
of the application in case of non-fulfilment of the condition pursuant to Article 37(3). 
 
Revocation and partial revocation of a patent 
 
Article 46 
 
(1)  The Office shall revoke a patent if during the proceedings started on third party 
request or ex officio  it is proved that 
a) requirements for granting it pursuant to Ar ticles 5 to 9 have not been met, 
b) the invention is not disclosed a nd described in the patent so cl early and so fully so that it 
can be carried out by a person skilled in the art, 
c) the subject-matter of the patent extends the content of the application as filed. This shall 
also apply in case the subject-matter of the pa tent granted on the basis of an divisional 
application extending over the contents  of the application as filed,  
d) the scope of protection following from the patent was extended, 
e) the owner does not have the right  to the patent pursuant to Article 10(1) and (3), Article 
11(1) or Article 12(1). 
f) the granting conditions valid in time of granting were not fulfilled.  
(2)  If the reasons for revocation concern the pa tent partially, the pa tent shall be revoked 
only to the extent proportionate  to the reasons found,  by means of modifying of the patent 
claims, description or drawings.  
(3)  If the patent has been revoked within the scope affected by the revocation it shall be 
deemed not to have been granted. 
(4)  A request for revocation of the patent may be filed also after the lapse of the patent, if 
the person who requests revocation proves legal interest. 
(5)  The Office can partially revoke the patent pursuant to paragraph 2 also on request of 
the owner notwithstanding the existence of  the grounds pursuant to paragraph 1. 
(6)  The Office shall notify the decision on revoc ation or partial revoc ation of the patent 
in the Journal.  
(7)  For a request pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 5 the person who re quests the revocation 
shall be obliged to pay an administrative fee pursuant to Article 79(8).  
 
  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 24  
 
Article 47 
 
(1)  If the request for revocation or partial revoc ation of a patent (her einafter referred to 
as “revocation request”) fails to contain re quirements stipulated in  the generally binding 
regulation in accordance with Article 80 or if  the person who requests the revocation is not 
represented by an authorised representative pursu ant to Article 79(1) or if the administrative 
fee has not been paid as defined in Article  79(8), the Office shall invite the person who 
requests the revocation to correct the irregular ities found within a fi xed time limit. If the 
person who requests the revocation fails to comply  with the invitation served on him, the 
Office shall suspend the revocation request proceedings. The person who proposes the 
revocation has to be notified about th is consequence in the invitation.  
(2)  If the proceedings have not been suspende d pursuant to paragraph 1, the Office shall 
deliver the revocation request to the patent ow ner and shall invite him at the same time to 
respond to it within a set time limit and at the same time to indicate proofs and supplement 
documents. 
(3)  If the patent owner fails to respond within the time limit stipulated in the notice, the 
Office shall continue the proceed ings and is entitled to make a decision on the basis of the 
contents of the file. 
(4)  The Office shall proceed pursuant to paragraph 3 also in the case when the patent 
owner is not represented by an authorised repr esentative pursuant to Article 79(1). If the 
owner fails to comply with the notice to subm it the authorisation within the stipulated time 
limit, he shall be deemed not to ha ve responded to the revocation request. 
(5)  If it is impossible to decide on the basis of written submissions of the parties, the 
Office shall set a date for oral proceedings. Th e Office shall at the same time deliver to the 
person who requests revocation a statem ent of the owner on his request.  
(6)  The Office may continue in the proceedings and decide in the matter also in case a 
duly summoned party fails to partic ipate in the oral proceedings.  
(7)  Extending or supplementing the revoca tion request, as well as extending or 
supplementing the statement of the patent owne r in proceedings pursu ant to Article 46(1) 
shall be inadmissible; such ex tending or supplementing shall not be taken into consideration 
within the proceedings and d ecision-making by the Office.  
(8)  At the time of patent revocation proceedings pursuant to Article 46(1), the 
proceedings on the request of the owner pursu ant to Article 46(5) shall be interrupted. 
 
Article 48 
Forfeiture of patent and transfer 
 
(1)  The Office, on request, shall forfeit the pate nt from the patent owner entered in the 
Register and shall enter the person w ho requests it as patent owner if 
a) it has been determined by a valid decision of the court that the person originally entered 
as the owner was not entitled to the right to the patent pursua nt to Article 10(1) and (3), 
Article 11(1) or Article 12(1), 
b) the request has been filed by a person who acc ording to a valid deci sion of the court has 
the right to the patent, or is  his legal successor in title, 
c) the request has been filed with in three months from the day of validity of the court 
decision.  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 25 
 
 
(2)  Provided that the condition pu rsuant to paragraph 1(a) has been met, if the request 
pursuant to paragraph 1 has not b een filed or it has not been f iled by the authorised person or 
within the set time limit, th e Office shall revoke the patent ex officio  due to a reason pursuant 
to Article 46(1)(e). 
(3)  As far as the forfeiture of rights from an application and their transfer to the entitled 
person is concerned, the paragraph 1 shall apply mutatis mutandis . If no rectifi cation of rights 
from the application occurs due to reasons pursuant to  paragraph 2, the Of fice shall refuse the 
application pursuant to Article 40(4). 
(4)  As far as proceedings according to the para graphs 1 to 3 are concerned, Article 47(1) 
to (6) shall apply mutatis mutandis . 
(5)  Together with the request pursuant to th e paragraphs 1 and 3 the person who requests 
it shall be obliged to pay th e administrative fee in accord ance with Article 79(8).  
 
Article 49 
Determination proceedings 
 
(1)  On the request, the Office shall determ ine whether the subject-matter stated and 
described in the request falls within the scope of protection of a certain patent (hereinafter referred to as “determination request ”). 
(2) On the basis of an explicit request of the proponent, also a person whose rights and 
obligations may be affected by the determinatio n decision shall be party to the proceedings 
pursuant to paragraph 1.  
(3) In case the determination request was f iled in connection with the pending court 
proceedings whose subject-matter is the right prot ected by this Act, al l parties to the court 
proceedings whose rights and obligations may be  affected by the determination proceedings 
and decision-making on determination shall be the parties to the dete rmination proceedings. 
(4) As far as proceedings to which the owner of  the patent is the exclusive party, the 
provision of Article 47(1) and (5) the fi rst sentence and paragraph 6 shall apply mutatis 
mutandis , otherwise provisions of Artic le 47(1) to (6) shall apply mutatis mutandis  for the 
determination proceedings. 
(5) Together with the determination request the proponent shall be obliged to pay the 
administrative fee according to Article 79(8).  
 
