European Patent Convention

Extension of European Patents to Montenegro

Further to the information published in PCT Newsletter No. 04/2009 concerning the signature, on 13 February 2009, of an agreement between the European Patent Organisation and the Government of Montenegro on the extension of European Patents to Montenegro, the European Patent Office (EPO) has announced that the agreement will enter into force on 1 March 2010.  From that date, it will be possible to extend to Montenegro the protection conferred by European patent applications and patents.  The extension procedure is also available, if the necessary requirements are met, via the PCT.

Note that Montenegro is not party to the European Patent Convention (EPC) and cannot be designated for a European patent (EP).  The agreement with Montenegro is similar to those in force in respect of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. 

The extension of a European patent to Montenegro via the PCT route is deemed requested for any PCT application filed on or after 1 March 2010, provided that:

(i)      the designation of Montenegro is not withdrawn; and

(ii)     the international filing fee is paid.

No special entry concerning the extension should be made on the PCT Request Form.  Within 31 months (Chapter I or Chapter II) from the priority date, the applicant must enter the regional phase before the EPO and pay to the EPO the extension fee (currently EUR 102) for the extension of the European patent to Montenegro.  If the 31-month time limit is missed, the extension fee may still be validly paid within a two-month period of grace, provided that within that period a surcharge of 50% is also paid.  If the extension fee is not paid in due time, the request for an extension is deemed withdrawn.  Further information about the extension of European patent applications and patents to Montenegro will be published in the EPO brochure “National law relating to the EPC”, as soon as it is available, at:

http://www.epo.org/patents/law/legal-texts/national-law-epc.html

Note that the extension procedure is not available for applications filed prior to 1 March 2010, or for any European patents resulting from such applications.  As to the effects of these older applications and patents, please refer to the Official Journal of the EPO No. 11/2004, page 563, and the information in the Official Journal of the EPO No. 6/2007, page 406, on the effects of Montenegro’s declaration of independence of 3 June 2006 on the implementation of the cooperation and extension agreement between the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the European Patent Organisation at, respectively:

http://archive.epo.org/epo/pubs/oj004/11_04/11_5634.pdf and

http://archive.epo.org/epo/pubs/oj007/06_07/06_4067.pdf

Further information on the extension of European patents to Montenegro has been published in the Official Journal of the EPO No. 1/2010, page 10, at:

http://archive.epo.org/epo/pubs/oj010/01_10/01_0100.pdf

(Updating of the PCT Applicant’s Guide, Annexes B1 (ME), B2 (EP), C (EP) and National Chapter, Summary (EP))