Validation of the European patent in the Republic of Moldova

Owners of European patents shall have the possibility to validate the effects of European patents in the Republic of Moldova.

A validated European patent shall confer on its owner an exclusive right to exploit the invention for the entire term thereof. The validated European patent shall confer on its owner the right to prevent third parties from performing, without his authorization, on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, acts such as, manufacture, offering for sale, selling, use, transporting, importing, other way of putting into circulation or storing for these purposes the product that is the subject-matter of the patent, etc.

Any natural or legal person shall be entitled to apply for the validation of a European patent in the RM, by filing a request for publication of a European patent with the AGEPI. 

Natural or legal persons having their residence or headquarters in the Republic of Moldova shall act before the AGEPI personally or through a representative, empowered by a power of attorney.

Natural or legal persons having no residence or headquarters in the Republic of Moldova shall be represented before the AGEPI by a patent attorney and act through him, except for the filing of a request for publication, the payment of fees. 

    A published European patent application shall provisionally confer the same protection as is conferred by a published national patent application, as from the date on which a translation of the claims of the published European patent application into the Romanian language has been made available to the public by the AGEPI.

Within 3 months of the date on which the mention of the issuance of the European patent has been published, the patent owner shall furnish to the AGEPI the translation in the Romanian language of the patent specification and pay the prescribed publication fee. If, as a result of an opposition or a request for limitation filed with the EPO, the European patent is maintained in amended form, the patent owner shall, within 3 months of the date on which the mention of the decision to maintain the European patent as amended or to limit was published, furnish to the AGEPI the translation into the state language of the amended claims and pay the prescribed publication fee. Where the text of patent specification and of claims contains reference signs used in the drawings, such drawings shall be attached to the translation referred to. If the requirements provided by law are met, AGEPI shall publish any translation filed in due time and enter the validated European patent in the National Register of Patents. AGEPI shall certify, on request, the validation of the European patent in the Republic of Moldova in accordance with the Law. If the translation is not filed in due time or the publication fee is not paid within the prescribed time limit, the validated European patent shall be deemed void ab initio. The translation may still be validly filed within an additional period of 3 months of expiry of the relevant period, provided that a 100% surcharge on the publication fee is paid within this additional period. For maintenance in force of the validated European patent, annual fees shall be paid in accordance with Article 93.

AGEPI shall, upon request and subject to payment of the prescribed fee, issue to the owner a European patent validation certificate within 2 months from the date of publication of the translation provided for in Rule 456 of the Regulations. The certificate shall include the certificate diploma, signed by the Director General of AGEPI, to which shall be attached the title page, containing the bibliographic data and the abstract, and the translation into the state language of the European patent dossier, which shall contain the description, the claims, the drawings and, where appropriate, the search report.