Article 50 
Registration of licence, right of lien, assignment or transfer  
of the patent and court litigation in the Register 
 
(1)  As far as the request for the registration of the licence, right of lien, assignment or 
transfer of the patent in the Re gister (hereinafter referred to as  “entry request”) are concerned, 
Article 47(1) shall apply mutatis mutandis .  
(2)  In case of doubt the Office may ask for subm ission of a certified copy or the original 
of the deed if appropriate which proves the acq uisition of the right or other supplementary 
data. 
(3)  Provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not  apply to compulsory licence, which the 
Office shall enter in the Register ex officio  after the service of va lid court decision on its 
grant.  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 26  
 
(4)  On the basis of a request of the party to  the court proceedings, whose subject-matter 
is the right protected by  this Act, supplemented by a counterpart of the petition to the court 
certified by the court, the Office shall enter in th e Register the fact that court proceedings are 
pending as well as the subject-matter of the proceedings, with effect from the day of 
delivering the request to the Office. 
(5)  The applicant submitting request pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 4 shall be obliged to 
pay administrative fee pursua nt to Article 79(8).  
 
Article 51 
Further processing 
 
(1)  On the basis of the request of the party to the proceedings on extension of the time 
limit set by the Office for performing an act, while such request has been filed before the expiry of such a time limit, the Office is entitled to extend the relevant time limit. 
(2)  If a party to the proceedings before the Office has failed to comply with the time 
limit set by the Office for performing an act, he is entitled to ask the Office for further processing and at the same time perform the om itted act no later than two months from the 
service of the official decision issued as a consequence of failure to comply with the time limit.  
(3)  Together with submitting a request pursuant to paragraphs 1 or 2 the applicant shall 
be obliged to pay an administrative fee as defined in Article 79(8).  
(4)  The Office shall refuse a request pursuant to  paragraphs 1 or 2 in  case of failure to 
comply with time limits for 
a) payment of the maintenance fee pursuant to Article 79(8), 
b) claiming of priority right pursuant to Article 36, 
c) submitting a request for further processing and restitutio in integrum  pursuant to 
paragraph 2 and Article 52(1), 
d) filing a remedy in proceedings before the Office, 
e) fulfilment of obligation imposed  in the litigation proceedings before the Office pursuant 
to Article 47(3) or claiming of ri ght pursuant to Article 48(1)(c). 
(5)  The Office shall refuse the request for extension of time limits or for further 
processing which fails to comply with conditions pursuant to paragraphs 1 or 2 or to which a 
restriction pursuant to paragra ph 4 applies; before the refusal of the request the Office shall 
enable the person who requests it to respond to the ascertained reasons on the basis of which 
it is to be refused. 
(6)  If the Office grants request for further processing the legal effects of the decision 
issued as a consequence of failure to comply with time limit shall be retracted or shall not 
ensue.  
(7)  If the Office fails to make a decision about refusing the request pursuant to 
paragraphs 1 or 2 within two months from its  delivery and the administrative fee has been 
paid duly and in time pursuant to paragraph 3, th e request shall be deemed to be satisfied.  
 
Article 52 
Restitutio in integrum 
 
(1)  If the party to the proceedings before the Office unintentionally fails to comply with 
the statutory time limit or the time limit set by the Office for performing an act where a  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 27 
 
 
consequence of non-performance of the act is su spension of the proceedings or another right 
is lost, he is entitled to ask the Office for restitutio in integrum  and at the same time perform 
the omitted act within two months from the re moval of the cause for which he could not 
perform the act, however, no later than with in 12 months from the expiry of the non-
complied time limit. 
(2)  Together with the submission of the request pursuant to paragraph 1 the applicant 
shall be obliged to pay an administra tive fee according to Article 79(8).  
(3)  The party to the proceedings shall be obliged to justify the request pursuant to 
paragraph 1 and state particular ly the facts, which had prev ented the performance of the 
action. Statements submitted after the expiry of any of the time limits pursuant to paragraph 1 shall not be taken into consid eration by the Office when making a decision about the request.  
(4)  In case of reasonable doubt about the verac ity of the statement pursuant to paragraph 
3 the Office may ask the applicant to prove his statements. 
(5)  Request for restitutio in integrum  shall not be granted in case of failure to comply 
with the time limits for performance of the act pursuant to Article 51(4). 
(6)  The Office shall refuse the request for restitutio in integrum  which fails to meet the 
requirements pursuant to paragraphs  1 and 3, or to which the rest riction pursuant to paragraph 
5 applies or if the applicant who requests has not proven his statements  pursuant to paragraph 
4; before the refusal of the request the Office shall enable the person who requests it to respond to the ascertained reasons on the basis of which it is to be refused. 
(7)  If the Office satisfies the request for restitutio in integrum , the legal effects of the 
decision issued as a consequence of failure to co mply with the time limit shall be retracted or 
shall not ensue.  
(8)  A third party that within the territory of the Slovak Republic has exploited the 
invention which was the subject- matter of the published applica tion or of a patent in good 
faith or has made appropriate arrangements fo cused on the exploitation of the invention since 
the validity of the decision issued  as a consequence of failure to  comply with the time limit 
until the lapse of legal effects of this decision pursuant to paragraph 7,  is entitled to exploit 
the invention within its business activity wi thout the obligation for remuneration for the 
exploitation of the invention. 
(9)  Assignment or transfer of th e right of the entitled user pursuant to paragraph 8 shall 
be possible exclusively as part of assignment or  transfer of ownership of a company or its 
part, within which the in vention is being used. 
 
Article 53 
Grounds for the decision 
 
(1)  Parties to the administrative proceedings be fore the Office (hereinafter referred to as 
“parties”) shall be obliged to submit or propos e the evidence in support of their statements. 
(2)  The Office shall develop the evidence and evaluate the evidence at its discretion, 
namely each of them separately and all of them in their mutual relationships. 
(3)  The Office shall decide on the basis of the facts ascertained from the developed 
evidence submitted or proposed by the parties. 
 
 
 
 IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 28  
 
Article 54 
Costs of proceedings 
 
(1)  Costs of proceedings are par ticularly expenses of the par ties and their representatives, 
including the administrative fees, lost inco me of the parties, costs of evidence and 
remuneration of patent representatives, 16) attorneys at law, 17) or commercial lawyers. 18)  
(2)  Each party shall bear the costs of proceed ings which have incurred to him personally 
and to his representative. 
(3)  Witnesses are entitled to reimbursement of expenses and lost income. This right shall 
cease if it is not claimed within three days of the hearing or from the day on which the 
witness is notified about cancellation of the hearing. 
(4)  If an expert witness report has been submitted, the expert witness is entitled to a 
reimbursement of expenses and remunera tion pursuant to special regulations. 19) 
(5)  The person on whom the Office imposed an obligation during the proceedings, 
particularly to submit a deed or enable an in spection of an object, has the same rights as the 
witness, if he is not a party to the proceedings. 
(6)  The Office may order the party to deposit advancement for the co st of the evidence 
which he had proposed, in the amount of the assumed costs, unless the imposition of such duty represents a substantia l obstacle to effective en forcement of the right.  
(7)  If the party fails to comply with the invi tation to deposit advancement within the set 
time limit, the Office shall conti nue in the proceedings as th ough a proposal for evidence had 
not been filed. 
(8)  If the Office incurs costs which are not  covered by the advancement pursuant to 
paragraph 6, the Office shall be entitled to th eir compensation from the party which has not 
been successful in the proceeding.  
(9)  The Office is entitled to declare the party to the proceedings which has been 
successful in the proceeding be authorised for compensation of costs in curred for effective 
enforcement of the right against the party unsuccessful in the pr oceeding. If the party to the 
proceedings has been only partially successful in the matter, the Office shall divide the 
compensation of costs accordingly or is entitle d not to declare the authorisation for such 
compensation of costs to any party.  
(10) The party shall claim the compensation of the proceedings costs no later than till the 
day when the decision on the merits as such is issued. 
 
