SLOVENIA: Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC)

Recently, there were issued Implementing Regulations based upon European Community Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1768/92 of 18 June 1992 and upon European Community Regulation (EC) no. 1610/96 of 23 July 1996 and the Regulations came into force on July 12 2003.

The application for a SPC must be filed in the Slovenian Patent Office within six months from the date on which the marketing authorization was granted or from the date on which the patent was granted, if the authorization was granted before the basic patent was granted.

Transitional provision contained in the Industrial Property Law - very important!

When Slovenia becomes a member state of the EU (1 May 2004), any patentee will be allowed to obtain SPC protection in Slovenia within six months after the date of accession of Slovenia to the European Union even in cases where the regular six-month term, as counted from the date of the first marketing authorization, has already expired.

Filing requirements:
(a) a request for the grant of a certificate stating:
the name and address of the applicant;
if he has appointed a representative, the name and address of the representative;
the number of the basic patent and the title of the invention;
the number and date of the first marketing authorization in Slovenia and, if this authorization is not the first marketing authorization in the European Union, the number and date of that authorization;
(b) a copy of the marketing authorization in Slovenia, in which the product is identified, containing in particular the number and the date of the authorization and a summary of the product characteristics;
(c) if the authorization referred to in (b) is not the first marketing authorization in Slovenia, information regarding the identity of the product and the legal provision under which the authorization procedure took place, together with a copy of the notice publishing the authorization in the Slovenian Official Gazette.