Trademarks & Patents

Trademarks

Register unique brand which will distinct you from your competitors!

The ownership of a strong and distinctive brand is a serious asset in the today competitive market. The success of your product or services on the market significantly depends on the trademark under which the product or services is advertised. The good trademark may make your business and your goods or services unique by their nature and to clearly distinguish you from the competitors.

So, if you have a name, logo or other identifier of the goods and/or services which you offer or intend to release on the market, in order to obtain exclusive right on such sign and to prohibit third persons to use your trademark with regard to your goods and/or services in the territories (states) relevant to you, it is necessary to register that sign through filing an application for trademark registration. Only the registered trademark is protected by the law and gives its holder legal opportunities to protect himself from possible bad faith actions of his competitors as well as to distinguish his original goods from imitations.  

Our team provides full range of services in relation to trademarks – preliminary searches, filing applications, representation in opposition proceedings, invalidation and cancellation proceedings, trademark infringement proceedings, etc. – as before the national Patent Office as well as before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

What we offer:

With regard to trademarks we assist our clients with the following services:

• Analyzing if your trademark answers the statutory requirements in order to be successfully registered;
• Preliminary searches for earlier trademarks and analyzing preliminary search results in order to assess the chances for successful registration of your trademark;
• Advising and consulting with regard to the trademark registration process before the Patent Office of Republic of Bulgaria, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO);
• Registration of trademarks in the Patent Office of Republic of Bulgaria;
• Registration of EU trademarks in the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO);
• Drafting of all needed documents regarding subsequent changes in the legal status of trademarks - change of ownership, renewal, etc.;
• Counselling and representation before the Bulgarian Patent Office and competent Bulgarian courts in revocation, invalidation and opposition proceedings;
• Counselling and legal representation before the competent Bulgarian courts of law in cases of trademark infringements;
• Counselling and representation before the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in relation to EU trademarks procedures;
• Legal representation before the competent Bulgarian courts in appealing procedures of Bulgarian Patent Office's decisions;
• Counseling, conducting negotiations and drafting agreements for the transfer of trademarks, licensing agreements, etc.

Expenses:

We offer you trademark registration at attractive fixed prices, for example:

Bulgarian national trademark:

EU Trademark:

Designs

If you like to have exclusive rights to the external appearance of your product and to prohibit third parties to copy or to offer on the market identical or similar products you should file an application for design registration as soon as possible!

The success of a product often depends not only on its brand but also on its design. The design as the visible outside appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colors, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation, is an important commercial advantage in the today’s competitive environment.

A wide range of industrial and craft products may be registered as designs, for example, product’s packings, interior design, web design, computer icons, printed font, etc. 

What is of significant importance is that your design should not have become publicly accessible through publication, use or disclosure of any nature within a period of 12-month prior to the date of filing the application. Otherwise, your design will not answer one of the main registration requirements, namely the novelty of the design, and could be attacked by your competitors. In view of the aforesaid, we recommend that the filing of the design application is made as soon as possible but in any case before disclosure of the design through publication.

In contrast to trademarks, which could be renewed for unlimited periods of 10 years each as of the application date, the designs are industrial property rights with limited duration. The term of protection of a Bulgarian industrial design is 10 years as of the application date where the registration could be renewed for three subsequent periods of 5 years each, i.e. 25 years in total. As far as the registered Community design (“RCD”) is concerned, it has an initial term of protection of 5 years as from the date of the application and may be renewed for one or more periods of five years each, up to a total term of 25 years from the date of filing.

What we offer:

Our team provides the full set of services related to designs as before the national Patent Office as well as before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). In particular, the services which we provide to our clients with regard to designs are the following: 

• Assessment if your design answers the statutory requirements in order to receive protection, in view of the provided images; 
• Preliminary searches for presence of earlier registered designs and analyzing search results with a view to assessment of the chances for successful registration;
• Advising and consulting with regard to design registration process before the Patent Office of Republic of Bulgaria, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO);
• Registration of industrial designs in the Patent Office of Republic of Bulgaria;
• Registration of Community designs in the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO);
• Drafting of all needed documents regarding subsequent changes in the legal status of designs - change of ownership, renewal, etc.;
• Counseling and representation before the Bulgarian Patent Office and competent Bulgarian courts in invalidation proceedings;
• Counseling and legal representation before the competent Bulgarian courts of all in cases of design infringements;
• Legal representation before the competent Bulgarian courts in appealing procedures of Bulgarian Patent Office's decisions;
• Counseling, conducting negotiations and drafting agreements for the transfer of design rights, licensing agreements, etc.