Article 55 
Remedies 
 
(1)  An appeal against the decision of the Of fice may be lodged within 30 days from the 
delivery of the decision.  
                                                      
16)  Decree of Federal Office for Inventions No 350/1991 Coll. on Remuneration of Patent Attorneys. 
17)  Decree of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic No 240/1990 Coll. on Remuneration of Attorneys 
for Providing Legal Advice as amended. 
18)  Decree of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic No 180/1991 Coll. on Remuneration of Commercial 
Lawyers for Providing Legal Advice as amended. 
19)  Act No 36/1967 Coll. on Experts and Interpreters as amended by Act  No 238/2000 Coll.; Decree of the 
Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic No 263/1996 Coll. which implements the Act No. 36/1967 on 
Experts and Interpreters as amended by 294/2000 Coll.  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 29 
 
 
(2)  When making decisions on the appeal th e Office shall be bound by its scope; this 
shall not apply 
a) in matters in which proceedings can be started ex officio , 
b) in case of joint rights or obligations concerning several parties on one side. 
(3)  Filing an appeal shall not be ad missible against a decision on which 
a) a request for further proc essing, or request for restitutio in integrum has been   satisfied, 
b) the proceedings have been susp ended pursuant to Article 79(5). 
(4)  Together with the appeal the party shal l be obliged to pay administrative fee 
according to Article 79(8).  
 
Article 56 
Data accessibility 
 
(1)  Before publishing the patent application th e Office shall be entitled to notify third 
parties without consent of the applicant only the data who is the inventor, the patent 
applicant, the name and file number of the pa tent application and data about priority right, 
unless stated otherwise below. 
(2)  Notwithstanding the provisions  of paragraph 1, the Offi ce shall on the basis of the 
request enable to inspect the file concerning a non-published app lication to the owner of the 
patent or applicant, provided that the non-pub lished application refers  to the patent or 
application of this owner of the patent or this applicant, or to a pers on vis- à-vis a person 
whose rights from non-published applic ations were applied.     
(3)  Unless stated otherwise below, after the publication of the application, the Office 
shall enable anyone to inspect the file on the basis of his request. 
(4)  The right for a file inspecti on shall include a right for ma king photocopies for the fee. 
(5)  On the basis of a written request of the inventor stated in the application pursuant to 
Article 37(5) the Office shall not make accessibl e his identifying data to  third parties, 
particularly by publication of the patent applicat ion, the notice of the grant of a patent, the 
issue of the letters patent, the issue of the extract from the register and by file inspection.  
(6)  On the basis of a written request, provided that the emergent legal interest has been 
met, the Office shall be entitled to notify th e person who requests whether a person indicated 
by him is alleged as an inventor  in the appli cation, or not. 
(7)  On the basis of a written request of the applicant or owner of the patent, those parts 
of the file which contain trade secret or ot her confidential information which publication is 
not necessary for a guarantee of the right for an information of third parties including the parties to the proceedings shall be excluded from the file inspection. 
(8)  Rights pursuant to paragraphs 1 to 3 sh all not be claimed in relation to the 
applications and patents kept confiden tial according to the special regulation 
20) to the record 
on voting and to those parts of the file cont aining ancillary notes or draft versions of 
decisions or other correspondence. 
 
 
 
  
                                                     
 
20)  Act No 241/2001 Coll. on Protection of Confidential Matters as amended. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 30  
 
Article 57 
Register and Official Journal 
 
(1)  The Office shall keep 
a) a Register in which it enters decisive data concerning the patent a pplications and granted 
patents,  
b) a European Patents Register in which it enters decisive data concerning granted 
European patents designa ting the Slovak Republic, 
c) a Register in which it enters decisive data concerning applications for granting 
supplementary protection certificates for medi cinal products or plant protection products, 
as well as granted supplementary protection ce rtificates for medicinal products or plant 
protection products. 
(2)  Data entered in the register s pursuant to paragraph 1 sha ll be considered valid, unless 
a decision of the relevant aut hority determines otherwise.  
(3)  Modifications of data in the Register, ensuing from a valid and enforceable decision 
of the relevant authority, shall be entered in  the Register without delay by the Office after 
delivery of the court decision with validity clause. 
(4)  The entry of data and facts ensuing from the law or from a decision of the relevant 
authority shall not be considered a decision is sued in the proceedings pursuant to a special 
regulation. 21) 
(5)  Any person is authorised to inspect th e Registers stated in the paragraph 1. 
(6)  The Office shall publish an Official Journa l in which it publishes facts concerning the 
published patent applications, European patent applications as well as patents, European 
patents, supplementary protection ce rtificates and their protection. 
 
Article 58 
International application 
 
(1)  An international application may be filed with the Office by  
a) natural persons who are the na tionals of the Slovak Republic, 
b) natural persons or legal persons with a reside nce or seat, establishment or organisational 
component in the territory of the Slovak Republic,  
(2)  For actions related to filing an internationa l application the applicant shall be obliged 
to pay an administrative fee as defined in Ar ticle 79(8) and, through the Office, to pay the 
fees stipulated in the Patent Co-operation Treaty. 1) 
(3)  The person filing an in ternational application1) by which he applies for the grant of a 
patent in the Slovak Republic shall be obliged to  submit the international application  to the 
Office within 31 month from the priority da te, pay an administra tive fee for filing the 
application (as defined in Article 79(8)) and submit its translation into the official language. 
a)  
(4)  On request of the applicant, if conditions pursua nt to paragraph 3 ha ve been met, the 
Office may start proceedings on th e international application even before the expiry of time 
limits laid down in paragraph 3. 
 
