2023 years 6 month 28 day, The Slovenian National Assembly adopted a resolution on "Industrial property law" Amendment to, The amendment would be 2023 years 7 month 27 Officially come into force.

In trademark, The parties will go through the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) The administrative process is faster, More economical realization of trademark revocation or invalidation, Rather than having to go through court proceedings as before.

In patent, In accordance with the approval of Slovenia 2023 years 6 month 1 daily "Agreement on the Unified Patent Court" , Patent with uniform effect (EPU) New provisions were made.

A brief overview of the most important changes in the amendment is provided below.

Trademark aspect

Revocation and invalidation proceedings will be conducted by SIPO In charge of

The procedures for trademark revocation and invalidation are now governed by SIPO Not court jurisdiction. therefore, Both procedures will become administrative.

Counterclaims arising from disputes arising from infringement of rights, The court still has jurisdiction, This would help to improve the efficiency of the proceedings.

Relative grounds for rejection: Reputation assessment of previous EU trademarks

As previously in force, The reputation of the prior trademark (As a basis for objection) The assessment was carried out only in Slovenia, This causes a lot of problems in cases where the prior trademark is an EU trademark. Because of this ambiguity, The amendment adds provisions on prior EU trademarks to the text, That is, the reputation of the trademark will be assessed within the European Union.

Patent aspect

prohibit (Having or not having uniform effect) European patents and national patents are valid at the same time

If a European patent is applied for protection in Slovenia (Whether or not the patent is registered for uniform effect) And national patents are granted to the same person for the same invention, They have the same application date and the same priority claim date, National patents are considered from the European Patent Office (EPO) in "European Patent Journal" Published on the European patent grant date does not have legal effect. Before this, The termination of legal effect is related to the final decision of the objection period or the objection procedure.

The obligation to submit translations of European patent claims is more clearly defined

Submitted translations of European patent claims 3 The month term will be from EPO in "European Patent Journal" Calculated from the date of publication of the European patent grant.

Translations that modify or limit patent claims must be in EPO From the date of publication of the modified form or limitation of the European patent 3 Submit within months, Or from the date of publication of the decision of the European Court of Justice to partially revoke a European patent 3 Submit within months.

If the European patent is not available for formal reasons EPO Registered as a unified patent, Be followed in SIPO Possibility of registration

New amendment 30 article a Section allowed for formal reasons (For example, the request was submitted too late) absent EPO The owner of a European patent registered as an EU unitary patent, Even if the normal period for registering a European patent in a Member State has expired, It is still possible to enter the Slovenian national stage (Since the final rejection 3 Within a month) coexistence SIPO Register the European patent in the Patent Register, The patent will be effective as a national patent.

Expand the possibility of using documentary evidence

Compared to the regulations in force so far, Patent owners can obtain documentary evidence in several different ways, And submit it to SIPO, As a basis for issuing declaratory decisions, And even in the period of patent validity no 10 Years later, The validity of the patent can also be maintained in the following ways:

Submitted by any other agency (Qualified as an international preliminary review body) Or Slovenian translation of a patent for the same invention granted after a thorough examination by another Patent Office with which the relevant agreement has been concluded;

Obtain a survey report on the state of the technology with a written opinion from any body qualified as an international preliminary examination body or other Patent Office with which the relevant agreement has been concluded, Act as SIPO The basis for issuing one of the declaratory decisions.

Other matters

Reduce the target deadline for submitting a request to continue proceedings after a delay to 4 month (Since the 2023 years 9 month 27 As of today)

Amendment regulation 67 clause, Notwithstanding that the parties have not fulfilled the obligations required by the procedure for acquiring rights, However, it is still possible to make a request for continuation of the proceedings after the delay and to continue to use the procedure for obtaining rights after the delay, Without giving a valid reason for the delay. So far, On the date of the delay, A request for continuation of proceedings after delay is made 6 The target period of one month was shortened to from the date of the delay 4 month. This adds to the security of the law, Because the period of legal uncertainty will be shortened.

Power of attorney: It's not just in writing anymore

The new law eliminates the requirement to file a power of attorney in writing, This will make it easier for a representative agent to obtain a client's power of attorney——E. g. scanned copy (Electronic form) .

If the client has authorized several representatives, But not specified SIPO To whom the letter should be addressed, SIPO All letters will be delivered to the representative listed last, Instead of sending letters to the representatives listed first. (Be compiled from www. lexology. com)

TRANSLATORS: Wang Dan　proofread: Liu Peng



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