Patents

Patents

According to the Act No. 435/2001 (PDF, 327,0 kB) Coll. on Patents, Supplementary Protection Certificates and on Amendment of Some Acts in wording of the Act No. 402/2002 Coll., patents shall be granted for inventions which are new, involve an inventive activity and are susceptible of industrial application after performing preliminary and substantive examination. The so-called deferred examination with publication of applications after expiry of 18 months is implemented. The full examination shall by carried out upon the request of an applicant, which shall be filed within 36 months as from the filing date of the patent application. It is also possible to patent chemical products and medicaments.

The term of the validity of a patent is 20 years as from the filing date of the patent application. The prerequisite of the duration of the patent protection is the payment of maintenance fees.