Estonian Patent Office As The Designated And Elected Office Under The PCT

Estonia is the Member State of the Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970 (PCT) since 24 August 1994.

The Estonian Patent Office shall act as a receiving office, as a designated office and as an elected office as defined in Article 2 of the PCT.

NATIONAL PHASE

For commencing the examination of an international patent application, the applicant must file a translation of the international patent application into Estonian within 20 months from the priority date.

Where the applicant has, within 19 months from the priority date, elected the Republic of Estonia to use the report of international preliminary examination, he or she must file the translation of the international patent application into Estonian within 30 months from the priority date.

The respective fee must be paid and the patent attorney must be appointed within 6 months from the date of filing translations.

The fees for 1st, 2nd and 3rd year of validity shall be paid within 24 months from priority date. Please consider also our list of charges.

Both patents and utility models may be sought via PCT in Estonia.

About 200 PCT applications have been entered into national phase in 1996. A remarkable increase is expected in 1997.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.