Expenses:

We offer you registrations of designs at attractive fixed prices, as for example:

Bulgarian industrial design

Registered Community Design

Patents

The ownership of a patent for an invention is a proof for the innovative strength, high expertise and technological capacity of your enterprise.

The monopoly on an invention is undoubtedly connected with the increase in the positive image of a company, leading to strong market positions of said company. In addition to this, the investment of significant funds and time in developing innovative products and the following commercialization of the product ensures the fast and high returns of the investments made. The ownership of an active patent further supports the advertising and also it helps in finding business partners and/or investors.

The issue of a patent for invention gives the inventor exclusive right to use the invention and to prohibit third persons to use it without his consent. In order to acquire such exclusive right once should submit a patent application for the invention. The effect of the patent with regard to third persons begins from the date of publication for the patent issue in the official bulletin of the respective patent office. As of the same date, with retrospective effect, the patent holder receives temporary protection of his patent for the period as of the publication of the patent application to the publication for the issue of the patent itself. The term of validity of the patent is 20 years as of the application date.  

In order for an invention to be patentable it should answer the patentability requirements, namely to be novel, to have inventive step and to have industrial applicability. The patent should have “worldwide” novelty, i.e. not to be disclosed in any manner, including through use anywhere in the world before the date of the patent application. The assessment if the invention has an inventive step, i.e. if it obviously follows from the prior art, should be made by a specialist in the respective area. Industrial applicable are these inventions which subject matter could be produced or repeatedly used in any industrial or agricultural branch.

What we can offer?

With regard to patents, we offer a wide range of services related to filing applications and registration of Bulgarian patents, applications for registration of European patents under the European Patent Convention, as well as international (PCT) applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. More specifically we may assist you in relation to the following:

• Assessment if your patent answers the statutory requirements in order to receive protection as such;
• Performing preliminary searches of inventions;
• Consultations and representation in relation to the registration process before the Patent Office of Republic of Bulgaria, European Patent Office and the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); 
• Drafting and filing the patent application in the Patent Office of Republic of Bulgaria;
• Consultations and drafting of patent claims, patent specification (description) and summary;
• Consultations and assistance with regard to validation of European patents in Bulgaria;
• Assistance with regard to the opening of national phase in Bulgaria under international (PCT) patent application;
• Drafting of all needed documents regarding subsequent changes in the legal status of patents - change of ownership, renewal, etc.;
• Counseling and legal representation before the Bulgarian Patent Office and the competent courts of all in relation to dispute procedures, including appealing of decisions for refusal of patent issue, decisions for termination of proceedings under a patent application, as well as consultations and representation in relation to patent invalidation claims;
• Counseling and legal representation before the competent Bulgarian administrative authorities and courts of law in cases of patent infringements;
• Legal representation before the competent Bulgarian courts in appealing procedures of Bulgarian Patent Office's decisions;
• Counseling, conducting negotiations and drafting agreements for the transfer of patents, licensing agreements, etc.

Expenses:

The state fees due to the Bulgarian Patent Office with regard to the patent application are the following:

The state fees due to the Bulgarian Patent Office with regard to patent examination are the following:

The state fees due for the issue of a patent are the following:

The annual fee for maintenance of the patent is the following: 

In the event that the patent holder has submitted with the Patent Office a declaration for license readiness, all state fees due to the Patent Office shall be paid with 50 % reduction. The 50 % reduction is also provided regarding the state fees for application, examination, and appeal of the decisions of the examination department if the applicants are the inventors themselves, micro and small enterprises, state and municipal schools, state high schools or academic research organization at budget support.

Utility models

Known as “minor” patents, utility models are alternative of patents which also ends with the issue of protection document and provides the utility model holder with exclusive right to prohibit third persons to use it for a certain period of time in the course of the trade without the consent of the holder.

