IP/N/1/MDA/P/4  
 
8 November 2013  
(13-6190)  Page: 1/29  
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 
 
R
EPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA  
This document reproduces the text1 of the Law on the protection of inventions No. 50-XVI of 
March 7, 2008, as notified by the Republic of Moldova on 17 September 2013 under Article 63.2 of 
the Agreement (see document IP/N/1/MDA/2).  
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 
 
R
ÉPUBLIQUE DE MOLDOVA  
Le présent document contient le texte1 de la Loi n° 50-XVI du 7 mars 2008 sur la protection des 
inventions, notifiée par la République de Moldova le 17 septembre 2013 au titre de l'article 63:2 de 
l'Accord (voir le document IP/N/1/MDA/2). 
 
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 
 
R
EPÚBLICA DE MOLDOVA  
En el presente documento se reproduce el texto1 de la Ley sobre la protección de las invenciones 
Nº 50-XVI, de 7 de marzo de 2008, notificada por la República de Moldova el 17 de septiembre 
de 2013 en virtud de lo dispuesto en el párrafo 2 del artículo 63 del Acuerdo (véase el documento IP/N/1/MDA/2).   
                                               
1 In English only./En anglais seulement./En inglés solamente. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  LAW 
on the protection of inventions 
 
No. 50-XVI of March 7, 2008 
 
 
CHAPTER I 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
 Article 1. Scope This Law lays down the rights and obligations resulting from the creation, legal protection and use 
of inventions. 
 Article 2. Legal Framework 
(1) The rights in inventions shall be obtained and protected on the territory of the Republic of 
Moldova via grant of patents by the State Agency on Intellectual Property, under the conditions specified in this Law. 
(2) The rights resulting from the Eurasian patent s shall be recognized and protected on the 
territory of the Republic of Moldova in accordance with this Law. 
(3) If the provisions of an international treaty to which the Republic of Moldova is party differ from 
those set out in this Law, the provisions of such international treaty shall prevail. 
 
Article 3. Basic Concepts For the purposes of this Law, the terms below shall have the following definitions: 
"Patent " means notion covering a patent for an invention and a short-term patent for an 
invention; "Applicant " means a natural or legal person applying for the grant of a patent for invention; 
"Patent owner " means a natural or legal person to whom the right conferred by a patent 
belongs; "International application " means an application for the protection of an invention filed under 
the Patent Cooperation Treaty; 
"Eurasian application " means an application for the grant of a Eurasian patent filed under the 
Eurasian Patent Convention; "PCT" means the Patent Cooperation Treaty adopted in Washington, DC on June 19, 1970, with 
the subsequent amendments thereof; 
"Eurasian Convention " means the Eurasian Patent Convention adopted in Moscow on 
February 17, 1994; 
"Paris Convention " means the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property 
adopted in Paris on  March 20, 1883, with the subsequent revisions and amendments thereof.   
Article 4. Forms of Protection of Inventions 
(1) Inventions shall be protected by the titles of protection granted in accordance with this Law. 
(2) Inventions shall be protected by the following titles of protection: 
a) patent for an invention; 
b) short-term patent for an invention; 
c) supplementary protection certificate. 
(3) The provisions of this Law shall apply equally to the patents for invention and the short-term 
patents for invention, except for the provisions of Chapter V Section 2 of this Law, which only 
apply to patents for invention. 
 Article 5. National Office 
(1) The State Agency on Intellectual Property, hereinafter AGEPI , is the national office in the 
intellectual property protection field and is the sole authority that provides for the legal 
protection of inventions on the territory of the Republic of Moldova under this Law. 
(2) In accordance with this Law, AGEPI sh all have the following responsibilities: 
a) coordinates the implementation of the invent ion protection policy in the Republic of 
Moldova; 
b) elaborates draft legislative and other regulato ry acts on the protection of inventions, 
approves instructions, standardized forms and other procedural steps necessary for the application of this Law; IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  c) registers and prosecutes patent applications with the view of granting and issuing, on 
behalf of the state, titles of protection of inventions; publishes patent applications and patent specifications; 
d) it is the depository of the National Register of  Patent Applications, the National Register of 
Short-Term Patent Applications, the National Re gister of Patents and the National Register 
of Short-Term Patents; 
e) edits the Official Bulletin of Industrial Prop erty of the Republic of  Moldova, hereinafter 
BOPI, and publishes therein data on patent applications, patents and supplementary 
protection certificates; 
f) acts as Receiving Office for the international applications and the Eurasian applications 
filed by the national applicants in accordance with the PCT or the Eurasian Convention 
provisions; 
g) maintains and administers the National Collection of Patents by means of acquisitions and 
exchanges of information with international organizations and foreign patent offices; 
h) participates in the application of proof maintenance measures in case any rights provided 
for herein are infringed; 
i) performs other functions provided for in this Law. 
(3) AGEPI shall represent the Republic of Moldova in the World Intellectual Property Organization, 
as well as in other international, intergovernmental or interstate organizations for the protection of intellectual property and it shall maintain relations of multilateral and bilateral cooperation with them in the respective field. 
 
CHAPTER II 
SUBSTANTIVE PATENT LAW 
 
Section 1 
Patentability  
 
Article 6. Patentable Inventions (1) A patent shall be granted for any invention having as subject a product or a process, in all 
fields of technology, provided that such invention is new, involves an inventive step and is 
susceptible of industrial application. 
(2) The following shall not be regarded as inventions within the meaning of paragraph (1): 
a) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods; 
b) aesthetic creations; 
c) schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, 
and programs for computers; 
d) presentations of information.  
(3) The provisions of paragraph (2) shall exclud e the patentability of the subject-matter or 
activities referred to therein only to the extent to which a patent application or patent relates to such subject-matter or activities as such. 
(4) Inventions in the field of biotechnology shall be deemed patentable if they concern: 
a) biological material which is isolated from its natural environment or produced by means 
of a technical process even if it previously occurred in nature; 
b) plants or animals if the technical feasibility of the invention is not confined to a particular 
plant or animal variety; 
c) a microbiological process or other technical process, or a product obtained by means of 
such a process other than a plant or animal variety; 
d) an element isolated from the human body or otherwise produced by means of a technical 
process, including the sequence or partial sequence of a gene, even if the structure of that element is identical to that of a natural element.  
 
Article 7 .
 Exceptions to Patentability 
(1) Patents shall not be granted within the meaning of this Law in respect of: 
a) inventions the publication or exploitation of which would be contrary to " ordre public"  or 
morality, including those harmful for human, animal or plant life or health, and which are likely to cause serious prejudice to the enviro nment, provided that such exclusion is not 
made merely because the exploitation is prohibited by a clause; 
b) plant or animal varieties;  
c) essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals; this provision shall 
not apply to microbiological processes or the products thereof; IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  d) inventions concerning the human body, at the various stages of its formation and 
development, and the simple discovery of one of its elements, including the sequence or 
partial sequence of a gene; 
(2) Patents shall not be granted within the meaning of paragraph 1(a) in respect of 
biotechnological inventions which, in particular, concern the following: 
a) processes for cloning human beings; 
b) processes for modifying the germ line genetic identity of human beings; 
c) uses of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes; 
d) processes for modifying the genetic identity of animals which are likely to cause them 
suffering without any substantial medical benefit to man or animal, and also animals resulting from such processes.  
 
Article 8. Novelty (1) An invention shall be considered to be new if it  does not form 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 
means of a written or oral description, by use, or in any other way, before the date of filing of the patent application or of the acknowledged priority. 
(3) The state of the art shall also be held to comprise the content of patent applications as filed 
with the AGEPI, the dates of filing of which ar e prior to the date referred to in paragraph (2) 
and which were published on or after that date under Article 49.  
 
Article 9. Non-Prejudicial Disclosure 
(1) For the application of Article 8, a disclosure of the invention shall not be taken into 
consideration if it occurred no earlier than 6 months preceding the filing date of the patent 
application and if it was due to, or in consequence of: 
a) an evident abuse in relation to the applicant or his legal predecessor; 
b) the fact that the applicant or his legal predecessor has displayed the invention at an 
international exhibition. An exhibition shall be considered as international if it is officially 
organized, if producers of more states participate therein and if the information about such exhibition has correspondingly been made available to public.  
(2) The provisions of paragraph 1(b) shall apply only if the applicant states, when filing the patent 
application, that the invention has been so displayed and files a supporting certificate within 
the time limit and under the conditions laid do wn in the Implementing Regulations on patent 
application filing and examination and patent granting procedure, hereinafter Regulations , 
approved by the Government. 
 Article 10. Inventive Step 
(1) An invention shall be considered as involving an inventive step if, having regard to the state of 
the art, it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art. 
(2) If the prior art also includes documents referred to in Article 8 paragraph (3), these 
documents shall not be considered in deciding  whether there has been an inventive step. 
 
Article 11. Industrial Application (1) An invention shall be considered as susceptible of industrial application if it can be made or 
used in any kind of industry, including agriculture. 
(2) The industrial application of a sequence or a partial sequence of a gene must be disclosed in 
the patent application. 
 
Article 12. Subject-Matter Protected by  a Short-Term Patent for Invention 
(1) A short-term patent for invention shall be granted for any invention which is new, involves an 
inventive step and is susceptible of industrial application . 
(2) An invention shall be considered as involving an inventive step within the meaning of 
paragraph (1) if it gives a technical or practical advantage. 
(3) 
Additionally to Article 7, short-term patents fo r invention shall not be granted in respect of 
inventions concerning: 
a) biological material; 
b) chemical or pharmaceutical substances and/or processes. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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Section 2 
Persons Entitled to Apply for and Obtain a Patent 
 
Article 13. Entitlement to File a Patent Application 
(1) Any natural or legal person shall be entitled to apply for a patent by filing a patent application 
with the AGEPI. 
(2) A patent application may be filed by multiple applicants. 
 Article 14. Right to a Patent (1) The right to a patent shall belong to the inventor or his successor in title. 
(2) If two or more persons have made an invention independently of each other, the right to a 
patent shall belong to the person whose patent  application has the earliest date of filing, 
provided that this first application has been published in accordance with Article 49. 
 
