Registration of inventions

The invention is a technical solution to a problem through technical features.

Inventions can be protected by the following means:

• patent for invention, that confers on the holder the exclusive right to exploit the invention for a period of 20 years.
• short-term patent for invention, that confers upon the holder the exclusive right to exploit the invention for a period of 6 years with the possibility of extending the term of validity for a period of at most 4 years.

The inventions may have as subject-matter:

• a product – devices, substances, strains of microorganisms, cell cultures of plants or animals, pharmaceuticals and phytopharmaceutical products;
• a process – an activity that results in manufacturing or modifying a product (technological processes, computer processes, biological or genetic processes, etc.);
• a method – an activity having a result of qualitative nature (measurement, analysis, regulation, control, computerized methods, algorithm/program-process combinations);
• the use of a product, process or method – their use as a new destination, provided that it would not obviously result from the known properties of the product, process or method used.

Benefits of protection:

Throughout its term of protection, a patent confers on the owner an exclusive right to exploit the invention, to prevent third parties from performing, without his authorization, on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, the following acts:

• manufacture, offering for sale, selling, use, importing or stocking for these purposes of the protected product;
• the using of a process which is the subject-matter of the patent or, where the third party knows, or it is obvious in the circumstances, that the process cannot be used without the consent of the patent owner, offering of the process for use;
• offering for sale, selling, use, importing or stocking for such purposes of the product obtained directly by a process which is the subject-matter of the patent.

Requirements for patentability of an invention:

• the invention must be “susceptible of industrial application”;
• the invention must be “new”;
• the invention must involve an “inventive step”.

Industrial Application. An invention shall be considered as susceptible of industrial application if it can be made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture.

Novelty. An invention shall be considered to be new if it does not form part of the state of the art., which shall be held to comprise everything made available to the public by means of a written or oral description, by use, or in any other way, before the date of filing of the patent application or of the acknowledged priority.

Inventive Step. An invention shall be considered as involving an inventive step if, having regard to the state of the art, it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art. In the case of short-term patents, an invention shall be considered as involving an inventive step if it presents a technical or practical advantage.

International Patentability

Inventions created in the Republic of Moldova shall be patented abroad by three possible routes:

• national route
• regional route
• international route.

National route. According to one of the basic principles of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, any applicant who has filed a patent application with the AGEPI may register, within 12 months, a patent application for that invention in any of the member countries the Paris Convention, claiming priority of the original application.

Regional route. By this route, on the basis of regional Conventions and agreements by filing an application to a receiving office can be obtained a regional patent which is available in several countries, for example: European patent (under the European Patent Convention); Eurasian patent (under the Eurasian Patent Convention ); OAPI patent (under the Agreement on the Creation of the African Intellectual Property Organization); ARIPO patent (under the Agreement on the Creation of the African Regional Industrial Property Organization).

International route. By this route, under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), filing with a receiving Office of an application, called international application, with the designation in that application of all the states where protection is sought, shall produce the effects of a national application in each designated Contracting State to obtain a patent in this country subject to the entry into the national phase in that country in accordance with the PCT and payment of the prescribed fees.

INTELSTART services include:

• get advice on the procedure for registration of inventions and its possible pitfalls;
• get a preliminary opinion as to whether your invention meets the registrability requirements;
• patent searching via national and international databases;
• patent drafting, including description and claims;
• filing application for patent in Moldova;
• entering into the national phase of PCT (The Patent Cooperation Treaty);
• translation of patents and patent-related texts;
• legal support during formal and substantive examinations;
• keep in force the title of protection (patent) for an invention;
• monitoring of publication and registration process;
• draft a license agreement and a rights transfer agreement for an invention;
• representation before law enforcement authorities