 
                                                      
21)  Act No 71/1967 Coll. on Administrative Proceedings (Administrative Procedure Code).  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 31 
 
 
Protection of confidential matters 
 
Article 59 
 
(1)  If a domestic applicant knows or due to  the circumstances should know that the 
application contains confidential matters pursuant to a special regulation, 20)  he shall be 
obliged to request explicitly in the ap plication to  keep it confidential.  
(2)  The applicant shall be obliged to file an application pursuant to paragraph 1, which is 
an international application of an  invention or a European patent application, with the Office.  
(3)  The Office after it has accorded a filing da te according to Article  35 shall deliver one 
version of the application to  the National Security Office 20) (hereinafter referred to as 
“Security Office”) together with the request for decision on confidentiali ty of the application 
pursuant to the special regulation 20) or, as the case may be, with the request for permission of 
filing the application abroad.  
(4)  The Office is entitled to act pursuant to paragraph 3 also in case when the applicant 
has not asked to keep the application confidential pur suant to paragraph 1.  
(5)  The Security Office shall decide on the request pursu ant to paragra ph 3 and deliver 
the decision to the Office. In case an international convention, treaty or agreement, by which 
the Slovak Republic is bound, allows it, the S ecurity Office shall supplement the decision 
with a request for keeping the subject-ma tter of the application confidential by the 
contracting party to the internat ional convention, in which the application shou ld be filed. 
The Office shall notify the applicant on th e decision of the Security Office.   
(6)  An application pursuant to paragraph 1, which is neither a European patent 
application nor an international application, ma y be filed by the appl icant directly abroad 
only on the basis of permission of the Security Office pursuant to the paragraph 3, issued on 
the basis of the request of the applicant. 
(7)  If as a consequence of keeping the applica tion confidential or as a result of the refusal 
of a request for permission to file an applica tion abroad the owner incurs a pecuniary injury 
consisting in preventing or limiting the commerc ial exploitation of the patent as defined in 
Article 3(h), the owner shall be entitled to a compensation of the pecuniary injury towards the Slovak Republic represented by the state admi nistration authority to which competence 
belongs the subject-matter of th e confidential application.   
(8)  As far as the determination of the amount of pecuniary injury pur suant to paragraph 7 
is concerned, Article 11(6) shall apply mutatis mutandis . 
(9)  Patent applications, European patent applic ations or international applications, for the 
confidentiality of which the contracting party or a foreign applicant has applied pursuant to 
an international convention binding for the Slova k Republic, shall be considered confidential 
pursuant to a special regulation. 
20) A foreign applicant who does not act on behalf of the 
contracting party shall be oblig ed to prove the confidentiality of the application subject-
matter by the contracting party, submit the perm ission of the contracting party for filing the 
application in the Slovak Republic and supplemen t a declaration on repudiation of any claims 
for compensation of damage or other pecuniar y injury which might occur as a result of 
keeping the application c onfidential in the territory  of the Slovak Republic. 
(10) Provisions of this Act shall apply to proceedings on applications which are 
confidential or deemed to be confidential pursuant to a special act, 20) with the exception of 
publication laid down in Article 41 and making da ta available in accordance with Article 56 
related to the confidential application or patent. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 32  
 
(11) If the Security Office does not cons ider facts contained in the application 
confidential pursuant to a special regulation, 20) the Office shall notify this fact to the 
applicant and shall continue proceedings  on the application without applying the 
confidentiality regime. 
 
PART FOUR 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT CONVENTION 
 
Article 60 
Effects of the European patent application 
 
(1)  A European patent application designating the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred 
to as “European Patent Applicat ion”) shall have from the accorded filing date or from the day 
of rise of the priority right claimed by the appl icant the same effect as a patent application 
filed pursuant to Article 35 on the same day, or an application with the same day of rise of 
priority right pursuant to Article 36. 
(2)  After the publication of a European Patent  Application by the Eu ropean Patent Office 
and a subsequent submission of a translation of  the patent claims into Slovak language and 
the payment of the publication fee according to Article 79(8) by the applicant of the 
European Patent Application, the Office shall ma ke the translation of pa tent claims available 
to the public and shall publish this fact in the Journal. 
(3)  From the day of making the translation of  thepatent claims available to the public 
pursuant to paragraph 2, the pe rson filing the European Pate nt Application has the same 
rights as a person filing an applic ation pursuant to this Act as defined in Article 13(1) to (3) 
provided that the European patent has been granted with effect in the Slovak Republic. 
(4)  If the European Patent Application has b een withdrawn in the proceedings before the 
European Patent Office, or if it is deemed w ithdrawn, the application proceedings shall be 
deemed to have been suspended pursuant to Article 40(3). Refusal of European Patent 
Application shall have the same effects as re fusal of application pur suant to Article 40(4). 
(5)  A decision of the European Patent Office on further processing or restitutio in 
integrum  shall have the same effects as a decision  of the Office pursuant to Article 51(5) and 
(6) or Article 52(7) and (8). 
 
Article 61 
Conversion of European Patent Application 
 
 (1) On the basis of a request of the applicant for a conversion of European Patent 
Application to a national applic ation (hereinafter referred to as “conversion”) filed pursuant 
to Articles 135 and 136 of the European Patent Convention, th e Office shall start proceedings 
on this application pursuant to Part Three of this Act or it shall proceed according to Article 
136(2) of the European  Patent Convention. 
(2) The applicant shall be obliged on the ba sis of the notice of the Office to submit 
within 3 months a translation of the European  Patent Application into Slovak language and 
pay the administrative fee for  filing an application in accord ance with Article 79(8).   
(3) In case the request for conversion is not filed within three mont hs from the day when 
the European Patent Application has been withdrawn or when a notification has been 
delivered that the application is considered wi thdrawn, or in the case  of a decision on the  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 33 
 
 
refusal of the application or revocation of Eu ropean patent, the appl icant shall lose the 
priority right following from European  Patent Application as filed.  
(4) If the request for conversion of Europ ean Patent Application has been filed in 
contradiction with Articles 135 to 137 of the Eu ropean Patent Convention, the Office shall 
refuse the request. 
(5) On the basis of a request for a conversion of the Europ ean Patent Application to a 
national application of a utility model filed pur suant to paragraph 1, the Office shall, on the 
basis of the European Patent Application, start proceedings on utility model application 
pursuant to a special regulation, 22) or it shall proceed according to Article 136(2) of the 
European Patent Convention. Provisions  of paragraphs 2 to 4 shall apply mutatis mutandis . 
 
Article 62 
Binding wording of the European Patent Application and European patent 
 
(1)  The contents of the European Patent A pplication modified by the wording of the 
European patent in the language in which the proceedings on the European Patent Application were held before the European Pate nt Office shall be decisive for determination 
of the scope of protection ensuing from Europ ean Patent Application and European patent. 
(2)  If protection ensuing from the translation of the patent specification into the Slovak 
language submitted to the Office pursuant to Arti cle 63(2) as well as from the translation of 
patent claims submitted to the Office pursuant to  Article 60(2) is narrower than from the 
wording of the European Patent Application an d European patent in the language in which 
the proceedings before the European Patent O ffice were held, the translation into the Slovak 
language shall be considered the binding word ing, with the exception of proceedings for 
revocation of the European patent. 
(3)  At any time the applicant or owner of a European patent may file a corrected 
translation of claims pursuant to Article 60(2)  or a corrected translation of the European 
patent specification pursuant to Article 63(2) into Slovak language. After the delivery of the 
corrected translation and payment of fee pursuan t to Article 79(8), the Office shall make the 
corrected translation available to the public and shall publish this fact in the Journal. 
(4) The corrected translation shall apply instead  of the original translation from the day 
of notification of making the corrected translation available in the Journal.  
(5) The right of third parties to use the s ubject-matter of the invention, which according 
to the translation into the Slovak language vali d in the decisive peri od has not fallen within 
the scope of the European patent, shall rema in unaffected by the effects of the corrected 
translation, provided that, with in the territory of  the Slovak Republic and in good faith, the 
subject-matter of the invention has been used  or  evincible arrangements for using the 
subject-matter of the invention have been made.. 
 
