Moldova

What Can Be Protected As An Invention?

• Methods of treatment.
• Methods of diagnostics.
• Swiss-type claims (the first, second or subsequent medical use of a known substance or composition).
• Also technical solutions (products and/or methods) from any field of technology which after examination have been proven to be new (of novelty), inventive (possessing the inventive step), and industrially applicable.

What Cannot Be Protected As An Invention?

• Aesthetic and thereby non-technical creations.
• Game regulations and guidelines for intellectual and economic activity.
• Scientific theories, Discoveries, and Mathematical Methods.
• Plant and animal varieties as well as the biological means of obtaining them.
• Computer programs.
• Presentations of information.
• The modification of human genes as well as methods for cloning humans.
• The use of human embryos in commercial or industrial purposes.
• Any other invention contrary to morality or public policy.

Deadline: For national patent registration in Moldova, the patent application is required to be filed with the Moldovan Patent Office (MdPTO) within twelve (12) months from the earliest priority date.

Representation: The client must be represented at the Moldovan Patent office by a registered Moldovan Patent Attorney.

Translation: Application materials should be translated and filed in the Romanian language.

Formal Examination: The process for the examination of Patent Applications in Moldova includes a formal examination within one (1) month after filing, for the crosschecking of required documentation. In the case of accurate documentation, a notification of the positive outcome of the formal examination will be issued.

Substantive Examination: The petition for substantive examination should be filed on the client’s request within thirty (30) months from the patent application filing date in which the invention will be checked for novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability. The patent is issued or not, after the completion of the substantive examination and in accordance with the results of said examination.

Office Action: In case of an Office Action, our Moldovan Patent Attorney will carefully review the Office Action to provide a Legal Opinion and discuss with the Applicant options available in overcoming said Office Action.

Duration: The procedure for registration of a patent in Moldova usually takes between two (2) and four (4) years.

Fees: The patent is issued after payment of the registration and publication fees.

Maintenance: Maintenance fees regarding the patent are required to be paid annually with annuity for the following year being made in the current year of validity.

Validity: In Moldova a patent is valid for twenty (20) years after the initial filing date. It also should be noted that in Moldova a short-term patent can be obtained and it is valid for six (6) years after the initial filing date and this term can be extended to four (4) years.

Required documents for Filing a Patent Application in Moldova:

• Applicant’s information (name and address);
• Inventor’s information (name and address);
• Description, claims, abstract and drawings, disclosing the invention;
• Original of the POA signed by applicant(s). Notarization or Legalization is not required.