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Legislative Implementation of Flexibilities - Republic of Moldova

Title:Articles 46- 51 of the Law on the protection of Inventions No. 50-XVI of 07/03/ 2008
Field of IP:Patents
Type of flexibility:Substantive examination
Summary table:PDF

Provisions of Law

Article 46

Examination of Patent Application

(1) AGEPI shall examine, in accordance with the Regulations, whether the patent

application and the invention which forms its subject-matter meet the requirements of

the law. For that purpose AGEPI shall undertake a formal and a preliminary

examination and, upon request, a substantive examination of the patent application.

(2) AGEPI may invite the applicant to furnish additional elements that are considered to be

essential for identification of the applicant or inventor, the constituted regular national

filing or compliance with the patentability requirements.

Article 47

Formal Examination

(1) In the formal examination, AGEPI shall check whether the patent application meets the

formal requirements laid down in the Regulations and the conditions for accordance of

a filing date under Article 34.

(2) If the patent application does not comply with one or more requirements prescribed in

Article 34, AGEPI shall give the applicant an opportunity to correct the deficiencies

within the term prescribed in the Regulations.

(3) If the applicant fails to furnish the required information or fails to meet the

requirements referred to Article 34 within the prescribed time limit, the application

shall be deemed not to have been filed; the applicant shall be notified of the fact.

(4) If a date of filing has been accorded to the patent application, the Agency shall enter it

in the National Register of Patent Applications. The data shall be treated as confidential

prior to the publication of the patent application.

Article 48

Preliminary Examination

(1) If a patent application has been accorded a date of filing, AGEPI shall undertake a

preliminary examination.

(2) In the preliminary examination AGEPI shall examine whether:

a) the patent application meets the requirements laid down in Article 33;

b) the subject-matter of the invention is patentable within the meaning of Article 6

and Article 7 and, in case of short-term patents, of Article 12 paragraph (3);

c) the patent application meets at the first examination the requirements of Article 35;

d) the requirements of Article 40 paragraph (8) - (11) concerning the priority claim

have been satisfied and, where appropriate, the claimed priority is acknowledged;

e) the requirements of Article 86 paragraph (2) have been satisfied.

(3) Where AGEPI notes that there are deficiencies which may be corrected, it shall give

the applicant an opportunity to correct them in accordance with the Regulations.

(4) Where the examination undertaken under paragraph (2) above finds that the

requirements of Article 32 paragraph (3) and Article 33 paragraph (9) and (10) have not

been satisfied, the patent application shall be refused. If the applicant disregards the

provisions of Article 40 concerning the priority right, the deficiency shall lead to the

loss of this right for the application.

(5) If the designation of the inventor has not been made in the patent application in

accordance with Article 33 paragraph (6) and the omission of the designation of the

inventor is not corrected within 16 months from the date of filing of the patent

application or, if priority is claimed, from the date of priority, the patent application

shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

(6) If the claimed invention is not patentable within the meaning of Article 6, Article 7

and, as the case may be, Article 12 paragraph (3), AGEPI shall take a decision to refuse

the application, which is notified to the applicant. The notice concerning the refusal

shall be published in BOPI.

Article 49

Publication of Patent Application

(1) A patent application shall be published after the expiry of a period of eighteen months from the date of filing or, if priority has been claimed, as from the date of priority. The particulars to be published in BOPI shall be determined by the AGEPI.

(2) At the request of the applicant and on payment of the prescribed fee, the patent application may be published before the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph (1) above.

(3) The patent application shall be published simultaneously with the publication of the

decision to grant a patent when the grant of the patent has become effective before the

expiry of the period referred to in paragraph (1) above.

(4) International patent applications shall be published before the expiry of a time limit of

6 months from the date on which the national phase was initiated, subject to the

compliance with the requirements of Article 43 paragraph (1).

(5) The publication referred to in paragraph (1) above shall contain the description, the

claims and, where appropriate, any drawings as filed and, in an annex, the search report

and the abstract, in so far as the latter is available before the termination of the

technical preparations for publication. If the search report has not been published at the

same time as the application, it shall be published subsequently separately.

(6) Patent applications withdrawn or rejected prior to the termination of the technical

preparations for publication shall not be published.

(7) For short-term patents, a patent application shall be published simultaneously with the

publication of the decision to grant a patent, and the search report shall be published

immediately after it has been drawn up on the basis of the patent search undertaken

under Article 18 paragraph (2) or Article 50 paragraph (1).

Article 50

Patent Search

(1) The applicant or any interested person may request, subject to payment of the prescribed fee, a prior art research, of which results will enable the patentability of the invention to be assessed. Based on the search results, the AGEPI shall draw up the search report on the basis of the claims, with due regard to the description and, where appropriate, any drawings, in the form prescribed in the Regulations.

(2) The conditions governing the search and communication of information obtained shall be determined by the Regulations.

Article 51

Substantive Examination of Patent Application

(1) The AGEPI shall examine, on written request, whether the patent application and the invention which forms its subject-matter meet the requirements of this law.

(2) The substantive examination of the patent application shall be carried out within 18 months, excluding the time limits for correspondence and subject to the compliance with the provisions of art. 48. A request for substantive examination may be filed prior to the expiry of 30 months following the filing date of the patent application. The request shall only be deemed to be filed on payment of the examination fee and may not be withdrawn.

(3) If the request for substantive examination is not submitted prior to the expiry of the time limit specified in paragraph (2), the patent application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

(4) In the substantive examination, the AGEPI shall check whether the application meets, in particular, the requirements set out in Article 6-11, Article 36 and Article 37.

(5) If the examination of a patent application reveals that the application or the invention which makes its subject-matter does not meet the requirements of this law, the AGEPI shall invite the applicant, as often as necessary, to file his observations and, subject to Article 87, to amend the application within a period to be fixed.

(6) If the applicant fails to reply in due time to any communication from the Agency under paragraph (5), the patent application shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

(7) Upon completion of the substantive examination of the patent application and based on the examination report, the AGEPI shall decide either to grant a patent or to refuse the patent application.

(8) The provisions of this article shall not apply to short-term patents.

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