In contrast to the procedure for the issue of a patent for invention, which is extremely complicated and time-consuming, the registration of the utility model is relatively simplified, fast and cheap. Practically, the registration of utility model could be done within a period of 6 months if the application has no deficiencies. The short term wherein the Patent Office issues a protection document and the low state fees for registration and renewal of utility models urge Bulgarian companies to take the advantages of the procedure for registration of utility models especially when applying for different EU programs for the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The utility models are characterized by their so-called “registration” regime, i.e. the registration is done at the risk of the applicant. In contrast to patents, utility models are not subject to examination as to the presence of novelty and inventive step. The experts from the Patent Office only examine if the utility model clearly contradicts to the requirement for industrial application. The assessment of whether the utility model answers the three patentability requirements, i.e. novelty, inventive steps, and industrial application is not performed in the registration procedure, but in the “Dispute” department of the Patent Office in the event of a claim for invalidation submitted by any third party.

As far as the application for registration of utility model is not subject to publication in the official bulletin of the Patent Office, the utility models does not benefit from the preliminary protection against use without authorization, which the patent applicant enjoys during the period from publication of the application until publication for patent issue.  

The patentability criteria are the same with regard to patents and utility models – both objects should be new, should have inventive step and industrial application. The novelty and inventive step criteria are however significantly reduced concerning the utility model. Thus, while the invention should be “worldwide new”, i.e. not to be disclosed in any manner, including through use anywhere in the world before the date of the patent application, only use in Bulgaria is of importance regarding the utility model. Besides, the inventive step criterion by the utility model is also lower than those by the invention. While the assessment if the invention has an inventive step, i.e. if it obviously follows from the prior art, is made by a specialist in the respective area, the utility model has an inventive step if a person with common knowledges and skills could easily perform it based on the prior art.  

It should be noted that biotechnological inventions, methods, chemical compounds or their usage could not be registered as utility models – such objects may be patented only.

The term of validity of the utility model is 4 years as of the date of the application. Said term could be prolonged for two consecutive periods of 3 years each. Thus, the total term of validity could not exceed 10 years as of the date of filing the application.  

The Law on Patents and Utility Models sets forth the possibility for filing a parallel application for utility model against payment of additional fee – for the same invention with regard to which a patent application has been submitted, the applicant may also file an application for registration of utility model by availing himself of the application date and priority claimed in the patent application. 

The patent application could also be transformed in application for registration of utility model. In this case, the application being transformed will keep the application date and priority claimed in the initial patent application which will be considered withdrawn.

What we offer::

With regard to utility models we offer the following services:

• Assessment if your utility model answers the statutory requirements in order to receive protection as such;
• Consultations and representation in relation to the registration process of utility models before the Patent Office of Republic of Bulgaria
• Drafting and filing utility model applications in the Patent Office of Republic of Bulgaria;
• Consultations and drafting of patent claims, specification (description) and summary;
• Drafting of all needed documents regarding subsequent changes in the legal status of utility models - change of ownership, renewal, etc.;
• Counseling and legal representation before the Bulgarian Patent Office and the competent courts of law in relation to dispute procedures, including appealing of decisions for refusal of utility model issue, decisions for termination of proceedings under a utility model application, as well as consultations and representation in relation to utility model invalidation claims;
• Counseling and legal representation before the competent Bulgarian administrative authorities and courts of law in all cases of utility model infringements;
• Legal representation before the competent Bulgarian courts in appealing procedures of Bulgarian Patent Office's decisions;
• Counseling, conducting negotiations and drafting agreements for the transfer of utility models, licensing agreements, etc.

Expenses:

The state fees due for registration and renewal of utility models are significantly lower than those due for patents:

In contrast to patents, there is no possibility to submit a declaration for licensing readiness regarding utility models. The Law on Patents and Utility Models provides for 50 % reduction regarding the state fee for filing the application for utility model if the applicants are the inventors themselves, micro and small enterprises, state and municipal schools, state high schools or academic research organization at a budget support. 

The fees for renewal of the registration term are due for the 5th till 7th year (BGN 300) and for the 8th till 10th year (BGN 400).