Article 15. Employee Inventions  (1) If the inventor is an employee, in the absence of a contractual provision more advantageous 
for him, the right to the patent shall be regula ted by the provisions of paragraphs (2)–(4) of 
this article. 
(2) The inventions made by an employee either in the exercise of a labor contract, which 
provides for an inventive mission, corresponding to his duties, or of some study or research 
explicitly entrusted to the employee, shall belong  to the entity. In any of the above situations 
the inventor shall be entitled to an additional remuneration laid down in a contract. In case of a research contract concluded between two or more entities, in the absence of any provision 
to the contrary, the inventions shall belong to the entity having ordered the research. 
(3) The inventions made in the circumstances other than those referred to in paragraph (2) shall 
belong to the employee. 
(4) By way of derogation from paragraph (3), if th e invention was made by an employee either in 
the accomplishment of his duties, or in the activity field of the entity, or by virtue of knowledge and use of the employer's equipment or specific assets, or the data existing within 
the entity, or with the material assistance of the entity, the entity shall be entitled to own the 
invention or to benefit, in whole or in part, from the rights conferred by the patent which 
protects the employee's invention. In that case the inventor's remuneration shall be set out by contract. 
(5) In the cases provided for in paragraphs (2) and (4), the inventor and the entity shall be 
mutually obliged to inform each other in writing of the creation and the progress of implementation of an invention and to abstai n from any disclosure that could prejudice the 
exercise of the rights of the other party. A party who infringes this obligation shall be required 
to pay damages to the other party, including damages for loss of earnings, in accordance with the applicable legislation. 
(6) If, in the cases referred to in paragraph (2), within a period of 60 days from the date on 
which the employee has informed the entity in writing of the invention that has been made, 
the entity has failed to file a patent application or to transfer to another party its right to file such application or to require the employee in writing to maintain the secrecy of the 
invention, the right to a patent shall belong to the employee.   
(7) In the cases provided for in paragraph (4), where the patent belongs to the 
employee, the entity shall enjoy a preferential right to a nonexclusive license to 
exploit the invention. 
(8) Where the entity has obtained a patent fo r the invention made in accordance with 
paragraphs (2) or (4), the employee shall enjoy a preferential right to a free nonexclusive license to exploit the invention. 
(9) If the parties fail to reach agreement on the amount of the remuneration due to the employee 
or on the price of the license, the amount will be determined by the courts as a function of the contribution made by each party to the creation of the invention and of its commercial 
value. 
(10)  The procedure of creation and utilization of employee inventions is established in the 
Regulations on industrial property objects made in the accomplishment of duties approved by 
the Government. 
 Article 16. Patent Applications Filed by Non-Entitled Persons  
(1) If prior to the granting by the AGEPI of the pa tent it is adjudged by a final decision that a 
person other than the applicant is entitled to the grant of a patent, that person may, in IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  accordance with Article 14 paragraph (1) and within a period of three months after the decision 
has become final: a) prosecute the patent application as his own application in place of the applicant; 
b) file a new patent application in respect of the same invention; in that case the AGEPI shall 
consider the initial application withdrawn; 
c) request that the patent application be refused. 
(2) The provisions of Article 35, para graphs (3) and (4), shall apply mutatis mutandis  to a new 
application filed under paragraph (1) of this article. 
  Article 17. Right of the Inventor 
(1) The natural person whose creative work has led to the invention shall be deemed the inventor 
(author of the invention). 
(2) The right to authorship of an invention shall constitute an inalienable, indefeasible personal 
right and shall enjoy protection without limitation in time. 
(3) Where an invention results from the work of more than one person, each such person shall be 
deemed a joint inventor and the right to authorship of the invention of the inventor shall 
belong to each of them. 
(4) A natural person who has furnished to the inventor technical, logistic or material assistance in 
the creation of the invention or who has simply given help in preparing the patent application, in obtaining the patent or in exploiting and using the invention shall not be deemed an 
inventor. 
(5) The inventor shall have the right to be mentioned as such in the patent application, in the 
patent and in the AGEPI publications in respect of the application or the patent. 
(6) The inventor shall have the right to renounce the mention of his name in the patent 
application, in the patent and in the AGEPI publications in respect of the application or the patent, by filing a written request with the AGEPI. 
 
 
Section 3 
Effects of the Patent and the Patent Application 
 
Article 18. Term of the Patent (1) The term of a patent for invention shall be 20 years as from the date of filing of the patent 
application. 
(2) The term of a short-term patent for invention shal l be 6 years as from the date of filing of the 
short-term patent application. The patent owner may file with the AGEPI an application for the 
extension of the time limit for a period not exc eeding 4 years, provided that the patent owner 
requests the AGEPI to carry out a search relating to the invention which forms the subject-matter of the respective patent on payment of the prescribed fee, but not earlier than one year and not later than 6 months prior to the expiration of the term of the short-term patent. 
(3) Supplementary protection may be obtained in respect of the medicines and 
phytopharmaceutical products which form the subject-matter of a patent for invention, under the terms and conditions laid down in Chapter V Section 2 hereof. 
 
Article 19. Rights Conferred by a Patent Application after Publication (1) A patent application shall, from the date of its publication and up to grant of the patent, 
provisionally confer upon the applicant the protec tion provided for by Article 20 paragraph (2). 
(2) Any natural or legal person who exploits the invention during the period referred to in 
paragraph (1) above shall be required, after grant of a patent, to pay a reasonable monetary compensation to the owner. The amount of such compensation shall be determined by 
agreement between the parties, taking account of the good faith of the person who exploited 
the invention, or by the court, where it ca nnot be determined by amicable arrangement. 
(3) The effects of the patent application referred to in paragraph (1) shall be considered to be null 
and void when the patent application has been  withdrawn by the applicant and when it has 
been withdrawn or refused in accordance  with the provisions of this Law. 
(4) The above provisions shall not apply to short-term patents. 
(5) The above provisions shall apply  mutatis mutandis  to Eurasian applications. 
 Article 20. Rights Conferred by a Patent (1) A patent shall confer on its owner an exclusive ri ght to exploit the invention for the entire term 
thereof. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  (2) The patent shall confer on its owner, in accord ance with paragraph (1), the right to prevent 
third parties from performing, without his author ization, on the territory of the Republic of 
Moldova, the following acts: 
a) manufacture, offering for sale, selling, use, impo rting or stocking for these purposes of the 
protected product; 
b) the using of a process which is the subject-matter of the patent or, where the third party 
knows, or it is obvious in the circumstances, that the process cannot be used without the 
consent of the patent owner, offering of the process for use; 
c) offering for sale, selling, use, importing or stocking for such purposes of the product 
obtained directly by a process which is the subject-matter of the patent. 
(3) Where there is more than one owner, relations concerning the exploitation of the invention 
protected by the patent shall be determined  by agreement between the owners. In the 
absence of such agreement, each of the joint owners shall enjoy the right to exploit the invention at his discretion and to take legal action for infringement of the exclusive right 
against any person who exploits the invention without the authorization of all the joint owners; 
on the other hand, he may not, without the agreement of the other joint owners, renounce the patent without notifying the other joint owners thereof, as well as conclude a licensing contract 
nor perform any act involving assignment of rights in the patent. 
 Article 21. Prohibition of Indirect Exploitation of an Invention (1) A patent shall confer on its owner, in addition to the right conferred in accordance with 
Article 20, the right to prevent third parties not having his consent from supplying or offering 
to supply, on the territory of the Republic of Mo ldova, a person, other than a party entitled to 
exploit the patented invention, with means relati ng to an essential element of that invention, 
for carrying out the invention, when the third party knows, or it is obvious in the 
circumstances, that those means are suitable and intended for carrying out that invention. 
(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) above shall no t apply when the supplied or offered means are 
staple commercial products, except when the supplier or offerer deliberately incites his client to 
commit the acts prohibited by Article 20 paragraph (2). 
(3) Persons performing acts referred to in Article 22 paragraph (1) letter a) and b) shall not be 
considered to be parties entitled to exploit th e invention within the meaning of paragraph (1) 
above. 
 Article 22. Limitation of Effects of a Patent 
(1) The rights conferred by a patent shall not extend to: 
a) acts done privately and on a non-commercial scale; 
b) acts done for experimental purposes relating to the subject-matter of the patented 
invention; 
c) extemporaneous preparation for individual cases, in a pharmacy, of a medicine in 
accordance with a medical prescription or acts concerning the medicine so prepared; 
d) use of the subject-matter of a patented invention on board of any foreign vessel of a State 
party to the international conventions in the field of inventions to which the Republic of 
Moldova is also party which temporarily or accidentally enters the waters of the Republic of Moldova, provided that the invention is us ed exclusively for the needs of the vessel; 
e) use of the subject-matter of the patented inve ntion in the construction or operation of 
foreign aircraft or land vehicle or other means of transport of a State party to the international conventions in the field of inventions to which the Republic of Moldova is also 
party, or in the manufacture of spare parts for such vehicles when such means of 
transport temporarily or accidentally enter the territory of the Republic of Moldova. 
(2) The use referred to in paragraph (1) above shall be allowed, provided that it does not 
unreasonably conflict with a normal use of the patented invention and does not unreasonably 
prejudice the legitimate interests of the pate nt owner, taking account of the legitimate 
interests of third parties. In the contrary case, the patent owner is entitled to an adequate compensation for the injury suffered because of the unauthorized exploitation of the invention. 
 
Article 23. Exhaustion of Rights (1) The rights conferred by a patent shall not extend to acts concerning the patented product 
insofar as such acts are performed on the terri tory of the Republic of Moldova, after that 
product has been so put on the market in the Re public of Moldova by the patent owner or with 
his express consent. 
(2) 
The protection referred to in Article 24 paragraphs (5) - (7) shall not extend to biological 
material obtained by propagation or multiplication of a biological material put on the market or IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  offered for sale on the territory of the Republic  of Moldova by the patent owner or with his 
consent, when the multiplication or propagation necessarily results from the use for which the biological material has been so put on the market, provided that the material obtained is not subsequently used for other propagation or multiplication. 
(3) By way of derogation from Article 24 paragraphs (5) – (7), the sale or other form of 
commercialization of the plant propagating material  to a farmer by the owner of the patent or 
with his consent for agricultural use implies auth orization for the farmer to use the product of 
his harvest for propagation or multiplication by him on his own farm. 
(4) By way of derogation from Article 24 paragraphs (5) – (7), the sale or other form of 
commercialization of breeding stock or other animal reproductive material to a farmer by the owner of the patent or with his consent implies authorization for the farmer to use the 
protected livestock for an agricultural purpose, with the exception of breeding holdings; this 
includes making the animal or other animal reproductive material available for the purposes of pursuing his agricultural activity. 
 
Article 24.  Extent of Protection (1) The extent of the protection conferred by a patent or a patent application shall be determined 
by the terms of the claims. The description and dr awings shall be used to interpret the claims. 
(2) For the period up to grant of the patent for inve ntion, the extent of the protection conferred by 
a patent application shall be determined by the claims contained in the application as published under Article 49. 
(3) The patent as granted or as amended in oppositi on, limitation or revocation proceedings shall 
determine retroactively the protection conferred by the patent application, in so far as such protection is not thereby extended. 
(4) The protection conferred by a patent on a proc ess which is the subject-matter of the patent 
shall extend to any product directly obtained by the patented process. 
(5) The protection conferred by a patent on a biological material possessing specific characteristics 
as a result of the invention shall extend to any biological material derived from that biological 
material through propagation or multiplication in an identical or divergent form and possessing those same characteristics. 
(6) The protection conferred by a patent on a process that enables a biological material to be 
produced possessing specific characteristics as a result of the invention shall extend to the 
biological material directly obtained by that process and to any other biological material derived from the biological material obtained directly through propagation or multiplication in 
an identical or divergent form and possessing those same characteristics. 
(7) The protection conferred by a patent on a product containing or consisting of genetic 
information shall extend to any other material in which the product is incorporated and in 
which the genetic information is contained and performs its function, except for the human 
body, in different formation and development stages, and to the elements thereof. 
 Article 25. Right of Prior User of Invention 
(1) Any person who in good faith, before the filing date, or, where priority is claimed, the priority 
date of the application on which the patent is granted and within the territory of the Republic 
of  Moldova was using the invention or was making effective and serious preparations for such 
use, shall be personally entitled, for the purposes of his enterprise or business, to continue 
such use or to use the invention within the limits and/or scope envisaged in such preparations, without having to pay a royalty and on condition that he does not extend its scope.  
(2) The right of prior user referred to in paragraph (1) may only be transferred during the user's 
lifetime or by hereditary or testamentary succession together with his enterprise or business, or with that part of his enterprise or business in which the use or preparations for use have been made. 
 
