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General information on patenting procedures started

on the basis of Law XXXIII of 1995* on the Protection of Inventions by Patents as amended by Law No. XXXIX of 2002

1. Examination on filing the application (HPL Article 65)

Following the filing of a patent application, the Hungarian Patent Office (HPO) examines whether the application satisfies the requirements for according a date of filing, the filing and the search fee have been paid, as well as in case of foreign applications the description, the abstract and the drawings have been filed in the Hungarian language.

1.1 Date of filing (HPL Article 58)
The HPO notifies the applicant of the accorded date of filing. If a date of filing cannot be accorded, the HPO invites the applicant to correct the defects within thirty days. If the applicant complies with the invitation within the specified time limit, the date of receipt of the correction shall be accorded as the date of filing. Failing which, the application shall be considered withdrawn.

1.2. Filing and search fee
Information on the filing fee and the search fee is contained in point 1 of the Schedule of Fees annexed to this Guide. The fee shall be payable to the account of the HPO, with the indication of the reference number. Payments without a reference number shall not be valid. If the filing fee and the search fee have not been paid within two months after the filing date, the application shall be considered withdrawn. The HPO may accord an exemption from the filing fee and the search fee if the patentee cannot pay them because of his wages, income and financial standing.

1.3. Documents in Hungarian language
Where the documents making up the patent application have been prepared in a foreign language, the patent description with the claims, the abstract and the drawings shall be filed in Hungarian language within four months after the date of filing, failing which the application shall be considered withdrawn.

2. Communication of certain data (HPL Article 67)

If, either on filing or as result of a correction, a patent application complies with the requirements prescribed for according a date of filing, the HPO publishes in its official journal (Gazette of Patents and Trademarks) the following data of the patent application: the name and address of the applicant and the eventual representative, the reference number of the application, the title of the invention, the filing date and the date of priority where the latter is different, the country and filing number of the previous application and in the case of international applications the international publication number.

3. Examination as to formal requirements (HPL Article 68)

If a patent application satisfies the requirements prescribed for according a date of filing, the filing fee and the search fee have been paid, and the description, the abstract and the drawings have been filed in the Hungarian language, the HPO examines the application, whether it satisfies the prescribed formal requirements. In the case of defects revealed during examination as to formal requirements, the HPO invites the applicant by a decision to correct the defects and continues the procedure on the basis of the correction. Where the applicant does not reply to the invitation to correct defects within the fixed time limit, the application shall be considered withdrawn.

4. Novelty search (HPL Article 69)

If a patent application satisfies the requirements prescribed for according a date of filing, the filing fee and the search fee have been paid and the description, the abstract and the drawings have been filed in the Hungarian language, the HPO carries out a novelty search and draws up a search report on the basis of the claims and with due regard to the patent description and any drawings. The search report shall indicate those documents and data which may be taken into consideration in deciding whether the invention to which the patent application relates is new and involves an inventive step. The search report together with copies of any cited document shall be transmitted by the HPO to the applicant. The HPO issues official information about the completion of the novelty search in the Gazette of Patents and Trademarks together with the publication of the patent application, or separately if the novelty search report is available at a later date.

5. Publication (HPL Article 70)

After the expiry of 18 months from the earliest date of priority the HPO publishes the patent application in the Gazette of Patents and Trademarks. At that time, the following data and facts relating to the patent application are given: in addition to the data published on communication of certain data, the name of the inventor, the international classification code of the invention, the abstract with the characteristic figure, as well as a statement whether publication is to take place after the preparation of the search report. For the term of patent protection annual fees shall be paid (see point 14 of this Guide). Publication gives rise to the obligation to pay this fee. The applicant shall be notified of the date of publication and the amount of annual fee before publication. The documents of the published patent application that may be inspected are available to the public, the HPO provides any person with their copies on payment of a fee.
Provisional patent protection having retroactive effect to the date of application begins with the publication of the application. It shall become definitive if a patent is granted to the applicant. Rights conferred by the patent can be enforced only on the basis of definitive protection.

6. Substantive examination (HPL Article 74-75)

The HPO carries out a substantive examination of the published patent application at the special request of the applicant. Substantive examination may be requested simultaneously with the filing of the patent application or within six months at the latest after the date of the official information on the performance of the novelty search. Failing which, provisional patent protection shall be considered relinquished. In the case of defects revealed during examination as to substantive requirements, the HPO invites the applicant to correct the defects, to submit comments or to divide the application, according to the nature of the objection. A patent application shall be rejected by the HPO in whole or in part if it does not meet the examined requirements even after the correction of the defects or the submitting of comments. If the applicant fails to reply to the invitation or to divide the application, he shall be considered to have relinquished the provisional patent protection.

7. Examination fee (HPL Article 75)

The request for substantive examination is subject to the payment of a fee (see point 2 of the Schedule of Fees). The examination fee shall be payable within two months from the filing of the request. Failing which, the applicant shall be considered to have withdrawn the application or to have relinquished the provisional patent protection. The examination fee shall be refunded on request if the applicant withdraws the application or relinquishes the provisional patent protection before the date of the official information on the novelty search. The HPO may accord an exemption from the examination fee if the patentee cannot pay it because of his wages, income and financial standing.

8. Amendment and internal priority (HPL Article 72 and 61)

A patent application may not be amended in such a way that, by introducing new subject matter, it contains subject matter which extends beyond the content of the application at the date of filing. Subject to this limitation, the applicant shall be entitled to amend the description, claims and drawings until the decision on the grant of patent becomes final. The request for amendment is subject to the payment of a fee (see point 4 of the Schedule of Fees). The applicant may file a new application claiming internal priority within twelve months from the date of filing.

