Patents

Instruction of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic Defining Uniform Layout of a Patent Application

a. General Provision

b. Normative Section

In accordance with the Act No. 435/2001 Coll. (PDF, 327,0 kB) on patents, supplementary protection certificates and on amendment of some acts in wording of the Act No. 402/2002 Coll. and the Decree of the Industrial Property Office No. 223/2002 Coll. implementing the Act No. 435/2001 Coll. The Patent Act, the President of the IPO SR lays down following standard form of the patent application.

The patent application shall contain:

• request for granting a patent (2 copies)
• description of an invention (3 copies)
• at least one claim (3 copies)
• abstract (3 copies)
• drawings, if any (3 copies)

Request for Granting a Patent

Request for granting a patent shall be filed in two copies on a form drawn up by the Office. The request shall be fully completed.

Description of an Invention

Description of an invention shall contain:

1. Name of an invention in such way as it is written in the request for granting a patent; The name should be brief and accurate, it should not contain more than 8-10 words;
2. Specification of the technical field, to which the invention relates;
3. Description of prior art, if possible together with citation of documents reflecting such art; Name or names of real manufacturers, business names and pejorative information regarding well known products or processes shall not be indicated in the description;
4. Explanation of the substance of the invention defined in patent claims; This part of description shall contain description of terms used for explanation of nature of an invention in such terms that technical problem and its solution could be understood; At the same time advantageous (or disadvantageous) effects of an invention with reference to the prior art shall be stated; Same expressions as for patent claims shall be used for description;
5. Brief description of figures in drawings (if any);
6. Description of at least one example of carrying out the invention; The number and kinds of examples shall enable to explain and demonstrate that the invention is capable of realisation and they shall cover whole field of protection resulting from patent claims; In genetic applications a sequence listing shall be involved in the description; If an application contains drawings, reference signs used in drawings shall be mentioned in this part of description; Arabic numerals shall be used as reference signs; In an example of carrying out an invention reference signs shall be underlined; if there are more reference signs, it is recommended to make an extra list;
7. Way of industrial applicability of an invention, if it is not obvious from previous parts of an invention description.

Single parts of an invention description shown after the name of the invention shall be entitled as: Technical field, Prior Art, Nature of the Invention, Summary of Drawings, Examples of Carrying out of the Invention, Industrial Applicability. Titles shall be written from the left margin above the text itself with one line space.

Particularities of Description of Some Inventions

Inventions concerning:

1. mechanical compositions shall be determined by qualitative and quantitative contents of single compounds;
2. substances received by physical-chemical method shall be determined by qualitative and quantitative contents of compounds or by physical structure;
3. substances processed chemically, i.e. compounds including high-molecular substances or biologically active substances shall be determined by the name of composition according to the valid chemical nomenclature, by a structural formula of a compound, or by a universal formula of a compound; if a composition and a structure of a chemical substance are not known, but its physical characteristics and usage are known, substances shall be determined by production process;
4. pharmaceuticals,  description shall contain besides physical-chemical characteristics also results of pharmacological or clinic tests;
5. biologically active substances, , description shall contain besides physical-chemical characteristics also results of biological effect tests;
6. substances obtained by nuclear reaction resulting from artificial nuclear reactions, they shall be determined by characteristics inevitable for their unambiguous identification in description .

Claims

A  part of an application containing patent claims shall be named as Claims.

Subject-matter, for which the protection is sought, shall be defined in at least one patent claim in terms of technical features. Where appropriate, claims shall contain:

1. introductory part including name of an invention and features necessary for definition of a subject-matter of an invention and combination of which is a part of the prior art;
2. designation part - presented by the expression "characterised in that" - stating technical features for which, in combination with features stated in the introductory part, protection is sought d.

If a requirement of unity of an invention is met, an application may contain more than one independent claim. Claims relating to special (advantageous) realisation of an invention (dependent claims) may be added to any independent claim.