Section 4 
Patent Application and Patent as an Object of Property 
 
Article 26. Transfer and Constitution of Rights (1) A patent application and a patent may be transferred or give rise to any rights. 
(2) The right to a patent, the right to grant of a patent and the rights deriving from a patent 
application or a patent may be transferred in whole or in part. 
(3) Rights may be transferred under an assignment contract, contract on exclusive or 
nonexclusive license, or by hereditary or testamentary succession. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  (4) A patent application or a patent possessed by a business may be transferred independently of 
the transfer of business. 
(5) The transfer of a business in its totality shall imply the transfer of a patent application and/or 
patent except where the applicable legislation provides otherwise or where it is obvious from 
the circumstances. This provision shall apply to the contractual obligation concerning the 
transfer of a business. 
(6) Under a licensing contract, the patent owner (licensor) shall afford to any other person 
(licensee) the right to exploit a patent application or a patent, maintaining his right of 
property in it. Where there is more than one licensee for a patent application or a patent, the licenses may be solely nonexclusive or limited exclusive. The license contract may contain provisions concerning the payment of royalty by the licensee. 
(7) Any provisions containing exclusive grantback conditions, conditions containing challenges to 
validity and coercive package licensing as well as any other conditions limiting fair competition based on professional principles shall not be included in license contracts.  
(8) Any transfer of rights under an assignment or license contract must be in writing and signed 
by the contracting parties except where the tr ansfer is adjudicated by a court decision; 
otherwise the transfer shall not be registered with the AGEPI. 
(9) Without prejudice to the cases referred to in Article 16 or Article 63 paragraph (1), the 
transfer of rights shall not affect the rights obtained by any third party prior to the date of transfer. 
(10)  Any transfer or change made by the applicant or patent owner in a patent application or a 
patent shall be entered, on request of any of th e parties, in the National Register of Patent 
Applications or the National Register  of Patents and published in BOPI. 
(11)  Any transfer of rights in a patent application or a patent shall solely have effect for third 
parties as from the date of publication in BOPI of the notice of transfer registered with the 
AGEPI. 
 
Article 27. Real Rights 
(1) A patent may, independently of the proprietor business, be pledged or become a subject-
matter of any other real right. 
(2) Rights referred to in paragraph (1) shall be, on request of any of the parties and subject to 
payment of the prescribed fee, entered in the National Register of Patents. The notice 
concerning these rights shall be published in BOPI. 
 
Article 28. Compulsory License 
(1) If after the expiration of a period of 4 years from  the day of filing of the patent application or 3 
years from the grant of the patent, whichever is  later, the patent owner has not exploited the 
patent in the territory of the Republic of Moldova or if he has not undertaken serious and 
effective preparations for such purpose, the courts may grant a compulsory license, on request, to any interested person, unless the patent owner justifies the lack or insufficiency of exploitation. No distinction shall be made between  the domestic products or imported products 
for the purposes of establishing the fact of the lack  of exploitation or insufficient exploitation of 
the patent. 
(2) A compulsory license shall be granted solely where the proposed user has made efforts to 
obtain authorization from the patent owner on reasonable commercial terms and conditions 
and that such efforts have not been successful within a reasonable period of time. This requirement may be waived in the cases referred to  in paragraph (3) below. In such cases, the 
patent owner shall be notified as soon as reasonable practicable. 
(3) A compulsory license may be granted in the case of national emergency or other 
circumstances of extreme urgency or in cases of public non-commercial use. 
(4) In the case of semiconductor technology, a compulsory license may only be granted for public 
non-commercial use or to remedy a practice, determined after judicial or administrative 
process to be anti-competitive. 
(5) A compulsory license may be granted to a patent owner or an owner of a plant variety patent 
who cannot exploit his invention or protected plant variety (the second patent) without 
infringing another patent (the first patent), provided the invention or plant variety claimed in the second patent shall involve an important technical advance of considerable economic 
significance in relation to the invention claimed in the first patent. The court shall have the 
authority to review the existence of these circumstances. In the case of a compulsory license in respect of a patent for an invention or a patent for a plant variety, the owner of the first patent shall be entitled to a cross-license on reasonable terms to use the patented invention or the 
protected plant variety. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  (6) The respective methods and procedures for the implementation of principles contained in this 
article are laid down in the Regulations. 
 Article 29. Conditions Applicab le to Compulsory Licenses 
(1) At the time of grant of a compulsory license to exploit the patent under Article 28 above, the 
court shall specify the types of use covered by such license and the terms and conditions to be observed. The following conditions shall apply:  
a) the scope and duration of such use shall be limited to the purpose for which it was 
authorized; 
b) such use shall be non-exclusive; 
c) such use shall be non-assignable, except with that part of the enterprise or goodwill which 
enjoys such use; 
d) any such use shall be authorized predominan tly for the supply of the domestic market, 
except where such use is permitted to remedy  a practice determined after judicial or 
administrative process to be anti-competitive; 
e) a court may authorize, upon motivated request, that authorization for such use shall be 
liable, subject to adequate protection of the legitimate interests of the persons so 
authorized, to be terminated if and when the circumstances which led to it cease to exist 
and are unlikely to recur The judicial authority shall have the authority to refuse termination of authorization if and where the circumstances which led to such authorization are likely to recur; 
f) the license holder shall pay the patent owner an adequate remuneration, taking into 
account the economic value of the authorizatio n and, eventually, the need to remedy an 
anti-competitive practice; 
g) in case of a compulsory license for a dependent patent or a plant variety patent, the use 
authorized in respect of the first patent shall be non-assignable, except with the assignment of the second patent. 
(2) The legal validity of any decision relating to the authorization of use referred to in 
paragraph (1) and any other decision relating to the remuneration provided for in respect of such use shall be subject to judicial review or other independent review by a higher authority. 
(3) The holder of the license shall notify the AGEPI the decision of the judicial authority to grant 
or, where appropriate, to terminate a compulsory license. The Agency shall enter the court 
decision in the National Register of Patents and publish it in BOPI. 
(4) If the holder of a compulsory license has not undertaken any effective and serious preparation 
for exploiting the invention within one year following grant of the license, the compulsory 
license may be cancelled by the decision of the court. In any event, a compulsory license shall 
terminate if its holder has not begun exploitation of the invention within 2 years following the 
date on which the license was granted to him. 
 Article 30. Acts Infringing the Licensee's Rights (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of the license contract, the licensee may only institute 
proceedings for infringement of his rights in rela tion to a patent application or patent with the 
consent of the applicant or owner. 
(2) The beneficiary of an exclusive or compulsory license may only institute proceedings for 
infringement of rights where the patent owner notified formally fails to take such action in his 
own name within 2 months. 
 
CHAPTER III 
PATENT APPLICATION 
 
Section 1 
Filing of the Patent Applicatio n and Requirements to Be Met 
 Article 31. Filing of an Application 
(1) A patent application shall be filed with the AGEPI, directly or by other means provided for in 
the Regulations, by the person entitled under Article 14 paragraph (1). 
(2) Inventions made in the Republic of Moldova may only be patented abroad after the date of 
filing a patent application with the AGEPI. 
 Article 32. Language of Procedure (1) A patent application shall be filed with the AGEPI in the Moldovan language. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  (2) With the exception of documents referred to in Article 33 paragraph (1) letter a) and 
Article 34 paragraph (1) letters a) and b), the a pplication documents may be filed in any other 
language. 
(3) If the application documents are filed in another language, the applicant shall be obliged to 
submit a properly certified translation into the Moldovan language within 2 months following 
the filing date of the patent application. 
(4) The Moldovan language shall be used in all procedures before the AGEPI relating to the 
application or the patent granted as a result of such application. 
 Article 33. Requirements to Be Met by a Patent Application  
A patent application shall contain: 
a) a request for the grant of a patent; 
b) a description of the invention; 
c) one or more claims; 
d) any drawings referred to in the description or the claims; 
e) an abstract; 
f) an authorization, as the case may be. 
(2) The patent application shall be subjec t to the payment of the filing fee. 
(3) The patent application shall satisfy the requirements laid down in the Regulations. 
(4) If the invention concerns reproducible biological material, the patent application may contain, 
where appropriate, an attestation certifying th e deposit of that biological material with a 
depositary institution, in accordance with Arti cle 36 paragraph (2), submitted at the time of 
filing of the patent application or within 2 mo nths following the filing date of the latter. 
(5) If the applicant is represented by a representati ve in accordance with Article 86 paragraph (2), 
the patent application shall contain an authorization, submitted at the time of filing of the 
patent application or within 2 months following the filing date of the latter.  
(6) The patent application shall contain the mention of the inventor and indications allowing his 
identity to be established. 
(7) If the applicant is not the inventor or is one of multiple inventors, the application shall contain 
the applicant's declaration by which he identifies the inventors and indicates the origin of the right to patent. 
(8) The application complying with the requirements referred to in paragraphs (1)-(3) above and, 
where appropriate, in Article 32 paragraph (3), shall constitute a regular national application. 
(9) The documents referred to in paragraph (1) letters  a), c) and e) and the proof of payment of 
the prescribed fee referred to in paragraph (2) ab ove shall be submitted at the time of filing of 
the patent application or within 2 months following the filing date of the latter. 
(10)  Where the description of the invention is replaced with a reference to an earlier application in 
accordance with Article 34 paragraph (1) letter c), the applicant shall, for the purpose of 
establishing the filing date, submit to the AGEPI, within 4 months following the filing date of the patent application containing such reference, a certified copy of the earlier registered application and, where appropriate, its translation. If the earlier application has been submitted 
by a person other than the applicant, a document  shall be attached confirming the applicant's 
entitlement to file the application. 
 
Article 34. Date of Filing 
(1) The filing date of a patent application shall be the day on which the documents filed with the 
AGEPI by the applicant contain at least: 
a) an indication that the granting of a patent is sought; 
b) indications allowing the identity or contact of the applicant to be established; 
c)
 a part which on the face of it appears to be a description of the invention or a reference to 
an earlier filed application. 
(2) The reference to an earlier filed application shall be deemed to replace the description and, 
where appropriate, the drawings, if it contains the filing date and the number of the earlier application as well as the name of the office with which that application has been registered. 
(3) If the initially filed application does not comply with one or several of the requirements 
referred to in paragraph (1) and, where appropriate, in paragraph (2), the filing date shall be the day on which it is brought subsequently in compliance with all those requirements. The 
requirements to be fulfilled subsequently are provided for in the Regulations. 
(4) If one or several of the requirements referred to in paragraph (1) have not been fulfilled within 
the term provided for in the Regulations, the application shall be treated as if it had not been filed. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  (5) If at the time of establishing the filing date the AGEPI reveals that a part of the description or 
a drawing referred to in the description appear to be missing, it shall invite the applicant to file the missing part within the term established in the Regulations. 
(6) If the missing part is filed with the AGEPI with in the established term, the filing date of the 
application shall be the date of receipt of the respective part or the date on which all 
requirements specified in paragraph (1) were fulfilled, whichever is later. 
(7) If the missing part of the description in an application claiming priority in respect of an earlier 
application is included in the earlier application, the filing date may be established, upon the 
applicant's request, on the date of receipt by the AGEPI of the documents referred to in 
paragraph (1) above, subject to the compliance with the requirements provided for in the Regulations. 
(8) In the event of an international or Eurasian application, the filing date shall be the date 
resulting from the regional or international conventions and treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is party. 
 
