A 12-month novelty grace period is available if:
- The applicant authorizes others to use
- manifest misuse by a third party
Reinstatement of priority on grounds of "due care" and "unintentional/due care" accepted.
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- Grant fee: The applicant shall pay the granted fee within 3 months after receiving the granted notice.
- Annuity: pay year by year from the first year of the application date, and should be paid before the last day of the month of the application date at the latest, not exceeding one patent year, and the annual fee can be paid within a grace period of 6 months if it is overdue, and paid at the same time 200% late fee.
- Grant fee: It will be paid together with the granted announcement fee one month after receiving the granted notice, and the payment will be doubled if it is overdue.
- Annuity: The renewal fee payment period is the corresponding date of the application date in the year, and can be paid within the last year of the current validity period. Payment can still be made within 6 months from the overdue date, subject to a penalty.
It is protected for 10 years from the date of application, and can be renewed for 3 times, each time for 5 years, with a maximum protection of 25 years.
The initial protection period is 4 years, which can be extended for two consecutive three years, and the maximum protection period is 10 years.
Bulgarian Patent Office
English: Bulgarian Patent Office, abbreviation: BPO
Website: Патентното ведомство на Република България (bpo.bg)
Bulgarian invention patent search: BPO Online - portal.bpo.bg
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20 years
The BPO only conducts formality examination of utility model patent applications. The formality examination takes 3 months, and the content of the examination includes whether the applied for utility model patent application belongs to the object of protection, the issue of unity, etc. If the granted conditions are met, the patent is authorized.