Any claim including all features of other claim (dependent claim) shall contain in introductory part reference to the other claim and shall state in designation part additional features claimed.

Number of claims shall be adequate to the nature of an invention for which protection is sought. If there is more than one claim, they shall be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals.

Claims shall not contain, except where absolutely necessary, references to description or drawings. In particular they shall not contain references as: "as described in description" or "as illustrated in figure".

Where an application contains drawings, particular features of claims shall be marked with reference signs. Reference signs in claims shall be placed in brackets.

Each claim shall be expressed in a single sentence.

Abstract

Abstract shall be on a separate sheet and as concise as a subject-matter of an invention permits, it should not consist of more than 150 words. Abstract shall not contain statements on alleged merits or value of the claimed invention or on its speculative application. Each feature of an invention mentioned in the abstract and illustrated in a drawing shall be followed by a reference sign placed in brackets.

A drawing indicated by an applicant, which is to be disclosed with an abstract, shall be on a separate sheet of paper.

Drawings

On sheets containing drawings, the usable surface area shall not exceed 26,2 x 17 cm. The usable or used surface shall not be surrounded by frame. The minimum margins are as follows:

1. top 2,5 cm
2. left side 2,5 cm
3. right side 1,5 cm
4. bottom 1,0 cm

Drawings shall be executed in durable, black, uniformity thick lines without shading and colourings. Cross-sections shall be indicated by hatching which should not impede clear reading of reference signs and leading lines. The scale of drawings and distinctness of their graphical execution shall be such that a photographic reproduction with a linear reduction in size to two/thirds would enable all details to be distinguished without difficulty. If the scale is given on a drawing it shall be represented graphically. All numbers, letters and reference signs appearing on drawings shall be simple and clear. Brackets, circles or inverted commas shall not be used in association with numbers and letters. The height of the numbers and letters shall no be less than 0,32 cm.

One sheet of drawings may contain several figures. Single figures are arranged in upright position. The figures are numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and independently of the numbering of the sheets. Reference signs shall appear in the drawing only if they are used in the description and vice versa.

The drawing shall not contain any explanations, except, when absolutely indispensable, a single word as "water", "steam", "open", "closed" , "section on A-A", or short catchwords in electrical circuits and block diagrams, if they are indispensable for understanding. Such words shall be placed in such way, if required; they can be replaced by their translations without interfering them with any lines of the drawings.

General Provisions Governing the Presentation of Application Documents

At least one copy, except the request, shall be presented in such way that enables direct high quality reproduction or printing. The making up of the main copy shall be on A4 paper which shall be white, strong, matt and durable. Drawings may be filed on transparent paper. A picture or a text shall be placed in upright position. Only one side of the sheet shall be used. The main copy may not contain signature, seal, etc.

Each part of an application (description, claims and abstract) shall commence on a new sheet. All sheets shall be connected in such way that they can easily be turned over, separated and joined together again.

Except of a request and drawings, the minimum margins shall be as follows:

1. top 2,5 cm
2. left side 2,5 cm
3. right side 2,0 cm
4. bottom 2,0 cm

All sheets of description, claims and abstract shall be numbered in consecutive Arabic numerals. Request, description and abstract shall be typed or printed. The spacing shall be 1 1/2. All texts shall be in characters, the capital letters of which are not less than 0,21 cm high and shall be in dark indelible colour. Chemical structural, common and mathematical formulae shall commence on a new line.

Description, claims and abstract must not contain any drawing. They may contain chemical or mathematical formulae and tables.

Mathematical, physical and electrotechnical signs and values as well as the terminology should meet the technical standard, if any. Otherwise only such terms, signs and symbols should be used which are generally accepted in the field of question. Formal documents making up shall meet the technical standards or applicable international regulations.
The terminology and the reference signs shall be consistent through the whole patent application.

c. Transitional and Final Provisions

d. Signature of Competent Cerson
Mr. Ján Bachratý
Vice-president