Article 35. Unity of Invention (1) A patent application shall relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked as 
to form a single general inventive concept. 
(2) If the patent application as filed does not meet the requirement referred to in paragraph (1) 
above, the applicant may divide it, on his own initiative or at the request of the AGEPI, by filing a divisional application, prior to a decision on the patent application. 
(3) The divisional application may be filed only for the elements which do not go beyond the 
disclosure of the initial application as filed. 
(4) The divisional applications complying with the requirements of paragraph (3) shall be deemed 
filed on the filing date of the initial application and shall benefit from its priority rights. 
(5) The procedure of application of the provisions of paragraph (2), the special requirements to be 
fulfilled by the divisional application and the te rm of payment of the fees are provided for in 
the Regulations. 
 Article 36. Disclosure of the Invention (1) The patent application shall disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete 
for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art. 
(2) Where the invention refers to biologically reproducible material which is not available to the 
public, the conditions referred to in paragraph (1) shall only be fulfilled if the applicant proves 
with a document that, prior to the filing date of the patent application or the acknowledged 
priority, the biological material has been deposited with an international depositary authority or a depositary institution de signated by the Government. 
  
Article 37. Claims (1) The claims shall define the matter for which protection is sought. 
(2) The claims shall be clear and concise and shall be supported by the description of the 
invention.  
(3) The claims shall define the scope of the legal protection sought in terms of each element 
included in the independent claim or its equivalent known prior to the filing date or, where 
priority is claimed, the priority date of the invention protected by patent.  
(4) The description and drawings shall only be used to interpret the claims.  
(5) The limited or extensive interpretation of claims  shall be excluded (using the description and 
drawings for the purpose of identifying the general inventive concept). If the patent application 
contains examples of embodiment of invention or  examples of the functions and results of the 
invention, the claims shall not be interpreted as limited to those examples. The merely fact 
that the product or the process includes addition al elements missing in the examples disclosed 
in the patent application and the absence in the examples of the elements not contributing to 
the obtaining of the result or not possessing declared or inherent advantages shall not lead to the exclusion of the product or the process from  the scope of legal protection defined by the 
claims of the invention.  
 Article 38. Abstract 
The abstract shall serve the purpose of technical information only. It may not be taken into 
account for any other purpose, in particular for interpreting the scope of the protection sought or applying Article 8, paragraph (3).  IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  Section 2 
Priority 
 Article 39. Right of Priority  
(1) A person who has duly filed in or for any State party to the Paris Convention for the Protection 
of Industrial Property or any Member of the World Trade Organization an application for a patent, a utility model, a utility certificate or an inventor's certificate, or his successor in title, 
shall enjoy, for the purpose of filing a patent application in respect of the same invention, a 
right of priority during a period of twelve months from the date of filing of the first application; 
the day of filing shall not be included in the period. 
(2) Every filing that is equivalent to a regular national filing under the national law of the State 
where it was made or under bilateral or multilateral agreements or regional conventions, shall 
be recognised as giving rise to a right of priority. 
(3) The right of priority may be transferred under an assignment contract. Assignment of a 
priority right shall be in writing, the assignor loses his right of priority for the first application.  
 Article 40. Claiming Priority 
(1) An applicant desiring to take advantage of the priority of a previous application shall file a 
declaration of priority, a copy of the prev ious application and, where appropriate, a 
translation thereof in the Moldovan language, as well as he shall pay the prescribed fee for each priority claimed. 
(2) Multiple priorities may be claimed in respect of a patent application, notwithstanding the fact 
that they originate in different countries. Where appropriate, multiple priorities may be claimed for any one claim. Where multiple priorities are claimed, time limits shall run from 
the earliest date of priority. 
(3) If one or more priorities are claimed in respect of a patent application, the right of priority 
shall cover only those elements of the patent a pplication that are included in the application 
or applications whose priority is claimed. 
(4) If certain elements of the invention for which priority is claimed do not appear among the 
claims formulated in the previous application, priority may nonetheless be granted, provided that the documents of the previous application as  a whole specifically disclose such elements. 
(5) Priority claimed in a patent application as a consequence of exhibiting the invention in an 
exhibition in accordance with Article 9 paragraph (1) letter b), organized in a State party to the Paris Convention or a Member of the World Trade Organization, may be acknowledged 
from the date of its introduction into the exhibition. 
(6) The provisions of paragraph (5) shall apply only if the patent application has been filed within 
6 months following the date of introduction of the invention into the exhibition. The 6-month 
term shall not extend the term of priority  referred to in Article 39 paragraph (1). 
(7) The applicant or his successor in title shall be entitled to claim priority of an earlier 
application in a subsequent application filed with the AGEPI in respect of the same invention, if the priority is claimed within 12 months following the filing date of the earlier application 
(internal priority). In such case, the earlier application shall be deemed withdrawn. 
(8) Priority shall be claimed when filing the application or within 2 months from the filing date of 
the patent application and shall be justified by a priority document. 
(9) The document justifying the priority claim und er Article 39 paragraph (1), the copy of the 
earlier application, certified by the authority with which that application was filed and, where appropriate, its translation shall be filed by the applicant within 16 months following the filing 
date of the earlier application or, where more than one earlier application exist, the earliest 
filing date of the respective applications. 
(10)  The document justifying the priority claim under paragraph (5) above, the certificate issued 
by the authorities - organizers of the relevant exhibition, shall be filed by the applicant 
together with the patent application or within 3 months following the date of filing. 
(11)  Where the applicant claims a right of priority  belonging to another person, a legal act is 
necessary, for the purpose of acknowledging the priority, to be filed with the AGEPI 
confirming the transfer or an authorization on behalf of the assignor, indicating the legal 
grounds of his entitlement to claim the priority of  the first filing, which is filed at the time of 
priority claiming or within 16 months following the priority date of the first application.  
(12)  Non-compliance with the terms laid down in paragraphs (8) - (11) shall result in the refusal 
to acknowledge the claimed priority.  IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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Article 41.  Correction or Addition of a Priority Claim 
(1) An applicant may correct or add a priority claim in respect of the patent application by a 
notice submitted within a time limit of 16 months from the priority date or, where the 
correction or addition would cause a change in the priority date, 16 months from the priority 
date as so changed, whichever 16-month period expires first, provided that the notice for correction or addition is filed with the AGEPI within 4 months from the filing date of the patent 
application. 
(2) Filing of the notice under paragraph (1) shall be subject to the payment of a prescribed fee. If 
the fee is not paid, the notice shall be considered not to have been filed. 
(3) If the notice referred to in paragraph (1) is submitted after the applicant has made a request 
for early publication of the application under Article 49 paragraph (2), it shall be considered 
not to have been submitted, unless that request is withdrawn before the technical preparations for publication have been completed. 
(4) Where the correction or addition of a priority claim causes a change in the priority date, any 
time limit which is computed from the previously applicable priority date and which has not already expired shall be computed from the priority date as so changed. 
 
Article 42 . Re-establishment of Priority Right 
(1) Where the priority of an earlier application is claimed in a subsequent patent application which 
was filed after the expiration of the time limit referred to in Article 39 paragraph (1), but no 
later than 2 months after the expiration of that time limit, AGEPI may re-establish the priority 
right, if at the time of filing the applicatio n the applicant submits a request, which confirms 
that the due diligence required by the circum stances was exercised or that non-compliance 
with the time limit was unintentional. 
(2) The request for re-establishment of rights referred to in paragraph (1) above shall be filed 
within 2 months of expiry of the priority time limit referred to in Article 39 paragraph (1), but 
no later than the completion of the technical preparations for publication of the respective 
application under Article 49. 
(3) The request for re-establishment of rights sha ll be accompanied by the evidence of payment 
of the prescribed fee; otherwise the request shall be considered not to have been filed. 
(4) If the copy of the earlier application has not been submitted to the AGEPI within the time limit 
referred to in Article 40 paragraph (9), the AGEPI may re-establish the priority right where the following conditions are fulfilled cumulatively: 
a) the applicant has made a request in that matter with the AGEPI before the expiration of 
the time limit specified in Article 40 paragraph (9); 
b) the applicant has submitted to the AGEPI a confirmation of the request made with the 
office which registered the earlier application, certifying that the copy of the earlier 
application was requested within a period not exceeding 14 months following the filing date of such earlier application; 
c) the certified copy of the earlier application was submitted to the AGEPI within one month 
from the date on which the office with which was registered the earlier application issued 
the respective copy to the applicant. 
 
Section 3 
Procedure for Applications Filed Under the International Conventions 
 
Article 43. International Patent Application 
(1) Where an applicant for an international application wishes to obtain a patent in the Republic of 
Moldova, he shall file with the AGEPI, within a time limit of 31 months following the international filing date or, where a priority was claimed, the priority date, an application 
containing the explicit or implicit request for opening the national phase, a copy of the 
international application and a translation in the Moldovan language of the international application, certified accordingly.  
(2) If at the time of opening the national phase or within 2 months following that date the 
applicant fails to file with the AGEPI a translation of the international application documents, the international application shall be deemed to be withdrawn. 
(3) International publication of an international application shall produce effects to the provisional 
legal protection referred to in Article 19 following the publication date of the international application translation in the Moldovan language.  IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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Article 44. Eurasian Patent Application (1) Eurasian applications filed under the Eurasian Convention may be the subject of proceedings 
before the AGEPI. In such proceedings, the provisions of the Eurasian Convention and of the 
Implementing Guidelines of the Eurasian Conventi on shall be applied. In case of divergences 
between the provisions of the Eurasian Conventi on and those of the given Law, the provisions 
of the Eurasian Convention shall prevail. 
(2) The same invention disclosed in a Eurasian patent and, respectively, in a national patent, 
originating from the same applicant, having the same filing date or, where a priority is claimed, the same priority date, cannot be protected si multaneously by both patents. The patent 
granted by the AGEPI shall cease to produce effect s after the grant of the Eurasian patent from 
the date of expiration of the time limit for filing  of an opposition in respect of that Eurasian 
patent or, where an opposition is formulated, the date on which following the examination of the opposition a decision to maintain the Eurasian patent has been taken. 
(3) The provisions of paragraph (2) shall not apply where the owner of the Eurasian patent 
renounces it on the territory of the Republic of Moldova under Rule 55 of the Implementing 
Guidelines of the Eurasian Convention or the righ ts conferred by the Eurasian patent ceased to 
be effective on the territory of the Republic of Moldova by non-payment of applicable 
maintenance fees under Rule 56 of the Implementi ng Guidelines of the Eurasian Convention.   
 
CHAPTER IV 
PROCEDURE UP TO GRANT OF A PATENT 
 
Section 1 
Examination up to Grant of a Patent 
 Article 45. Patent Applications of Which Disc losure Can Prejudice the National Security 
(1) Inventions containing the information which, if disclosed, can prejudice the national security of 
the Republic of Moldova, shall be removed from AGEPI, based on the decision of the 
commission respectively empowered by the Government, within 30 days from the filing date, with the respective notice to the applicant . 
(2) An invention created in the Republic of Moldova may only be patented abroad upon expiry of 
the term specified in paragraph (1). 
 