Article 63 
Effects of European patent 
 
(1)  A European patent granted by the Europ ean Patent Office designating the Slovak 
Republic shall have the same effects as a patent  granted pursuant to Article 44(4) from the 
day of notification of granting the European  patent in the European Patent Bulletin. 
                                                      
22)  Act No 478/1992 Coll. on Utility Models as amended by the Act No 90/1993 Coll. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 34  
 
(2)  The owner of European patent shall be ob liged to submit to the Office within three 
months from the notification on granting the Eu ropean patent a translation of the patent 
specification into the Slovak language, pay the publication fee according to Article 79(8) and 
notify to the Office an address for corresponden ce in the territory of  the Slovak Republic.  
(3)  If the owner of European patent fails to  submit to the Office a translation of the 
European patent specification within the time limit pursuant to paragraph 2, he may submit the translation within a grace period of three months on condition of payment of a surcharge 
pursuant to paragraph 2 together with the submission of the translation.  
(4)  If the translation of the Eu ropean patent specification into  the Slovak language is not 
submitted to the Office even within the grace period under conditions pu rsuant to paragraph 
3, the European patent shall be deemed ineffective in the territory of the Slovak Republic ab 
initio . 
(5)  If the patent owner does not  notify to the Office the address for correspondence in the 
territory of the Slovak Republic, official co rrespondence related to his patent shall be 
deposited at the Office and considered delivere d within a time limit of 30 days as from the 
day of deposition. The Office shall notify the applicant about this consequence. 
(6)  Based on the fulfilment of conditions pursuant to paragraph 2, the Office shall make 
the translation of the European patent specific ation available and notify this availability as 
well as the granting of European patent in th e Journal in accordance with Article 57.   
(7)  After publication in the European Patent Bulletin about the granting of European 
patent the Office shall enter the European patent in the European Patents Register with data that had been entered in the Re gister of European Patents. 
 
Article 64 
Inadmissibility of double protection 
 
       If the patent is granted for an inve ntion for which the same owner or his legal successor 
in title has been granted European  patent with the same priority  right, the national patent shall 
become invalid to the extent to which it is iden tical with the European patent, from the day of 
expiry of the time limit for filing the opposition against the European patent, if no opposition 
have been filed, or from the day of validity of  the decision of the European Patent Office, by 
which the European patent has been preserved in the opposition proceedings. 
 
Article 65 
Revocation or maintenance of European patent in a modified wording 
 
(1)  A decision of the European Patent Office on full or partial revoc ation of a European 
patent or on maintenance of a European patent  in a modified wording shall have the same 
effect in the Slovak Republic as a decisi on of the Office pursuant to Article 46. 
(2)  Revocation or maintenance in a modified wording of a European patent shall be 
notified by the Office in the Journal.  
(3)  If during the opposition proceedings pursuant to Article 102 of the European Patent 
Convention the European patent is maintained  based on a decision of the European Patent 
Office in a modified wording, the owner of the European patent shall be obliged within three months from the day of publication of the modi fication in the European Patent Bulletin to 
submit to the Office a translation of the modified wording of the patent specification into the Slovak language and pay the public ation fee pursuant to Article 79(8).  The Office shall make 
the translation of the patent specification in  a modified wording av ailable and notify this  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 35 
 
 
availability as well as the decision about the maintenance of the European patent in a 
modified wording in the Journal.  
(4)  If the owner fails to submit a translation of the modified wording of the European 
patent specification into the Sl ovak language or if he  fails to pay the pu blication fee within 
the time limit pursuant to paragraph 3, the Europ ean patent shall be deemed ineffective in the 
Slovak Republic ab initio . 
(5)  The Office shall revoke the European patent designating the Slovak Republic under 
conditions stipulated in Article 46(2) to (7) and Article 47, if during the proceedings started 
on a request or ex officio  a reason for revocation of the pa tent pursuant to Article 138 in 
conjunction with Article 139 of the European Patent Convention is proved, provided that 
a) the time for filing the opposition pursuant to the European Pa tent Convention has vainly 
expired, or 
b) the European patent has not been revoked during the opposition proceedings before the 
European Patent Office. 
(6)  If at the time of the proceedings on revo cation of the European patent before the 
Office proceedings on revocation of the patent in  the same matter have started or have been 
pending before the European Patent Office,  the Office shall suspend the revocation 
proceedings. After termination the proceedings before the European Patent Office, during 
which the European patent has not been revoked,  the Office shall, on request of any party, 
continue  the patent revocation proceedings. If the request for fu rther processing of the patent 
revocation proceedings is not submitted within six months from the validity of the decision of the European Patent Office, the Office shall terminate the patent re vocation proceedings.  
 
Article 66 
Filing of European Patent Application 
 
(1)  The Office is the place wher e legal or natural persons ma y file a European Patent 
Application. 
(2) Paragraph 1 shall not apply in case of fili ng a divisional European Patent Application 
pursuant to Article 76 of the European Patent Convention. 
 
Article 67 
Fees 
 
(1)  For maintaining the validity of European patent in the Slovak Republic the owner 
shall be obliged to pay annual maintena nce fees according to Article 79(8).  
(2)  The right of third parties to use the subject-matter of the invention shall not be 
affected by subsequent payment of the maintenan ce fee provided that after the vain expiry of 
time limit for payment of the maintenance fee, w ithin the territory of the Slovak Republic and 
in good faith, the subject-matter of the invention ha s been used or  evin cible arrangements for 
using the subject-matter of the invention  have been made.. 
 
   
 
  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 36  
 
PART FIVE 
GRANTING SUPPLEMENTARY PROTECTION  CERTIFICATES FOR MEDICINAL 
PRODUCTS AND PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS 
 
Supplementary protection certific ate for medicinal products 
 
Article 68 
 
The basic patent is a patent, which protects 
a) a medicinal product 23) or a combination of medicinal produ cts (hereinafter referred to as 
“medicinal product”), 
b) a process for obtaining the medicinal product, or  
c) a process of application of  the medicinal product .  
 
