Organization : Government of the Republic of Croatia
Facility : Patent Protection Procedure
Country : Croatia
Website : https://gov.hr/en/patents-and-utility-models/1444
What is Patent?
Patent protection is an effective business tool that allows its holders to return the funds invested in research and development of new products and technologies through a kind of monopoly on the use of a protected technical solution for the duration of the patent protection period. A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention offering a new solution to a technical problem. A patent is granted for inventions relating to a product, process, apparatus or use.
Croatia Patent Protection Procedure
Inventions may be protected by patents in the Republic of Croatia on a national level, where the decision on grant is made by the State Intellectual Property Office (hereinafter: the Office), or on a regional level, where the decision on grant is made by the European Patent Office, with the patent thus granted being subsequently validated by the Office in the Croatian Patent Register, making it equal to a patent obtained on a national level.
The procedure begins by filling an application. A patent application consists of:
** a request for the grant of a patent
** a description of the invention
** claims
** drawings – where the invention may be appropriately displayed in drawings
** an abstract – a short summary of the concept of the invention providing technical information.
The procedure of formal examination of the application is followed by the obligatory preparation of a search report . The applicant may also request a non-binding written opinion on patentability for the purpose of determining whether the invention meets the requirements of novelty, inventiveness, and industrial applicability.
Croatia Utility Model Registration
The new Patent Act (Official Gazette No 16/20) introduced the use of the utility model. In comparison with the standard patent protection, the utility model registration process is faster, simpler, cheaper, more suitable for simpler inventions, as well as for individual inventors and small and medium-sized enterprises.
The law prescribes limitations in terms of protection by having the utility model refer exclusively to a product that shall not be an invention in the field of biotechnology, a chemical or pharmaceutical substance or an invention the commercial exploitation of which would be contrary to public order or morals, nor an invention relating to a process. Another limitation is the number of claims it may contain, which is a maximum of ten.
The registration is performed without examination of the novelty, inventiveness and industrial applicability of the invention. The registration procedure begins with the filing of an utility model application. After the examination, the Office issues a decision on registration or rejection of the application of the utility model. Another difference in relation to the standard patent application is that the application of the utility model is not published, but the registered right is published in the official gazette of the State Intellectual Property Office.