Article 46. Examination of Patent Application 
(1) AGEPI shall examine, in accordance with the Re gulations, whether the patent application and 
the invention which forms its subject-matter meet the requirements of the law. For that 
purpose AGEPI shall undertake a formal and a preliminary examination and, upon request, a 
substantive examination of the patent application. 
(2) AGEPI may invite the applicant to furnish additional elements that are considered to be 
essential for identification of the applicant or inventor, the constituted regular national filing or 
compliance with the patentability requirements. 
 Article 47. Formal Examination  
(1) In the formal examination, AGEPI shall check wh ether the patent application meets the formal 
requirements laid down in the Regulations and the conditions for accordance of a filing date under Article 34. 
(2) If the patent application does not comply with one or more requirements prescribed in 
Article 34, AGEPI shall give the applicant an opportunity to correct the deficiencies within the term prescribed in the Regulations. 
(3) If the applicant fails to furnish the required information or fails to meet the requirements 
reffered to Article 34 within the prescribed time limit, the application shall be deemed not to 
have been filed; the applicant shall be notified of the fact. 
(4) If a date of filing has been accorded to the patent application, the Agency shall enter it in the 
National Register of Patent Applications. The data  shall be treated as confidential prior to the 
publication of the patent application. 
 
Article 48. Preliminary Examination 
(1) If a patent application has been accorded a date  of filing, AGEPI shall undertake a preliminary 
examination. 
(2) In the preliminary examination AGEPI shall examine whether: 
a) 
the patent application meets the requirements laid down in Article 33;  IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  b) the subject-matter of the invention is patentable within the meaning of Article 6 and 
Article 7 and, in case of short-term patents, of Article 12 paragraph (3); 
c) the patent application meets at the first ex amination the requirements of Article 35; 
d) the requirements of Article 40 paragraph (8) - (11) concerning the priority claim have 
been satisfied and, where appropriate, the claimed priority is acknowledged; 
e) the requirements of Article 86 paragraph (2) have been satisfied. 
(3) Where AGEPI notes that there are deficiencies which may be corrected, it shall give the 
applicant an opportunity to correct them in accordance with the Regulations. 
(4) Where the examination undertaken under paragraph (2) above finds that the requirements of 
Article 32 paragraph (3) and Article 33 paragraph (9) and (10) have not been satisfied, the patent application shall be refused. If the applicant disregards the provisions of Article 40 
concerning the priority right, the deficiency shall lead to the loss of this right for the 
application. 
(5) If the designation of the inventor has not been made in the patent application in accordance 
with Article 33 paragraph (6) and the omission of the designation of the inventor is not 
corrected within 16 months from the date of filing of the patent application or, if priority is claimed, from the date of priority, the patent application shall be deemed to be withdrawn. 
(6) If the claimed invention is not patentable within the meaning of Article 6, Article 7 and, as the 
case may be, Article 12 paragraph (3), AGEPI shall take a decision to refuse the application, which is notified to the applicant. The notice co ncerning the refusal shall be published in BOPI. 
 
Article 49. Publication of Patent Application 
(1) A patent application shall be published after the ex piry of a period of eighteen months from the 
date of filing or, if priority has been claimed, as  from the date of priority. The particulars to be 
published in BOPI shall be determined by the AGEPI. 
(2) At the request of the applicant and on payment of the prescribed fee, the patent application 
may be published before the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph (1) above. 
(3) The patent application shall be published simultaneously with the publication of the decision to 
grant a patent when the grant of the patent ha s become effective before the expiry of the 
period referred to in paragraph (1) above. 
(4) International patent applications shall be pub lished before the expiry of a time limit of 6 
months from the date on which the national ph ase was initiated, subject to the compliance 
with the requirements of Article 43 paragraph (1). 
(5) The publication referred to in paragraph (1) above shall contain the description, the claims 
and, where appropriate, any drawings as filed and, in an annex, the search report and the 
abstract, in so far as the latter is available before the termination of the technical preparations for publication. If the search report has no t been published at the same time as the 
application, it shall be published subsequently separately. 
(6) Patent applications withdrawn or rejected prior to the termination of the technical preparations 
for publication shall not be published. 
(7) For short-term patents, a patent application shall be published simultaneously with the 
publication of the decision to grant a patent, and the search report shall be published 
immediately after it has been drawn up on the basis of the patent search undertaken under Article 18 paragraph (2) or Article 50 paragraph (1). 
 
Article 50. Patent Search (1) The applicant or any interested person may reques t, subject to payment of the prescribed fee, 
a prior art research, of which results will enable the patentability of the invention to be 
assessed. Based on the search results, the AGEPI shall draw up the search report on the basis of the claims, with due regard to the description  and, where appropriate, any drawings, in the 
form prescribed in the Regulations. 
(2) The conditions governing the search and communication of information obtained shall be 
determined by the Regulations. 
 
Article 51. Substantive Examination of Patent Application 
(1)
 The AGEPI shall examine, on written request, wh ether the patent application and the invention 
which forms its subject-matter meet the requirements of this law. 
(2) The substantive examination of the patent application shall be carried out within 18 months, 
excluding the time limits for correspondence and subject to the compliance with the provisions of art. 48. A request for substantive examination may be filed prior to the expiry of 30 months following the filing date of the patent applicatio n. The request shall only be deemed to be filed 
on payment of the examination fee and may not be withdrawn. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  (3) If the request for substantive examination is not submitted prior to the expiry of the time limit 
specified in paragraph (2), the patent app lication shall be deemed to be withdrawn. 
(4) In the substantive examination, the AGEPI shall check whether the application meets, in 
particular, the requirements set out in Article 6-11, Article 36 and Article 37. 
(5) If the examination of a patent application reveals that the application or the invention which 
makes its subject-matter does not meet the requir ements of this law, the AGEPI shall invite 
the applicant, as often as necessary, to file hi s observations and, subject to Article 87, to 
amend the application within a period to be fixed. 
(6) If the applicant fails to reply in due time to any communication from the Agency under 
paragraph (5), the patent application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.  
(7) Upon completion of the substantive examination of the patent application and based on the 
examination report, the AGEPI shall decide either to grant a patent or to refuse the patent 
application. 
(8) The provisions of this article shall not apply to short-term patents. 
 
Article 52. Examination of Conditions  for Grant of a Short-Term Patent 
(1) For the purpose of granting a short-term patent, AGEPI shall undertake a formal examination 
and a preliminary examination of the patent application in accordance with Article 47 and 
Article 48.  
(2) In the preliminary examination, AGEPI shall check whether the claimed invention meets the 
requirements of Article 11 and Article 12 paragr aph (2) and shall carry out a prior art search 
covering patents, patent applications, utility models and applications for registration of utility 
models filed with the AGEPI having a filing date earlier to that of the examined application and published under Article 49 on or after that date. 
(3) Where AGEPI finds that the patent application m eets the requirements of paragraph (2) above, 
it shall decide to grant a short-term patent. 
(4) Where AGEPI finds that the patent application does not meet the requirements of paragraph 
(2) above, it shall decide to refuse  the short-term patent application. 
 Article 53. Grant of Patent or Refusal of Patent Application (1) If AGEPI is of the opinion that the patent application and the invention which forms its subject-
matter meet the requirements of this law, it shal l decide to grant a patent, provided that it is 
established, in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations, that the applicant approves 
the text of the description and claims in which AGEPI intends to grant the patent. The 
provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to short-term patents. 
(2) If AGEPI is of the opinion that the patent application and the invention which forms its subject 
matter do not meet the requirements of this law, it shall decide to refuse the patent application 
unless this Law provides for a different procedure. 
(3) The AGEPI decisions shall indicate the grounds on which they are taken and shall only be 
based on the grounds upon which the interested parties have had an opportunity to express their opinions. 
(4)  The decision to grant a patent or to refuse a pa tent application shall take  effect on the date on 
which the mention of the decision is published in BOPI. 
(5) The mention of the decision to grant a patent or to refuse a patent application shall be 
published upon expiry of the term in which th e decision mentioned above could be opposed in 
accordance with the provisions of the present Law.  
(6) AGEPI shall publish, at the same time as it publishes the mention of the grant of the patent, a 
specification of the patent containing the descr iption, the claims and, where appropriate, any 
drawings. 
 Article 54. Conversion of Patent Application 
(1) A patent application may be converted, at the request of the applicant, into an application for 
a short-term patent prior to the date on which the mention of the decision to grant a patent is published or, at the latest, within 2 months followi ng the date on which a decision to refuse the 
patent application has been sent, on conditions provided by the Regulations. 
(2) An application for a shot-term patent may be conv erted, at the request of the applicant, into a 
patent application before the decision to grant a short-term patent has been taken. 
(3) For patent applications resulting from the conversion of the application under paragraphs (1)-
(2) of this article the filing date and, where appropriate, the priority date of the initial 
application shall be applied.  
(4) The conversion of application referred to in paragraphs (1)-(3) above shall be subject to the 
payment of the prescribed fee. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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Article 55.  Seeking Two Kinds of Protection 
(1) The same invention may form at the same time a subject-matter of a patent application and of 
an application for a short-term patent. 
(2) Both kinds of protection may be sought by the same applicant concomitantly filing the 
respective applications on the same date. 
(3) If the applicant has filed a patent application and an application for a short-term patent for the 
same invention, in that case: 
a) the short-term patent shall be deemed null and void upon granting of the regular patent; 
b) the application for a short-term patent, which is under examination on the date on which 
the decision is made to grant a regular patent, shall be deemed to be withdrawn as of that 
date. 
(4) The provisions of paragraph (3) shall not apply where the patent owner renounces the patent 
under Article 66 or where the rights conferred by the patent became ineffective due to non-
payment of the maintenance fee in accordance with Article 61. 
 Article 56. Withdrawal of Patent Application 
(1) The applicant may withdraw the patent application at any time prior to the date on which a 
decision concerning that application has been taken. 
(2) In the event of more than one applicant, th e application may only be withdrawn with the 
agreement of each applicant. 
(3) Any applicant other than the inventor shall be obliged to notify the inventor, at the same time 
as he submits his written request to the AGEPI, of his intention to renounce the application. In such case, the inventor shall have a preferential right to request the continuation of procedures 
in respect of the application as an applicant within a period of 2 months as from the date on 
which the applicant has informed him of his intention to renounce the application.  
 
Section 2 
Opposition and Appeals Procedure 
 
Article 57. Opposition 
(1) Within 6 months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the patent, any person 
may give notice to the AGEPI of opposition to th e patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be 
examined within 3 months by the AGEPI division which took the decision to grant the patent. 
(2) Opposition shall only be filed in writing and on the grounds that:  
a) the subject-matter of the patent is not patentable within the meaning of Articles 6-11 and, 
as the case may be, Article 12; 
b) the patent does not disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it 
to be carried out by a person skilled in the art; 
c) the subject-matter of the patent extends beyond the content of the application as filed, or, 
if the patent was granted on a divisional application or on a new application filed under 
Article 16, beyond the content of the earlier application as filed. 
(3) The opposition filed shall have suspensive effect. It shall not be deemed to have been filed 
until the opposition fee has been paid. 
(4) IF the AGEPI division which took the decision to grant a patent is of the opinion that at least 
one of the grounds for opposition referred to in paragraph (2) above prejudices the maintenance of the patent, it shall revoke the resp ective decision. Otherwise, it shall reject the 
opposition. 
(5) If AGEPI is of the opinion that, taking into consideration the amendments made by the 
applicant during the opposition proceedings, th e patent and the invention to which it relates:  
a)  meet the requirements of this law, it sh all decide to maintain the decision to grant a 
patent as amended, provided that the conditions laid down in the Regulations are fulfilled; 
b) do not meet the requirements of this law, it shall revoke the decision to grant a patent. 
(6) If a patent is amended under paragraph (5) above, the AGEPI shall, after payment of the 
prescribed fee, publish a new specification of the patent containing the description, the claims 
and, as the case may be, any drawings, in the amended form. 
    