Article 69 
 
 The Office shall grant the supplementary prot ection certificate for a medicinal product to 
any medicinal product which is th e ingredient of a medicine wh ich before being placed on the 
market is a subject to registrati on pursuant to a special regulation, 23) provided that 
a) the medicinal product  is protected by a basi c patent in the territory of the Slovak 
Republic, 
b) the medicinal product  is a component of the  medicine registered pursuant to a special 
regulation, 23) where it is the first registration in  the territory of the Slovak Republic, 
c) the medicinal product  has not been grante d a supplementary protection certificate for 
medicinal product in the previous period, 
d) the basic patent has not been granted on the basis of the application for invention 
pursuant to the Article 82 of the Act No 527/1990 Coll.  
 
Supplementary protection certificate 
for plant protection products 
 
Article 70 
 
(1)  For the purposes of this Act shall be   
a) an active substance a uniform or non-uniform s ubstance or micro organism as well as the 
virus, having a general or specific effect agai nst harmful organism, plant or its part or  
plant product, 24) 
b) a plant protection product (hereinafter referred to as “product”) an active substance or 
combination of active substances of the preparation for the protection of plants. 
(2)  The basic patent is a patent which protects 
a) a product defined in paragraph 1(b) as such, 
b) a preparation intended for use as preparati on for plant protection which forms a mixture 
or a solution composed of several substances of which at least one substance is active, 
c) a process to obtain the product or an application of the product. 
                                                      
23)  Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No 140/1998 Coll. on Medicines and Medical Devices 
and on amendment of the Act No 455/1991 Coll. 
24)  Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No 285/1995 Coll. on Plant Medicinal Care.  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 37 
 
 
 
Article 71 
 
(1)   The Office shall grant a supplementary pr otection certificate for plant protection 
products to a product which is a compone nt part of a preparation for plant 
protection, which before being placed on the market is subject to registration 
pursuant to a special regulation, 24) provided that 
a) the product is protected by a basic patent  in the territory of  the Slovak Republic, 
b) the preparation for plant protection is regi stered pursuant to a special regulation, 24) 
where it is the first registration in the territory of the Slovak Republic, 
c) the product has not been granted a supplem entary protection certificate for plant 
protection products in the previous period, and 
d) the basic patent has not been granted on the basis of the application for invention 
pursuant to the Article 82 of the Act No 527/1990 Coll.  
(2)   A product which is protected by several ba sic patents belonging to one owner may 
be granted only one supplementary prot ection certificate fo r plant protection 
products. 
(3)  A product which is protected by several basic patents belonging to various owners 
may be granted a supplementary protection certificate for plan t protection products 
to each of the owners separately. 
 
Common provisions 
 
Article 72 
The subject-matter of protection 
 
(1)  Within the scope of protection conferre d by the basic patent, the supplementary 
protection certificate for medici nal products or the supplementa ry protection certificate for 
plant protection products (hereina fter referred to as “certificat e”) shall protect the medicinal 
product or the product which is su bject to registration of a me dicine or registration of a 
preparation for plant protection pursuant to special regulations, 25) as well as to any use of this 
medicinal product or product that has been author ised before the expiry  of the certificate. 
(2)  The owner of the certificate shall enjoy th e same rights and shall be subject to the 
same obligations and limitations as  the owner of the basic patent. 
 
Article 73 
Duration of the certificate 
 
(1)  The certificate shall take effect for a period equal to the period which elapsed 
between the filing date of the application for the basic patent and the date of the first 
registration of the medicine or preparation for plant protection pursuant to special regulations, 
reduced by a period of five years, however, th e duration of the certificate may not exceed five 
years from the date on which it takes effect.  
(2)  The certificate shall take effect on the day following the expiry of the lawful term of 
the basic patent. 
                                                      
25)  Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No 140/1998 Coll. 
      Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No 285/1995 Coll. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 38  
 
(3)  The owner shall be obliged to pay an annual administra tive fee for the maintenance 
of the validity of the certificate pursuant to Article 79(8).  
 
Application for granting the certificate 
 
Article 74 
 
(1)  A Certificate shall be granted on the basis of an application excl usively to the owner 
of the basic patent. 
(2)  An Application for granting the certificate may also be filed by a legal successor in 
title of the basic patent owner.  
(3)  An Application for granting the certificate ha s to be filed within six months from the 
day of validity of the decision on the registration of the medici ne or the preparation for plant 
protection pursuant to special regulations. 25) If the decision on registration came into effect 
before the granting of the basic patent, the ap plication for granting the certificate shall be 
filed within six months from the day of granting the patent. 
(4)  The applicant shall be obliged to pay for the application for granting the certificate an 
administrative fee according to Article 79(8).  
 
Article 75 
 
(1)  If the application for granting the certificat e fails to contain requirements stipulated 
by the generally binding regulation pursuant to Article (80), or if the applicant is not 
represented by an authorised representative pursu ant to Article 79(1), or if he fails to submit 
the application for entry of the assignment or transfer pursuant to Article 74(2), the Office 
shall request the applicant to rectify the irregula rities within a set time limit. If the applicant 
fails to comply with delivered notice within the set time limit and the proceedings shall not 
for this reason be continued, the Office shall suspend the proceedings on the application for 
granting the certificate. The applicant shall be notified of the consequence of suspension of 
the proceedings by notice. 
(2)  If the application fails to meet the conditions for grantin g the certificate pursuant to 
any of the provisions of Article 69, Article 71 and 74(1) and (3), or if the applicant is neither 
the owner of the basic patent, nor his legal su ccessor in title, the Office shall refuse the 
application. 
(3)  If requirements for granting the certifi cate are met, the Office shall grant the 
certificate, where in a case pursu ant to Article 74(2) the granting of the certificate must be 
preceded by the entry in the Register of the applicant as basic patent owner. 
 
Article 76 
Expiry of the certificate 
 
Certificate shall lapse 
a) by expiry of the time of its validity pursuant to Article 73, 
b) on the day of effectiveness of abandonme nt of the certificate by the owner, 
c) by the vain expiry of the peri od stipulated for the payment of the administrative fee for 
maintaining the validity of the certifi cate in accordance with Article 79(8),  
d) on the day of revocation the registra tion pursuant to sp ecial regulations. 25)  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 39 
 
 
 
Article 77 
Revocation or change of the certificate 
 
(1)  The Office shall revoke the certificate, if dur ing proceedings initia ted on request of a 
third party or ex officio  it is demonstrated that 
a) the conditions for granting have not been met pursuant to any of the provisions of 
Articles 69, 71 and 74(1) and (3), 
b) the basic patent has lapsed  before its expiration, 
c) the basic patent has been revoked or partially  revoked to the extent that the medicinal 
product or product for which the certificate wa s granted is no longer protected by the 
basic patent. This shall also  apply in case of revocation of the basic patent which 
occurred after its expiration. 
(2)  The Office shall change the certificate if, in the proceedings started on the request of 
a third party or ex officio , it is proved that time of validity  of the certificate pursuant to 
Article 73(1) has not been determined correctly. 
(3)  A request for revocation of the certificate or  for the change of th e certificate may be 
filed also after the lapse of valid ity of the certificate pursuant to Article 76, if the person who 
proposes it proves legal interest. 
(4)  In case of revocation, the certificate shal l be deemed not to have been granted. 
(5)  For the request pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 the person requesting is obliged to pay 
an administrative fee pursuant to Article 79(8).  
 
