Lithuania Chapter of Global Patent GO——Introduction to Patent Application in Lithuania

Why is Lithuania always so rigid

Recently, the name of a small country in Central and Eastern Europe began to appear frequently in major Chinese media. Its tough attitude towards China has made many people curious about this small country that has never been noticed before. It is the Baltic state, Lithuania, which only declared independence in 1990.

Throughout the history of Lithuania, it is basically a history of occupation and anti-occupation. After World War II ended the history of being occupied by Germany, it was then occupied by the former Soviet Union. Guerrilla warfare against the Soviet Union continued in Lithuania until the 1950s. It was not until 1991 that the Soviet Union was forced to recognize Lithuanian independence under worldwide pressure.

The reason why the former Soviet Union has been unwilling to let Lithuania out of itself is of course because of Lithuania's excellent geographical location. Lithuania is basically the geographical center of Europe, located on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, connecting Northern Europe, Western Europe and Poland and other Central and Eastern European countries, with obvious geographical advantages. The ice-free port of Klaipeda, Lithuania's natural port, handles up to 65 million tons of cargo per year and is the largest port in the Baltic States.

Dare to challenge big countries, Lithuania has its own strengths. Since Lithuania joined the Eurozone in 2015, Lithuania has been defined as a "high-income economy" by the World Bank. The Lithuanian government aims to attract foreign investment, create jobs, and promote growth. It is constantly committed to improving the investment environment and vigorously promoting the development of the financial technology industry. It only takes 3 days for a financial technology company to register a company and obtain a payment institution (PI) or an electronic money institution ( EMI) license only takes 3 months, 2-3 times faster than EU countries. In 2018, Lithuania officially became a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and its global ranking rose from 16th to 14th in the World Bank's Doing Business report.

In 1966, Lithuania manufactured laser products, which is said to be only 6 years later than the United States. In 2017, China imported 15 million euros of laser equipment and optical instruments from Lithuania. The femtosecond laser system developed by Šviesos konversija accounts for 80% of the world and is widely used in molecular biology research and eye surgery. Both NATO and the Pentagon purchase laser equipment from Lithuania.

Lithuania has the fourth fastest growth rate of manufacturing investment in the world and is home to a growing number of major international manufacturing and engineering companies such as Schmitz, Cargobull, Mars, Peikko, Cowi and Phillip Morris. 19% of Lithuania's GDP comes from its manufacturing sector.

Although Lithuania has already withdrawn from the "One Belt, One Road" and "17+1 cooperation" that once benefited, the trade that benefits from it is obvious. In 2019, the bilateral trade volume between China and Lithuania increased by 2% to 2.135 billion US dollars, and the number of Chinese tourists to Lithuania also exceeded 21,000. Lithuania's relaxed financial innovation policy environment has attracted the attention of many Chinese fintech companies. As of the end of 2019, a total of 10 Chinese fintech companies have registered in Lithuania and obtained electronic money institution or payment institution licenses issued by the Central Bank of Lithuania.

Since Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, it has begun to transform from the former Soviet-style intellectual property protection system to a modern and effective protection system for private intellectual property rights. On April 30, 1992, Lithuania joined the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The laws and regulations on intellectual property protection are highly consistent with the relevant laws and regulations of the European Union. The National Patent Office under the Ministry of Justice is responsible for the daily management of industrial property rights. This institution is the core unit of the Lithuanian intellectual property management system. geographical indications, etc.

Today we will briefly understand the patent system in Lithuania.

Introduction to the Lithuanian Patent System

Inventions and Designs

1. Types of patent protection in Lithuania

inventions, designs

2. Ways for Chinese applicants to apply for patents in Lithuania

via Paris Convention , European patent validation route, EU appearance designation, Hague appearance designation

3. Examination unit

The State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania, SPB

4. Submit the application

1) Deadline requirements:

- via Paris Convention : within 6/12 months from the earliest priority date

2) Language requirements: Lithuanian is the accepted language of the application text for patent applications in Lithuania. Application documents can be submitted in other languages specified by the Lithuanian Patent Office, but a Lithuanian translation must be submitted within 3 months from the filing date.

3) Confidentiality review procedure: Inventions and creations completed in China need to pass the confidentiality review of the State Intellectual Property Office of China before submitting a patent application to Lithuania through the Paris Convention.

5. Formal examination and disclosure of application

A formality examination is carried out after filing a patent application. If the application materials meet the formal review requirements, a positive result notification will be issued and the application will be published in the official gazette.

6. Substantive review

According to Lithuanian law, invention patents do not require substantive examination and will be granted on the applicant's responsibility.

7. Authorization procedure

After meeting the formality examination requirements, the granted decision will be issued. A patent certificate will be issued after payment of granted fee, publication fee and annual fee for the first to fifth years (appearance patent only).

Features of Lithuanian patents

1. Lithuania officially closed the PCT national phase entry channel on September 4, 2014. That is to say, if a PCT international application wants to obtain protection in Lithuania, it can only enter the EPO regional phase first and then enter Lithuania.

2. Lithuania only conducts formality examination of patent applications, not patentability examination.

4. Design patents in Lithuania protect parts of designs and materials can form part of industrial designs.

Friendliness to Chinese applicants:
★★

Gold content of patent rights:
★★★

The degree of perfection of the rights protection mechanism:
★★★