 Article 58. Appeal (1) Any person adversely affected by  a decision taken by the respective divisions of the AGEPI 
may appeal with the Appeal Board of the AGEPI. 
(2) The appeal under paragraph (1) of this article shall have suspensive effect. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  (3) The appeal shall be filed in writing within 2 months after the date of notification of the decision 
and shall contain the grounds for appeal. Notice of appeal shall not be deemed to have been filed until the prescribed fee has been paid.  
 
Article 59. Examination of the Appeal 
(1) In the examination of the appeal, which shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions 
of the Regulations and the Regulations on the Appeal Board of the AGEPI, the Appeal Board 
shall invite the parties, as often as necessary, to file observations, within a period to be fixed 
by the Appeal Board of the AGEPI, on communica tions from another party or issued by itself. 
(2) Following the examination of the appeal, the Appe al Board of the AGEPI may either take a final 
decision or remit the case to the AGEPI subdivision whose decision was appealed for further 
prosecution. 
(3) The decision of the Appeal Board of the AGEPI shall be published in BOPI. 
(4) Any decision taken by the Appeal Board of the AGEPI may be appealed before a court within 2 
months following the date of dispatch of the notice concerning the decision that has been 
taken, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedural Code.  
 
 
CHAPTER V 
PROCEDURE AFTER GRANT OF A PATENT 
 
Section 1 
Maintenance, Termination an d Revocation of a Patent 
 
Article 60. Grant of Patent 
(1) If no opposition has been filed against the decision to grant a patent under CHAPTER IV 
Section 2 of this Law, or if any opposition filed has been rejected, the AGEPI shall grant a 
patent to the entitled person, subject to paym ent of the prescribed fees, and shall publish a 
mention concerning the grant of patent in BOPI. 
(2) The grant of a patent shall not be refused and a patent shall not be revoked on the ground 
that the sale of the patented product or of a product obtained by means of a patented process 
is subject to restrictions or limitations resulting from the domestic law.  
(3) The date of grant of a patent shall be the date  on which the mention of the grant appears in 
BOPI. The particulars to be published shall be determined by the AGEPI. 
(4) Granted patents shall be entered in the National Register of Patents.  
(5) If the fees for grant of the patent are not paid in due time after the publication of the mention 
to grant a patent under the Regulations, the pa tent shall not be granted. The mention of the 
exhaustion of rights shall be entered in the National Register of Patents and published in BOPI. 
 Article 61. Maintenance of Patent (1) For the maintenance of a patent, annual fees, in accordance with Article 93, shall be paid. 
(2) The maintenance fee shall be payable after the pu blication of the mention of the decision to 
grant a patent and shall be deemed to have been paid to all effects, if it is paid within the established period. 
(3) If the maintenance fee has not been paid within the prescribed time limit, it may still be validly 
paid within 6 months from the expiry of the pr escribed time limit for payment, provided that 
an additional fee is paid at the same time. 
 
Article 62. Patents Granted to Non-Entitled Persons  (1) If by a final court decision it is adjudged that a person referred to in Article 14, other than the 
applicant, is entitled to the grant of a patent, that person may, without prejudice to any other 
rights or actions, claim that the patent be transferred to him as the rightful owner. 
(2) If a person is entitled only to a part of the patent, he may claim under paragraph (1) above 
that the patent be transferred to him as a co-owner. 
(3) The rights mentioned in paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) above may be exercised legally 
within the prescribed time limit under the applicable law, which starts from the date on which the mention of the grant has been published in BOPI. 
(4) Filing of a claim with the court shall give rise to  the entry in the National Register of Patents. A 
certified copy of the court decision shall be su bmitted to the AGEPI by the interested party. 
Mention of the final and irrevocable court decision  shall be entered in the National Register of 
Patents. The decision mentioned shall produce legal effects for any third party as from the date 
of its publication in BOPI. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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Article 63. Effects of Chan ge of the Patent Owner 
(1) If the patent owner is changed as a result of a legal proceeding under Article 62 , the licenses 
and other rights shall be terminated upon registra tion of the person entitled to the patent in 
the National Register of Patents. 
(2) If, prior to the filing of a claim with the court,  the patent owner or the holder of a license has 
exploited the invention on the territory of Moldova or has made effective and serious 
preparations for that purpose, he may continue such exploitation, provided he applies for a 
non-exclusive license to the new patent owner entered in the National Register of Patents. Such application shall be filed within the term provided for in the Regulations. The license should be granted for a reasonable period and on reasonable terms and conditions. 
(3) Paragraph (2) above shall not apply where the patent owner or the holder of a license has not 
acted in good faith at the time of starting the exploitation of the invention or preparations for that purpose. 
 
Article 64. Revocation of Patent  (1) A patent may be revoked, in whole or in part, on the following grounds:  
a) if the subject-matter of the patent is not patentable within the meaning of Articles 6-11 
and, as the case may be, Article 12; 
b) if the patent does not disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete 
for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art; 
c) if the subject-matter of the patent extends beyo nd the content of the application as filed, 
or, if the patent was granted on a divisional application or on a new application filed in accordance with Article 16, beyond the content of the earlier application as filed; 
d) if the protection conferred by the patent has been extended; 
e) if the patent owner is not the person entitled to obtain a patent under Article 14 or, in the 
case of employee inventions, under Article 15.  
(2) If the grounds for revocation only affect the patent in part, revocation shall be pronounced in 
the form of a corresponding limitation of the said patent, by an amendment to the claims, the description or the drawings. 
(3) Non-compliance with one or more formal requirements in respect of a patent application may 
not form grounds for revocation of the patent, in whole or in part, except where it results from 
a fraudulent intention.  
(4) Effects of a patent referred to in Articles 19-23 shall be considered to be null and void, as from 
the outset, to the extent that the patent has been  so declared null and void in whole or in part.  
(5) The retroactive effect of the patent revocation shall not prejudice:  
a) final and irrevocable decisions in actions related to the infringement of rights, which have 
come into effect prior to the revocation decision; 
b) contracts concluded prior to the revocation decision, to the extent of their execution 
degree before such decision. Furthermore, clai ms may be made on grounds of equity to 
redeem the payments already made under the contract, the amount of the claim to be 
justified by circumstances. 
 Article 65. Procedure for Revocation of Patent 
(1) Proceedings for revocation of patent may be inst ituted at any time during the term of validity 
of the patent and solely on the grounds mentioned in Article 64. 
(2) Any person may institute proceedings for revocati on of patent with the court. For the cases 
referred to in Article 64 paragraph (1) letter e) proceedings may be instituted solely by a 
person entitled to be entered in the National Register of Patents as patent owner or jointly by other persons entitled to be registered as co-owners of that patent under Article 62. 
(3) Proceedings for revocation of patent may be instituted even if the rights conferred by the 
patent have terminated or if the patent is renounced. 
(4) Proceedings for revocation of Eurasian patent on the territory of the Republic of Moldova 
should be instituted in accordance with the Eu rasian Convention, Implementing Guidelines to 
the Eurasian Convention and the national legislation. 
(5) A final and irrevocable decision for revocation  of patent, in whole or in part, shall be 
communicated to the AGEPI by the interested person. Mention of revocation shall be entered in 
the National Register of Patents and published in BOPI. 
 Article 66. Surrender of Patent (1) The patent owner may surrender the patent by submitting a written declaration to that effect 
to the AGEPI. The patent may only be surrendered in its totality. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  (2) Surrender of patent shall only take effect upon  introduction of the corresponding entry in the 
National Register of Patents and publication of notice thereof in BOPI. 
(3) The patent owner shall be required to inform the inventor, at the same time as he submits his 
written declaration to the AGEPI, of his intention to surrender the patent. In such case, the 
inventor shall have a preferential right to the grant of a patent in his name during a period of 3 
months as from the date on which the patent owner has informed him of his intention to surrender the patent. 
 
Article 67. Limitation of Patent  (1) At the request of the patent owner, filed with  the AGEPI and subject to the payment of the 
prescribed fee, the patent may form the subject-matter of a limitation, provided that the 
patent in the amended form satisfies the prot ection requirements. The limitation shall be 
effected by way of an amendment to the claims, the description or the drawings. 
(2) The request for limitation may not be filed during the period when eventual opposition is 
formulated or when opposition or revocation proceedings are pending. 
(3) The request for limitation may only be submitted with the consent of the person who benefits 
from the real right entered in the National Register of Patents or in whose name the entry was 
made under Article 62 paragraph (4). 
(4) If the AGEPI states that, taking unto consideration the amendments made by the patent owner 
following the patent revocation proceedings, the grounds for revocation mentioned in Article 64 do not prejudice the maintenance of the patent, it shall decide to limit the patent. If the 
amendments are not admissible, it shall reject the request for limitation. 
(5) If a patent is amended under paragraph (1) above, AGEPI shall publish, on payment of the 
prescribed fee, a new specification of the patent  containing the description, the claims and, as 
the case may be, any drawings, in the amended form. 
 Article 68. Termination of Rights Conferred by a Patent 
(1) Rights conferred by a patent shall terminate: 
a) upon expiry of the legal protection period referred to in Article 18; 
b) if the owner renounces the patent under conditions referred to in Article 66; 
c) in the event of failure to pay the patent issuance and maintenance fees in due time . 
(2) Termination of rights for failure to pay the annual fee or, where appropriate, the additional fee, 
shall be deemed to have effect as from the date of expiration of the time limit established for payment of such annual fee. 
(3) AGEPI shall publish in BOPI a notice of the termination of rights conferred by a patent. 
 
Section 2 
Supplementary Protection Certificate 
 Article 69. Certificate (1) The owner of a patent with effects in the Republic of Moldova, the subject-matter of which is a 
medicinal product or a phytopharmaceutical product (basic patent) for which an authorization 
for marketing the product has been granted, shall avail himself, in accordance with the requirements of this law and the Regulations,  of a supplementary protection certificate, 
hereinafter certificate , for those parts of the primary patent which correspond to the 
authorization. 
(2) The certificate shall take effect upon expiry of the legal protection term of the basic patent, for 
a period equal to the period covered between the date of filing of the patent application and 
the date of issuance of the first authorization under paragraph (1), minus 5 years. 
(3) Without prejudice to the provisions of paragrap h (2), the duration of the certificate may not 
exceed 5 years from the expiration date of the legal protection term in respect of the basic 
patent. 
(4) Within the limits of the protection conferred by the basic patent, the protection conferred by 
the certificate shall only extend to the product which forms the subject-matter of the 
authorization mentioned in paragraph (1) and any use of such product as a medicinal or 
phytopharmaceutical product, which was authorized  prior to the expiration of the certificate. 
(5) The provisions of this law relating to patents shall apply mutatis mutandis
 to supplementary 
protection certificates in the absence of any pr ovisions to the contrary and with the exception 
of the opposition proceedings under CHAPTER IV Section 2 of this Law. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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Article 70. Application for the Grant of a Certificate 
(1) The application for the grant of a certificate shall be filed with AGEPI within 6 months following 
the date of issuance of the authorization mentio ned in Article 69. If the authorization has been 
issued prior to the grant of the primary patent, the application shall be filed within 6 months 
from the date of grant of the patent. The applic ation shall not be deemed filed until after the 
prescribed fees have been paid. 
(2) The application for the grant of a certificate must satisfy the requirements laid down in the 
Regulations. 
 
