Information on the national application (registration in the Czech Republic)

Information for applicants for patents

The rules for filing and processing patent applications and the rights and obligations in patents are laid down under Act No. 527/1990 Coll., on inventions and rationalisation proposals, as amended, and Decree No. 550/1990 Coll., on procedures concerning inventions and industrial designs, as amended by Decree No. 21/2002 Coll., as well as Act No. 500/2004 Coll., administrative procedure code and Act No. 634/2004 Coll., on administrative fees, as amended. The formal requirements for patent applications are laid down under the Instruction of the President of the Industrial Property Office, as in force.

The purpose of the following text is merely to highlight selected aspects of the issues in question; the text does not replace the full text of the relevant legal standards.

To apply for a patent, an application for registration of an invention must be lodged with the Industrial Property Office (hereinafter referred to as the Office), along with an application for the grant of a patent, using the application forms provided. The application may be submitted electronically with a recognised electronic signature, or via a system of data boxes, or in writing, i.e., by post or in person at the Office's filing department. The application must contain a single counterpart of the patent application form as well as a description of the invention, at least one patent claim and, where applicable, drawings, and an annotation.

The supporting documents submitted in person shall be submitted in a form that allows them to be electronically and directly reproduced, at a high quality standard, into an unlimited number of copies, in particular by scanning. The supporting documents are submitted in one primary and two secondary counterparts. One of the counterparts must be signed by the applicant or their agent. At least one of the counterparts of the supporting documents in paper format must be filed on white, solid, matte and resistant A4-format paper material. Drawings may also be submitted on translucent paper. Except for drawings extending over two or more sheets, which represent a single full drawing, and except for tables, where appropriate, the drawing or text shall be presented vertically on each sheet and on one side of the sheet only.

For electronic submissions, the supporting documents shall be submitted in the “docx” WORD format.

The application must name the inventor of the subject matter of the patent application.

An application may contain only one invention or a group of mutually linked inventions forming a single inventive idea.

The invention must be disclosed in the patent application in terms clear enough for a person skilled in the art to materialise it.

With the filing of the application, the applicant acquires the right of priority. The applicant must claim a priority right resulting from an international convention must as soon as at the time of filing the application and if invited to do so by the Office, the applicant must furnish evidence of their right within the stipulated time limit, otherwise the priority right shall be disregarded.

The Office shall subject the application for registration of the invention to a preliminary examination to make sure the application does not contain any deficiencies constituting a bar to the publication.

The Office shall publish the invention application after 18 months have elapsed from the emergence of the priority right and announce the publication in the Official Bulletin. The inventor may demand that the Office not mention their name in the published application and in the notice of the grant of the patent.

The Office shall conduct the full examination of the invention application at the request of the applicant or of another person. The request for full examination shall be filed and paid for within 36 months of the date of filing the invention application and may not be withdrawn. The above time limit cannot be prolonged and it cannot be waived if the time limit has expired.

The Office shall conduct the procedure on the invention application with the applicant or an agent appointed by the applicant. The inventor is not a party to the proceedings unless they are at once the applicant.

The specific amounts of the administrative fees for the acts to be performed by the Office are set out in the Tariff of Administrative Fees, which forms an appendix to Act No. 634/2004 Coll., on administrative fees collected by administrative authorities of the Czech Republic, as amended. The administrative fees are paid upon filing, and the fee for each required act shall be paid separately.

The scope of patent protection is determined by the patent claims.

The patent is valid for 20 years after the application for invention has been filed.

A patent takes effect once the patent grant is announced in the Bulletin of the Office.

The proprietor shall pay yearly renewal fees for maintaining the patent in accordance with Act No. 173/2002 Coll., on renewal fees for patents and supplementary protection certificates for pharmaceuticals and plant protection products, as amended.

More information may be obtained from the Office’s Information Centre or on other pages of this website.

Instructions for completing an invention application (pdf, 157 kB) (the Instructions concern the PDF form; for forms that can be completed electronically, which are intended for online submission, the interactive help is part of the form)

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