Article 78 
 
As far as the rise, modification and lapse of  legal relationships w hose subject-matter is 
the certificate, as well as for proceedings on certificates are concerned, Articles 19 to 28, 
Article 30, Articles 32 to 34, Article 39, Article 45, Articles 47 to 58 shall apply; regime of the confidentiality of the basic patent referred to in Article 59 shall apply to the certificate 
mutatis mutandis . 
 
PART SIX 
COMMON, AUTHORISING, TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 79 
Common provision 
 
(1)  Parties to proceedings before the Office shall have equal position, however, parties 
without residence or seat in the Slovak Republic shall have  to be represented in the 
proceedings, including submitting of the translations  pursuant to Part Four of this Act, by an 
authorised representative, 26) with the exception of acts 
a) preceding and related to the accordance of th e filing date pursuant to Article 35, 
b) related to the payment of the fees, 
c) related to the demonstration  of a pr iority right pursuant to Article 36. 
                                                      
26)  Article 40 of the Act No 237/1991 Coll. on Patent Attorneys as amended by the Act of the National Council 
of the Slovak Republic No 90/1993 Coll. IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 40  
 
(2)  When applying for an exception from mandatory representation pursuant to 
paragraph 1 the party to the proceedings shall be  obliged to notify the Office of an address for 
correspondence in the territory of  the Slovak Republic. If the part y to the proceed ings fails to 
notify the Office of an address for corresponden ce, official communications related to the 
proceedings shall be deposited in the Office, wh ere they shall be deemed delivered after the 
expiry of 30 days from the date of deposition. The party has to be informed about this consequence.  
(3)  As far as proceedings before the Office pursu ant to this Act are concerned, the Act on 
Administrative Proceedings 
21) with the exception of provisions of Article 19, Article 23, 
Articles 28 to 32, Article 39, Article 49, Article  50, Article 59(1) and Article 60 shall apply 
mutatis mutandis . 
(4)  If a party to the proceedings fails to comp ly with a notice of th e Office within the set 
time limit, the Office may suspend the proceedi ngs. The party must be notified about this 
consequence in the notice. 
(5)  Unless stated otherwise below, the Offi ce may suspend the proceedings also on 
request of a party whose application or reque st is the subject-matter of the proceedings. 
Request for suspension the proceedings shall not be withdrawn. 
(6)  In case of request for suspension of the pr oceedings on applicati on, or on application 
for granting the certificate to which a court litigation entered in the Register is related, the Office may only suspend the proceedings after submission of a written consent of the person who had filed the request for entry of the court litigation in the Register.  
(7)  Unless this Act or the generally binding re gulation according to Article(80) stipulates 
otherwise, submissions to the Office shall be made in writing, in the national language. 
27) 
(8)  For realisation the acts pursuant to this Act and for maintaining the validity of the 
patent, European patent or certificate the admini strative fees pursuant to a separate regulation. 
28)shall be paid .       
(9)  Details related to the submission by means of electronic media shall be stipulated by 
a generally binding regulation issued by the Offi ce. Filing, which pursuant to the generally 
binding regulation according to Article(80) has to be supplem ented by the submission of a 
written original within the set time limit, shall not be taken into consideration by the Office in 
the proceedings in case of failure to meet this obligation. 
 
Article 80 
Authorising provision 
 
The generally binding regulation issu ed by the Office shall stipulate 
a) details about the method and requirements of  claiming and proving the priority right, 
b) details about the filing method and requi rements of the patent application, 
c) conditions of re-deposition of biological material in a re cognised depository institution 15) 
and conditions for making the deposited  material available to the public, 
d) details on the divisional application, admissi ble amendment of application and correction 
of certain mistakes, 
                                                      
27)  Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No 270/1995 Coll. on Official Language of the Slovak 
Republic as amended. 
28)  Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No 145/1995 on Administration Fees as amended.  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 41 
 
 
e) details about requirements of the patent re vocation request, request for forfeiture of 
protection and rectification, re quest for determination, request  for further processing and 
request for restitutio in integrum , 
f) details about the method and requirements of filing an internationa l application, its 
translation and languages of the filing, 
g) details about the method and requirements of  filing a European Patent Application, 
h) details about the method and requirements of filing a application for granting the 
certificate , as well as details about the proceeding for granting the  Certificate, 
i) details about the method of filing and requirements of a request for change and 
revocation of a certificate , as well as de tails about the proceedings for change and 
revocation of a certificate,  
j) details about the form of filing at the Office in general, about correspondence  and filing 
via electronic media, 
k) details about the method and requirements of filing an application for an entry of the 
right in the Register, 
l) details about the method and requirements of the licence offer and its acceptance, 
m) details about data entered in the Regi ster and published in the Journal, 
n) details about the regime of proceedings in cas e of confidential appl ications, patents and 
certificates, 
o) details about the method of filing and require ments of application for transfer of an 
author’s certificate to a patent, 
p) time limit determined by the Office for actions of parties to the proceedings pursuant to 
this Act. 
 
Transitional provisions 
 
Article 81 
 
(1)  Rise, modification and lapse of legal relati onships which have occurred before this 
Act has come into effect are adjudica ted pursuant to previous regulations. 
(2)  Proceedings on applications of inventions and proceedings on patents which were not 
lawfully concluded before this Act comes into effect, shall be concluded pursuant to this Act, where in the case of applicatio n of inventions filed pursua nt to Act No 84/1972 Coll. on 
discoveries, inventions, rationalisation proposal s and industrial designs the Office shall 
perform substantive examination ex officio . 
(3)  Applications of inventions filed pursuant to  previous regulations shall be deemed to 
be filed pursuant to this Act. 
(4)  If the use of the subject-matter of the applic ations of inventions stated in paragraphs 
1 and 2 has occurred before this Act comes into  effect and under condi tions stipulated by the 
previous regulations, third party rights shall re main unaffected. The right of the inventor to 
remuneration for the use of the subject-matter of  the invention with the application for grant 
of author’s certificate pursuant to prev ious regulations sha ll remain unaffected. 
 