Article 71 . Conditions for Grant of a Certificate 
(1) A certificate shall be granted where an application is filed under Article 70 and where the 
following requirements are satisfied at the date of filing of that application: 
a) the product is protected by a basic patent valid in the Republic of Moldova; 
b) the product was granted an effective authorization for marketing as a medicinal or 
phytopharmaceutical product; 
c) the product is not yet a subject-matter of a certificate in the Republic of Moldova; 
d) the authorization mentioned in letter b) is the first authorization for marketing in the 
Republic of Moldova of the respective product as a medicinal or phytopharmaceutical product. 
(2) If the requirements referred to in paragraph (1) above are met, the AGEPI shall take the 
decision to grant a supplementary protection certificate and enter the particulars of the 
certificate in the National Register of Patents for Invention. Mention of the decision to grant a certificate shall be published in BOPI.  
(3) The owner of more than one patent which relates to the same product may not obtain more 
than one certificate for that product. However, where two or more applications which relate to the same product are under examination and we re submitted by two or more owners of 
different patents, each of such owners ma y obtain a certificate for that product. 
 Article 72. Revocation of a Certificate (1) The supplementary protection certificat e shall be declared null and void if: 
a) it was issued in violation of Article 71;  
b) the rights conferred by the basic patent have terminated in accordance with Article 68 
before the expiration of the legal protection term; 
c) the basic patent was cancelled or limited to the effect that the product covered by the 
certificate is no longer protected by the claims of the basic patent or grounds are in existence after termination of rights conferred by the basic patent, which justify the 
revocation or limitation of the patent. 
(2) If the basic patent is declared null and void only in a part which forms a subject matter of the 
authorization for marketing, the certificate shall be declared null only for the corresponding part. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
ENFORCEMENT OF RIGHTS 
 
Article 73. Proceedings for Infringement of Rights  
(1) Any natural or legal person, or any other interested bodies which have claims regarding the 
use of a patent application or a patent, causing direct or indirect prejudice to a natural or 
manufactured product, contrary to the origin of  that product, may institute Court proceedings 
to prohibit the use of the patent application or the patent.  
(2) The following parties may institute proceedings for infringement of rights conferred under 
Articles 20-23: 
a) the applicant of a patent application or the patent owner; b) any other person entitled to use the patented invention, and in particular licensees; 
c) other natural or legal persons entitled to represent the right holder. 
(3) The court shall suspend the proceedings where the subject-matter of the litigation is a short-
term patent until a copy of the search report drawn up by AGEPI at the request of the patent 
owner or interested third parties has been submitted. 
(4) The examination of proceedings shall be susp ended until the decision to grant the patent has 
become final. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  (5) The institution of proceedings for infringement of rights deriving from a Eurasian patent shall 
be performed in accordance with the Eurasian Convention, the Implementing Guidelines to the Eurasian Convention as well as the applicable national legislation. 
 
Article 74. Proceedings for a Declarat ion of Non-infringement of Rights 
(1) Any interested person may institute proceedings against the owner of the patent or the 
beneficiary of an exclusive license, seeking to  establish the fact that economic operations 
which such person performs or for which he has made effective and serious preparations, do 
not prejudice the rights referred to in Articles 20 and 21. 
(2) Where the owner's position is not satisfactory  or where the owner is unable to determine his 
position within 3 months, the interested person shall be entitled to institute proceedings with 
the competent court seeking to establish the fact of non-infringement of rights. 
(4) The validity of a patent may not be challenged in proceedings for declaration of non-
infringement of rights. 
 
Article 75. Measures to Preserve Evid ence up to Institution of Proceedings  
(1)  Any entitled person, who has presented reasonably available evidence sufficient to support his 
claims for infringement, may request the court prior to the institution of proceedings against 
illegal actions, to adopt provisional measures  to preserve relevant evidence, subject to 
conditions which ensure the protection of confidential information and provision of a security or a corresponding equivalent assurance, whic h would be necessary to repair the eventual 
damage which might be caused to the defendant in case the infringement is not confirmed. 
(2)  In terms of the measures to preserve evidence, the court shall have the authority to: 
a) request the detailed description of the infringing goods; 
b)  lay a distraint upon the infringing goods; 
c)  lay a distraiunt upon the materials and tools used to produce and/or distribute such 
goods, and the documents relating thereto. 
(3) The proceedings for the application of measures to preserve evidence referred to in this article 
and Article 76 shall be performed by the court or other competent authorities in accordance with the respective provisions of the Civil Procedural Code. Measures to preserve evidence shall be taken with the participation of a court bailiff, who might be assisted by a 
representative of the AGEPI and a police officer.  
 Article 76. Preservation of Evidence in Urgent Cases  
(1) Measures to preserve evidence may be established without hearing the defendant where any 
delay is likely to cause irreparable harm to the right holder or where there is a demonstrable risk of evidence being destroyed. The final co urt decision shall be communicated promptly to 
the affected party. 
(2) The affected party shall have the right to reques t a review of final decisions on preservation of 
evidence.  
 
Article 77. Revocation of Meas ures to Preserve Evidence  
(1) Measures to preserving evidence shall be considered null or void: 
a) where the plaintiff does not institute court proceedings for infringement of his rights 
within 20 working days after such measures are taken; 
b)  as a consequence of any harmful actions or inactions on the part of the plaintiff; c) where it is subsequently found that there has been no infringement or threat of 
infringement of rights deriving from the patent application or the patent; 
d)  by court decision where other reasons exist provided for in the applicable law. 
(2) Where the measures to preserve evidence have caused damage and have been declared null 
or void, the plaintiff must pay to the defendant an adequate compensation.  
 
Article 78. Presentation and Preservation  of Evidence in the Proceedings for 
Infringement of Rights 
(1) The court shall have the authority, where a pa rty presents reasonably available evidence to 
support its claims and specifies evidence relevant to substantiation of its claims which lies in the control of the opposing party, to order that this evidence be produced in sufficient and 
reasonable amounts, subject to conditions which ensure the protection of confidential 
information. Where substantial damage is incurred, in order to assess such damage the court may order the parties to produce additionally the relevant banking, financial or commercial documents.  IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
- 24 - 
 
  (2) Where a party to the proceedings voluntarily and without good reason refuses access to, or 
otherwise does not provide necessary information  within a reasonable period, or significantly impedes a procedure relating to an enforcement action, the court shall decide on the acceptance or rejection of the brought action on the basis of the information presented to it, 
including the complaint or the allegation presented by the party adversely affected by the 
denial of access to information, subject to prov iding the parties an opportunity to be heard on 
the allegations or evidence. 
(3) In the examination of infringements of the owne r's rights, if the subject-matter of a patent is 
a manufacturing process of a product, the court shall have the authority to order the defendant to prove that the process used by him to manufacture an identical product is different from the patented process. In the addu ction of proof to the contrary, the legitimate 
interests of the defendant in protecting his ma nufacturing and business secrets shall be taken 
into account. 
(4) If the defendant fails to provide such eviden ce, any identical product when produced without 
the consent of the patent owner shall, in the ab sence of proof to the contrary, be deemed to 
have been manufactured by the patented process in the following two circumstances: a) if the product manufactured by the patented process is new; 
b) if there is a substantial likelihood that the identical product was manufactured by the 
patented process and the patent owner has been unable through reasonable efforts to determine the process actually used.  
 
Article 79. Right to Information  
(1) The court shall have the authority, where it is found during the examination of the case that 
the rights deriving from a patent application or a patent are infringed, to order that the 
information regarding the origin and channels of distribution of the infringing goods or 
services be provided by the defendant and/or any other person which is: a) found to possess the infringing g oods intended for commercialization;  
b) found to use for commercial purposes the services with infringing goods; 
c) found to supply for commercial purposes services with goods used in infringing activities; 
or 
d) was indicated by any person mentioned under letters a), b) or c) as being involved in the 
production, manufacture or distribution of goods or provision of services. 
(2) The information mentioned in paragraph (1) may include, where appropriate: 
a) the names and addresses of producers, distributors, suppliers and other previous 
possessors of the goods or services as well  as the target wholesalers and retailers; 
b) the information regarding the quantities pr oduced, supplied, received or ordered as well 
as the prices for the respective goods or services.  
(3) Paragraph (1) and (2) shall be applied without prejudice to other legal and regulatory 
provisions which: a) entitle the right owner to more detailed information; b) regulate the use of the information provided under this article in civil or penal law 
proceedings; 
c) regulate the responsibility for the abuse of the right to information; d) provide the possibility of refusal to provid e the information, which prevents the person 
mentioned in paragraph (1) from admitting his own involvement or that of his close 
relatives in the actions infringing the rights conferred by a patent application or a patent; or 
e) regulate the protection of confidentiality of the information sources or processing of 
personal data. 
 Article 80. Measures to Ensure the Proc eedings for Infringement of Rights  
(1) Where the court establishes the actual or imminently threatening infringement of the rights 
conferred by a patent application or a patent, it may, upon request of the patent owner, institute certain measures to ensure the proceedings for infringement of rights against the 
defendant and/or intermediaries, such as to: 
a) issue a provisional ruling to prohibit any activities which constitute an infringement of 
rights or to permit the continuation of such activities, subject to the provision of a 
security sufficient to cover the eventual damage to the patent owner; 
b) lay a distraint upon goods suspected of infringing a right conferred by a patent 
application or a patent with the aim to prevent their release into the channels of commerce; IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
- 25 - 
 
  c) lay a provisional distraint upon defendant's assets, including the arrest of banking 
accounts, presentation of banking, fina ncial or commercial documents, where the 
infringement was committed on commercial scale and there exists a risk of the impossibility to recover the incurred damage.  
(2) Measures to ensure the proceedings for in fringement of rights may be ordered under 
Article 75 without hearing the defendant, where any delay is likely to cause irreparable harm to the patent owner or where there is a demons trable risk of evidence being destroyed. The 
court decision shall be communicated promptly to the affected party. 
 Article 81. Corrective measures  
(1) The court shall have the authority, where an infringement is stated, to order, upon request of 
the plaintiff, taking of measures in respect of the goods found to be infringing the rights 
conferred by a patent application or a patent and, where appropriate, the materials and implements used for the creation and manufacture of such goods. Such measures may 
include, in particular: 
a)  provisional disposal of the infringing goods outside the channels of commerce; b)  final disposal of the infringing g oods outside the channels of commerce; or 
c)  destruction of the goods infringing the rights conferred by a patent application or a 
patent. 
(2) The measures mentioned in paragraph (1) above shall be performed at the infringer's 
expense, unless this would be contrary to existing substantiated reasons. 
(3) In considering the request for application of the corrective measures, the court shall be 
guided by the principle of equity, the seriou sness of the infringement and the remedies 
ordered as well as the interests of third parties. 
 
Article 82. Enforcement of a Court Decision  
Where a court decision is issued stating the in fringement of rights conferred by a patent 
application or a patent, the court may, upon request of the right owner, take measures to 
enforce the court decision against the defendant, ordering the latter to terminate any infringing activities. To that end, the court may order the defendant to provide a corresponding security or equivalent assurance.  The right owner may request to apply similar 
measures against the intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to infringe the 
owner's rights conferred by a patent application or a patent.  
 
Article 83. Alternative Measures 
Where the infringer did not knowingly, or with reasonable grounds to know, engage in infringing activity, the court may order him, upon request of the interested person, to pay 
certain pecuniary compensation, in place of the measures to enforce the rights provided for in 
this chapter, if the application of such measures would cause disproportionate damage and if the plaintiff is reasonably satisfied with the pecuniary compensation. 
 
