• Trademark
  • Patent
  • Design
Regions
Bulgaria

 

General information

Valid Nice Classification – NCL 12-2023.

Registration – about 10 months from the application filing date.

Confirmation document – Certificate.

Procedures feature – from the application filing date it is necessary to regularly monitor trademark applications to check whether any of them conflict with your trademark.

 

Procedure

Step Term Official notification
Application Filing 1 day Notification with entry number, applicant name, and filing date and time
Formal Examination within 2 months after filing fees payment Formal examination request

Response to formal examination request – 2 months from date of reception
Examination for Absolute Ground for Refusal within 3 months after formal examination Provisional refusal (if any)

Response to provisional refusal – 2 months from date of reception
Publication within 1 moth after examination for absolute ground for refusal Notification on publication
Opposition period within 3 months from publication date —
Registration within 1 moth after opposition period Invitation for payment registration and publication fees
Publication within 1-3 months Certificate and publication

 

Requirements

1. Applicant information – full name / title and registered office / registration address.
2. Trademark images and/or verbal elements, etc.
3. Priority document must be submitted within 3 months from the application filing date.
4. Translation of the priority document into Bulgarian (we prepare by ourselves) must be submitted within 3 months from the application filing date.
5. Power of Attorney (scanned copy without legalization).

 

 

Bulgaria

 

General information

Invention

Registration period – about 2-4 years from the application filing date.

Confirmation document – Certificate.

Term of validity – 20 years from the application filing date. Patent for invention can be extended for additional 5 years if the patent object is a medicinal product or pesticide, or when the product use requires permission of the competent authority.

What can be protected: product (device, substance, microorganism strain, plant and animal cell culture, etc.); process (method); new use of the known product or process.

Utility model

Registration period – about 8-12 months from the application filing date.

Confirmation document – Certificate.

Term of validity – 4 years from the application filing date. Patent for utility model can be extended for additional 6 years.

What can be protected: device.

 

Procedure for Invention

Step Term Official Notification Deadline
Application Filing 1 day Notification with registration number, applicant name, date and time of filing Direct filing with claiming priority – 12 months from priority date

PCT national phase entry in Bulgaria – 31 months from priority date
Formal Examination 3 months from application filing date Formal examination request / Notification on formal examination completion Response to formal examination request – 3 months from date of reception
Preliminary Examination 3 months after formal examination completion Preliminary examination request / Notification on preliminary examination completion Response to preliminary examination request – 3 months from date of reception
Substantive Examination 1,5-2 years from application filing date Substantive examination request / Decision on grant/refusal Filing request for substantive examination – at the time of application filing

Response to substantive examination request – 3 months from date of reception
Publication and Grant within 5 months from grant fees payment Certificate Payment of grant and publication fees – 3 months from reception of grant decision
Maintenance annually Invitation to pay annuity fees Annuity fees for each subsequent year are paid during previous year

 

Procedure for Utility model

Step Term Official Notification Deadline
Application Filing 1 day Notification with registration number, applicant name, date and time of filing Direct filing with claiming priority – 12 months from priority date

PCT national phase entry in Bulgaria – 31 months from priority date
Formal Examination 1 month from application filing date Formal examination request / Notification of formal examination completion Response to formal examination request – 3 months from date of reception
Preliminary Examination 3 months after formal examination completion Preliminary examination request / Decision on grant/refusal Response to preliminary examination request – 3 months from date of reception
Publication and Grant within 3 months from grant fees payment Certificate Payment of grant and publication fees – 1 months from reception of grant decision
Maintenance annually Invitation to pay annuity fees Annuity fees for each subsequent year are paid during previous year

Requirements

1. Applicant information – full name / title and registered office.
2. Inventor information – full name and registration address.
3. Number of International publication (for PCT procedure) or application materials: claims, description, abstract, drawings (for non-PCT procedure; international application was not published).
4. Translation of the application into Bulgarian (we prepare by ourselves).
5. Power of Attorney (no legalization or notarization required) must be submitted within 3 months from the date of filing.
6. Certified copy of the priority application (if priority is claimed) must be submitted within 3 months from the date of filing.

 

 

Bulgaria

 

General information

Registration period – about 4-9 months.

Confirmation document – Certificate of industrial design.

Validity period – 10 years from the date of the application filing, with a possible extension for 1-3 five-year terms.

What can be protected as an industrial design: the visible appearance of the product or its part, defined by the features of the shape, lines, images, ornaments, combination of colors or their combination.

Official language – application materials are submitted in Bulgarian and all prosecution is conducted in Bulgarian

 

Procedure

Stage Duration Results of the stage Necessary actions
Application filing 1 day Notification of the application filing date and application number To pay application filing fees, prioriry claim (optional) and examination – at the filing date
Priority establishment (optional) within 2 months from the filing date Notification of establishment of priority To submit request for priority, copy of the priority application and its translation – at the filing date or within 2 months from the filing date
Formal examination within 2 months from the filing date Written opinion on the application with comments on finalizing the application materials, making clarifications, eliminating inconsistencies, etc.

 

Decision on successful completion of the Formal examination

 To submit a response to Written opinion – within 2 months from the reception date
Substantive examination within 2 months after the Formal examination completion Written opinion of the Substantive examination

 

Decision on state registration of an industrial design

 To submit a response to Written opinion of the Substantive examination – within 2 months from the reception date
State registration and publication of information on state registration within 2 months after the fee payment Registration in the State Register of Certificates and publication of information about state registration in the official bulletin To pay the state fees for registration, publication and certificate issuance – within 1 month after reception of the decision on state registration
Certificate issuance within 1 month from the registration date Certificate reception —
Annuity annually Notification of annuity fees reception To pay the fees during the last year of the validity period

 

Requirements

  1. Information about the applicant – full name / address of permanent residence, name of the legal entity / address of registration of the legal entity.
  2. Information about the author(s) – full name, address of permanent residence.
  3. A set of images that gives a complete understanding of the product – drawings of the general appearance of the product, photos, drawings, a assembly map, etc.
  4. Power of attorney for a representative in intellectual property (does not require legalization or notarization).
  5. Priority claim with reference to the date of the previous application filing, the number of the previous application and the name of the country or institution where it was filed, as well as a certified copy of the previous application issued by the institution that received it, and a translation of the copy of the application into Bulgarian (if priority is claimed).
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