 
 
  IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 42  
 
Article 82 
 
(1)  An author’s certificate for an inventi on, granted pursuant to Act No 84/1972 Coll. 
shall be valid for 15 years from the filing of th e application. For maintaining the validity of 
the author’s certificate, the administrative fees shall be paid pursuant to Article 79(8).   
(2)  An organisation which possesse s under prior regulations the right to use the invention 
or which was granted with this right shall have the same rights as the patent owner. 
(3)  In case of an invention created in di fferent manner than under conditions of the 
provision of Article 28(a) of the Act No 84/1972 Coll. protected by an author’s certificate 
granted pursuant to the prior re gulations, which has not been us ed by the organisation that has 
the right to manage the invention or that was granted with this right, the inventor shall be 
entitled to ask the Office for its co nversion to a patent (hereinafter  referred to as “request for 
conversion”) at any point in time during the validity of the author ’s certificate. The applicant 
shall be obliged to pay administrative fee pursuant to Article 79(8) for the request for 
conversion of the author’s certificate to a patent.  
(4)  The Office shall publish the request for conversion as well as the decision on 
conversion in the Journal. Anyone may file an opposition to the request for conversion within 
a time limit of three months since the pub lication of the request for conversion. 
(5)  A patent granted on the basis of the reque st for conversion shall be valid 15 years 
since the filing date of the app lication of the invention; the rights following from a patent 
granted on the basis of the request for conversio n shall arise since the date of publication of 
the request for convers ion in the Journal. 
(6)  If invention protected by an author’s cer tificate was not created under conditions of 
the provision of Article 28(a) of the Act No 84/1972 Coll., the inventor shall be entitled to 
use the invention in his business activity. 
 
Article 83 
 
(1)  The use of an invention protected by an  author’s certificate,  which in accordance 
with the prior regulations has started before  January 1, 1991 or for which right has been 
granted before such date on the basis of a cont ract, shall not create an infringement of the 
rights of the patent owner. The right of the inventor for remuneration for the use of the 
invention pursuant to the previous regul ations shall not be thereby affected.  
(2)  Claims to a remuneration for the use of an invention as well as claims for the 
reimbursement of reasonable costs related to  the preparation of drawings, models or 
prototypes, remuneration for init iative participation in the prep aration, testing or introduction 
of the invention and claims for remuneration for pointing out the possibility of using an 
invention which originated before  this Act has come into force,  shall be settled pursuant to 
the prior regulations. 
(3)  If, after this Act has come into effect, an invention is used which is protected by an 
author’s certificate to which an organisation ha s the right corresponding to the right of the 
patent owner pursuant to provisi on of Article 82(2) , the organi sation shall be obliged to pay 
the inventor a remuneration pursuan t to Article 11 of this Act. 
 
 
    IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
 Page 43 
 
 
Article 84 
 
(1)  An applicant of an invention pursuant to  the Article 82(1) and (2) of the Act No 
527/1990 Coll. is obliged to submit to the Office 
a) a document confirming the granting of th e consent for marketing or producing the 
subject-matter of the patent granted in any state abroad, and 
b) a decision on registration pursuan t to the special regulations, 25)  issued on the basis of the 
request filed within six months from the da te of granting the consent for marketing or 
production the subject-matter of the patent in any state. 
(2)  An applicant of an invention is obliged to submit the record and the decision pursuant 
to the paragraph 1 to the Office within the time limit of three months from its delivery but no 
later than 16 years from the date of  rise the priority rights expired. 
(3)  The failure to comply with time limits stated in the paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not be 
excused. 
(4)  The Office shall reject an application concerning the inventi on pursuant to the 
paragraph 1 when 
a) an applicant failed to meet the conditi ons pursuant the paragraphs 1 and 2, 
b) the subject-matter of the patent granted abro ad has been put on the market in the Czech 
and Slovak Federative Republic before the fili ng date of the application pursuant to the 
paragraph 1. 
(5)  The patent granted pursuant  to the Article 82(1) and (2 ) of the Act No 527/1990 Coll. 
shall be considered valid within 16 years from the date of rise the priority right.  
 
Article 85 
 
When the time limits pursuant  to the Article 74(3) lapse be fore the 1 July, 2002, it shall 
be available to file the applic ation on granting the Certificate pu rsuant to Article 74 till the 31 
December, 2002 provided that decision on medici ne registration or preparation for plant 
protection registration pursuant  to the special regulations 25) became valid after the January 1, 
2000.  
 
Article 86 
Repealing provision 
 
The following shall be repealed 
1.   Articles 2 to 35, Article s 78 to 82, Article 84 of the Ac t No 527/1990 Coll. on Inventions, 
Industrial Designs and Rationalisation Proposal s as amended by Article III of the Act No 
90/1993 Coll. and the Act No 185/1994 Coll.; 
2.   Article 65(2), Articles 66 to 71, Article 75(2) and Articl e 86 of the Act No 527/1990 Coll. 
on Inventions, Industrial Designs and Rationali sation Proposals as amended to the extent 
governing legal relations and pr oceedings related to inven tions, patents and author’s 
certificates;  
3.  Chapter One of the Decree of the Fede ral Office for Inventions No 550/1990 Coll. on 
Procedure in Matters of Inve ntions and Industrial Designs.   
 
 IP/N/1/SVK/P/2 
Page 44  
 
Title II 
 
Act No 132/1989 Coll. on Protection of Rights to New Plant and Animal Varieties as amended 
by the Act No 22/1996 Coll. shall be amended in the following way: 
 
Article 10 shall be supplemented by para graph 3, which shall read as follows: 
“(3) If the court grants to the owner of the breed er certificate a compulsory licence for the use of 
an invention protected by a patent pursuant to a special regulation, 1f), the Ministry shall grant to the 
patent owner, on the basis of a request, a co mpulsory licence pursuant to paragraph 1.“. 
 
Footnote 1f) shall read as follows: 
“1f) Article 27(5) and (6) of the Act No 435/2001 Coll. on Patents, Supplementary Protection Certificates and on 
Amendment of Some Acts (The Patent Act).”.  
 
Title III 
 
Act No 478/1992 Coll. on Utility Designs as amende d by the Act of the National Council of the 
Slovak Republic No 90/1993 Coll. shall be amended in the following way: 
Article 21(2) shall read as follows: 
“(2) For the application of the right to the u tility model, relations among co-creators, relations 
among co-owners, assignment, transfer, right of lien, contractual licence, status of the parties to the 
proceedings, representation before the Office, susp ension of the proceedings, extension of the time 
limit, further processing, restitutio in integrum , determination proceedings, remedies and for the 
protection against the infringement of rights, the provisions of the Patent Act shall apply mutatis 
mutandis . 4)”. 
 
Footnote 4 shall read as follows: 
“4) Act No 435/2001 on Patents, Supplementary Protection Certificates and on Amendment of Some Acts (The 
Patent Act).”. 
 
Title IV 
 
This Act shall come into effect on 1 November 2001 with the exception of the Part Four and Part 
Five which shall come into effect on 1 July 2002. 
 
 
Rudolf Schuster  s.m. 
Jozef Migaš  s.m. 
Mikuláš Dzurinda  s.m. 
__________