Article 84. Damages 
(1) Upon request of the affected party, the infr inger who knowingly, or with reasonable grounds 
to know, engaged in an activity infringing the rights conferred by a patent application or a 
patent shall be ordered to pay the right holder damages adequate to compensate for the 
injury the right holder has suffered because of the infringement of his rights. In evaluating the damage: 
a) due account shall be taken of the respective circumstances, such as the negative 
economic effect, including the lost profits suffered by the affected party, the benefits received unfairly by the infringer and, as the case may be, other aspects, such as moral damage the affected party has suffered becaus e of the infringement of his rights; or 
b) alternatively, a lump amount may be fixed on the basis of certain components, such as, 
at least, the amount of the royalty or fees which would have been payable, had the infringer applied for the authorization to use the respective patent application or patent.  
(2)  When the infringer commits the infringement not knowingly, or with reasonable grounds to 
know about it, he shall be obliged to repay the lost profits or the damages suffered by the right holder, established by the applicable law.  
 
Article 85. Publication of Court Decisions (1) In the proceedings for infringement of rights conferred by a patent application or a patent, the 
competent court may order, upon the plaintiff's request and at the expense of the infringer, IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
- 26 - 
 
  respective measures to disseminate the information regarding the court decision, including 
the bill sticking as well as publication of the respective decision in whole or in part. 
(2) The competent court may also order, at the ex pense of the infringer, additional publication-
related measures in line with the particular circumstances, including a large-scale publication. 
(3) The court shall furnish to the AGEPI a copy of the final decision. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
COMMON PROVISIONS 
 
Section 1 
General provisions governing procedure 
 
Article 86. Representation (1) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) below, no person shall be compelled to be 
represented by an authorized professional repr esentative in proceedings before the AGEPI. 
(2) Natural or legal persons not having their residence or principal place of business in the 
Republic of Moldova shall be represented by a professional representative and act through him 
in all proceedings established by this Law, other than in the following situations: 
a) filing of a patent application; 
b) payment of fees; 
c) filing of an earlier application. 
(3) Natural or legal persons not having their residence or principal place of business in the 
Republic of Moldova may be represented in proceedings before the AGEPI by an employee.  
(3) Representation shall be based on a power of attorney registered with the AGEPI, on terms and 
conditions provided by the Regulations. 
(4) The professional representatives shall act on the basis of the Regulations on Patent Attorneys, 
approved by the Government. 
 
Article 87. Amendments (1) A patent application or a patent may be amended in proceedings before the AGEPI, in 
accordance with the Regulations. In any even t, the applicant shall be given at least one 
opportunity to amend the description, the claims and the drawings of his own volition, subject 
to payment of the prescribed fee. 
(2) The patent application or patent may not be amended in such a way that it contains subject-
matter which extends beyond the content of the application as filed. 
(3) The patent may not be amended in such a way as to extend the protection it confers. 
 
Article 88. Ex Officio Examination 
(1) The AGEPI may act upon its own initiative in the examination of the facts or revocation of its 
decisions on grounds of non-compliance with the requirements of this Law; it shall not be restricted in this examination to the analysis of  facts, evidence and arguments provided by the 
parties. 
(2) AGEPI may disregard facts or evidence which are not claimed or submitted in due time by the 
parties concerned. 
 
Article 89. Observations by Third Parties (1) In any proceedings before the AGEPI, following the publication of the patent application, any 
third party may, in accordance with the Regu lations, present observations concerning the 
patentability of the invention to which the application relates. 
(2) The third parties shall not be parties to the proceedings before the AGEPI.  
 
Article 90. Extension of Time Limits 
(1) Time limits provided for in this Law or in the Regulations for an action in a proceeding before 
the AGEPI related to an application or a patent may be extended by a request filed with the 
AGEPI before the expiry of the prescribed time limit. Any time limit may not be extended for 
more than 6 months from the date of expiry of the prescribed time limit. 
(2) A request for extension shall be subject to paymen t of a prescribed fee; in the opposite case 
the application for extension shall be deemed not filed. 
(3) The provisions of this article shall not be applicable to the time limits referred to in 
paragraph (1) of this article as well as in Article 15 paragraph (6), Article 32 paragraph (3), Article 33 paragraphs (9) and (10), Articles 39–42, Article 51 paragraph (2), Article 57 IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  paragraph (1), Article 58 paragraph (3), Article 61, Article 70 paragraph (1), Article 91 
paragraph (2), Article 92 paragraph (2). 
 Article 91. Continuation of Proceedings after Non-Observance of the Time Limit 
(1) Where the applicant was unable to observe a prescribed time limit for proceedings before 
AGEPI, he may request re-establishment of the omitted term and continuation of the 
proceedings in relation to the patent application. 
(2) The request must be filed in writing within 6 months following the expiry of the prescribed time 
limit. The omitted act must be completed within this period. The request shall not be deemed to have been filed until the fee for re-establishment of the omitted term has been paid; otherwise it shall be rejected. 
(3) Time limits referred to in Article 90 paragraph (3) shall be excluded from re-establishment of 
the omitted time limit. 
(4) If the request is granted, the legal consequences  of the failure to observe the time limit shall 
be deemed not to have ensued. 
 Article 92. Re-establishment of Rights ( restitutio in integrum ) 
(1) The applicant for or owner of a patent who, in spite of all due care required by the 
circumstances having been taken, was unable to observe a time limit vis-à-vis AGEPI, shall have his rights re-established upon request if the non-observance of this time limit has the 
direct consequence of causing the refusal of the patent application, or of a request, or the 
deeming of the patent application to have been withdrawn, or the revocation of the patent, or 
the loss of any other right or means of redress. 
(2) The request must be filed in writing within 2 months from the removal of the cause of non-
compliance with the time limit, but no later than 12 months following the expiry of the 
unobserved time limit. If the respective request relates to revalidation of the patent in connection with non-payment of the annual mainte nance fee, the period of 12 months shall be 
deemed to start from the date of expiry of the time limit specified in Article 61 paragraph (3). 
(3) The request must state the grounds on which it is based, and must set out the facts on which 
it relies. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the fee for re-establishment of rights 
has been paid. 
(4) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this article shall not be applicable to the time limits referred 
to in paragraph (2) of this Article as well as in Article 15 paragraph (6), Article 16 paragraph (1), Article 40 paragraph (6), Article 41 and 42, Article 51 paragraph (2), Article 57 
paragraph (1) and Article 58 paragraph (3).  
(5) Any person who has in good faith used or made effective and serious preparations for using an 
invention which is the subject of a published patent application or a patent in the period 
between the loss of rights referred to in paragr aph (1) and publication of the mention of re-
establishment of those rights, may without payment of any compensation and within the limits of the existing volumes continue such use in the course of his business or for the needs thereof. 
 
Article 93. Fees (1) The procedures carried out by the AGEPI in re spect of patent applications and granted and 
issued patents, specified in this Law and in the Regulations, shall be subject to the levying of 
patent fees. 
(2) Fees for the actions relating to protection of inventions, their amount and payment terms shall 
be governed by the Government. 
(3) Fees shall be paid by the applicant, the patent owner or by any other natural or legal person  concerned. (4) Fees for maintenance of a patent and a supplementary protection certificate shall be paid for 
each year calculated from the date of filing of the application and for each year of effectiveness 
of the certificate following the procedures specified in the Regulations on Fees. 
(5) Paid fees, except for the fee for filing of a patent application, shall be repaid to the payer upon 
his application, where the procedures or actions for which they were paid did not take place. 
(6) The fee paid in an amount below the established rate shall be taken into account only upon 
payment of the difference, and the procedure shall start upon payment of the full fee. 
(7) Where urgent execution of the procedures is requested, the fees payable for the urgency shall 
increase by 100% as compared to the established fee for the respective procedure, and the term for the execution of the respective actions shall decrease by half. 
(8) Oppositions and appeals of the central and local public authorities shall be examined free of 
charge where they act in the interests of the state or in the public interests. IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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Article 94. Hearing of Litigation (1) The Appeals Board of the AGEPI shall hear litigation with respect to: 
a) the grant or rejection of a patent application; 
b) the grant or refusal of any priority right; 
c) division of a patent application; 
d) withdrawal of a patent application or renunciation of a patent; 
e) limitation of patent protection. 
(2) The Chisinau Court of Appeals shall hear litigati on in accordance with the competence specified 
in the Civil Procedural Code.  
 
Section 2 
Information 
 
Article 95. Registers 
(1) AGEPI shall keep the National Register of Patent  Applications, the National Register of Short-
Term Patent Applications, the National Register of Patents and the National Register of Short-
Term Patents which shall contain those particulars the registration of which is provided for by 
this Law and by the Regulations. 
(2) The National Register of Patents and the National  Register of Short-Term Patents shall be open 
to public inspection. Entries in the National Register of Patent Applications and the National 
Register of Short-Term Patent Applications shall be deemed confidential up to the publication 
of the patent application. 
(3) AGEPI may upon request and subject to the paymen t of the prescribed fee issue extracts from 
registers, subject to compliance with the provisions of paragraph (2). 
 Article 96. Public Inspection 
(1) The files relating to patent applications which have not yet been published shall not be made 
available for inspection without the consent of the applicant. 
(2) Any person who can prove that the applicant for a patent has invoked the rights under the 
patent application against him may subject to obligation to keep confidentiality obtain 
inspection of the files before the publication of that application and without the consent of the 
applicant. 
(3) After the publication of the patent application, the files relating to such application and the 
resulting patent may be inspected on request, subject to the restrictions laid down in the 
Regulations. 
(4) Even before the publication of the patent application, AGEPI may communicate to third parties 
or publish the particulars specified in the Regulations.  
 
CHAPTER VIII 
TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS 
 
Article 97. Entry into Force and Applicability (1) This Law shall enter into force at the expiration of 3 months from the date of its publication, 
except for Articles 75, 76, 77 and 78 to be published with the entry into force of the 
corresponding amendments made in the Civil Procedural Code. 
(2) The following shall be abrogated on the date of entry into force of this Law:  
a) Law No. 461-XIII on Patents for Invention of May 18, 1995; 
b) Article 12 and Article 13 of the Law No. 412 – XIV on Animal Breeding of May 27, 1999.  
(3) This Law shall not prejudice the patents and utility model registration certificates granted and valid on the territory of the Republic of Moldova before entry into force thereof, as well as the 
utility model registration renewal procedure. 
(4) This Law shall not apply to patent applications and applications for the registration of utility models in respect of which the procedure undertaken in accordance with the Law No. 461-XIII on 
Patents for Invention of May 18, 1995 and the Provisional Regulations on the Protection of 
Industrial Property in the Republic of Moldova approved by the Government Decision No. 456 of 
July 26, 1993 has not been completed. 
(5) The provisions referred to in paragraph (2) shall apply to patents and utility model registration certificates in respect of which opposition proceedings are underway or the period for opposition has not yet expired as on the date of entry into force of this Law.  IP/N/1/MDA/P/4 
 
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  Article 98. Implementation of This Law 
Within 3 months following the entry into force of this Law, the Government: - shall submit to Parliament proposals to adapt the current legislation to this Law, including proposals to amend the Civil Procedural Code; 
- shall adapt its regulatory texts to this Law. 
  
CHAIRMAN OF THE PARLIAMENT  
   
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