Bulgaria News Archives
February 07, 2008
Bulgaria Accedes to Singapore Treaty
On January 21, 2008 Bulgaria acceded to the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks.
The Singapore Treaty was adopted in March 2006 at the WIPO Diplomatic Conference in Singapore. It updates the 1994 WIPO Trademark Law Treaty by providing for electronic filing of trademark applications and recognizing other technological advancements. To date, more than 50 countries have signed the treaty, signaling their intention to ratify and be bound by its provisions.
For more information, please contact Loic Dufour.
January 02, 2007
Supplementary Protection Certificates in Bulgaria and Romania
Further to the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union on January 1, 2007, EU regulations concerning the creation of supplementary protection certificates for medicinal products, as well as the regulations concerning the creation of supplementary protection certificates for plant protection products will enter into force in these two countries.
Accordingly, it is important to note the following:
In both Bulgaria and Romania any medicinal product or any plant protection product protected by a valid basic patent and for which the first authorisation to enter the market as a medicinal product or as a plant protection product was obtained after January 1, 2000 may be granted a certificate provided that the application for a certificate is lodged within six months of the date of accession, which is by June 30, 2007.
The above applies even if the actual filing date, calculated according to the EU regulations, has expired.
For more information please contact Loic Dufour or Aura Campeanu.
August 30, 2005
Changes in Bulgaria IP Legislation
Amendments to the law on marks and geographical indications providing greater protection for IP rights in Bulgaria came in force on August 20, 2005.
Among other things, the amendments require publication of all trademark applications in the Official Gazette of the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria.
With respect to oppositions, third parties have two months from the date of publication in which to file an objection to the registration of a new trademark.
Bulgaria has also seen the development of a ‘trademark watch’ service, which has not been available to IP rights owners in Bulgaria until recently.
For more information on IP developments in Bulgaria, please contact our Bulgaria representative.