9. Division (HPL Article 73)

If the applicant has claimed patent protection for a group of inventions in one application, he may divide the application, retaining the date of filing and any earlier priority, until the decision on the grant of patent becomes final. The request for division is subject to the payment of a fee (see point 6 of the Schedule of Fees). The fee shall be paid within two months from the filing of the request for division. Failing which, the request for division shall be considered withdrawn.

10. Approval before the grant of a patent, fee for grant and printing (HPL Article 77)

Before the grant of the patent, the HPO transmits to the applicant the text of the description, claims and drawings forming the basis of the grant. The applicant may indicate his approval of the text transmitted within three months. If the applicant approves the text or fails to submit comments, a patent shall be granted on the basis of the transmitted description, claims and drawings. If the applicant proposes amendments or files a new description, claims and drawings, the HPO decides whether these shall be taken into account when stating the final text. The fees for grant and printing shall be payable within a period of three months set for the statement (see point 3 of the Schedule of Fees). Failure to pay the said fees, the applicant shall be considered to have relinquished the provisional patent protection. The HPO may accord an exemption from the fees for grant and printing, if the patentee cannot pay them because of his wages, income and financial standing.

11. Time limits, extension of time limits, restitutio in integrum (HPL Article 48-49)

The time limits prescribed by the Patent Law (see points 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 6, 7, 9 and 10 of this Guide) shall not be extended. Failure to comply with them shall involve legal consequences without notice. Where the Law does not prescribe any time limit, an extension of the time limit set by the invitation of the HPO can be requested before the expiration thereof. This request is subject to the payment of a fee (see point 5 of the Schedule of Fees). In patent matters - unless excluded by the Law - a request for restitutio in integrum may be submitted within 15 days of the unobserved time limit or of the last day of the unobserved period. Where the failure to comply became known to the party subsequently or the cause thereof was removed subsequently, the time limit shall be reckoned from the date on which the failure to comply became known or the cause thereof was removed. A request for restitutio in integrum is only admissible within six months of the time limit not complied with or the last day of the period not complied with.

12. Grant of patent (HPL Article 77)

If the patent application and the invention to which it relates meet all the requirements of the examination, the HPO shall grant a patent for the subject matter of the application. After the grant of the patent, the HPO issues a patent certificate to the patentee.

13. Term of patent protection (HPL Article 22)

Definitive patent protection has a term of 20 years beginning on the filing date of the application.

14. Maintenance of patent protection (annual fee) (HPL Article 23 and DDecree 42/2002 (XII. 28.) GKM of the Minister of Industry and Trade on the fees)

1. The amount of annual fees payable during the term of patent protection and the mode of their payment are contained in point 9 of the Schedule of Fees. The fees shall be payable to the account of the HPO, with the indication of the reference number and the registration number. Payments without a reference number or a registration number shall not be valid.
   

2. The annual fee for the first year is due on the filing date and the fees for the subsequent years shall be payable in advance on the anniversaries of the filing date. The annual fees which become due before publication shall be payable within a period of grace of six months from the date of publication, the annual fees which become due before the grant of a patent treated as State secret shall be payable within a period of grace of six months from the date on which the decision on the grant comes into effect, and the other annual fees shall be payable within a period of grace of six months from the due date. The annual fees shall be payable without a surcharge in the first two months of the six months grace period, in the third and fourth months of that period with a surcharge of 25 per cent and in the fifth and sixth months with a surcharge of 50 per cent. The patentee shall provide for the payment regularly and in due time even without special notice of the HPO.
   

3. In the case of transitional patent protection, the annual fees which become due before grant shall be payable within a period of grace of six months from the date on which the decision on the grant comes into effect and the annual fees for the subsequent years shall be payable within a period of grace of six months from 1 July of each year.
   

4. If the patent application is divided, the annual fees shall be payable for each application resulting from the division beginning from the first year. If the patent application is divided following publication, the grace period for the payment of annual fees for the subsequent applications and for those which became due preceding the division, shall begin with the date on which the decision on the acceptance of the division comes into effect.
   

5. The payment of the annual fees may be effected within three months preceding the starting date of the grace period.
   

6. The HPO may grant a deferment of the annual fees due for the first to the fifth years if the patentee cannot pay them because of his wages, income and financial standing. The fees subject to the deferment shall be paid together with the annual fees for the sixth year.
   

7. Annual fees paid more than three months before the starting date of the period of grace, as well as the fees paid in a smaller amount than prescribed in the case of the lapse of patent protection shall be refunded by the HPO on request.
   

8. Failure to duly pay the annual fees shall give rise to the lapse of protection.

15. Restoration of patent protection (HPL Article 40)

Restoration of patent protection lapsed by reason of failure to pay annual fees may be requested within three months following the expiry of the six months period of grace. Within that period, the double of the annual fee due for the year in question shall be paid (see point 10 of the Schedule of Fees). In the case of the refusal of the request for restoration, the fee for the request shall be refunded by the HPO on request.

16. Lapse of provisional patent protection (HPL Article 38)

Provisional patent protection lapses with retroactive effect to the date of filing

1. if the patent application is definitely rejected;

2. if the annual fees have not been paid by the end of the period of grace;

3. if the applicant has relinquished protection.

17. Lapse of definitive patent protection (HPL Article 39)

Definitive patent protection lapses:

1. when the period of protection expires, on the day following the date of expiration;

2. if the annual fees have not been paid by the end of the period of grace, on the day following the due date;

3. if the patentee relinquishes the protection, on the day following receipt of the relinquishment or at an earlier date specified by the person relinquishing protection;

4. if the patent is revoked, with retroactive effect to the filing date of the application.