Patents

FAST TRACK – Patents

Currently, the average length of a patent application is 3-5 years. Under certain circumstances, if the conditions below are met, a patent can be granted within 24 months of filing a patent application.

The conditions for fast-track proceedings are:

• filing a request for a search within the priority period (at the time of filing the application)*
• the documents submitted cannot have any major formal or substantive deficiencies (if the Office has invited the applicant to remedy formal deficiencies in the application or to comment on the identification of certain substantive deficiencies, it is not obliged to carry out the search within the priority period)
• filing a request for early publication of the application (within 10 months of the filing of the application)*
• filing a request for a complete examination of the application (within 10 months of the filing of the application)*
• the conditions for patentability (podmienky patentovateľnosti) of the invention are fulfilled on the basis of the searches carried out*

* The applications are subject to a fee according to the scale of administrative fees (sadzobníka správnych poplatkov)

There is no separate fee for the grant of a patent within the shortened 24-month period.

Overview of the FAST TRACK procedure:

(PNG, 73,0 kB)