Patent in Macedonia — procedure, fees, and protection

What can be patented

An invention is a solution to a technical problem relating to a product, a process, or a substance produced by a process (Art. 3). To be patentable, it must meet three conditions:

• Novelty — no identical or similar solution exists in the state of the art.
• Inventive step — not obvious to a person skilled in the art.
• Industrial applicability — can be produced or used in industry.

What cannot be patented

• Discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods.
• Aesthetic creations.
• Schemes, rules, and methods for mental acts, games, or business.
• Computer programs as such (protected by copyright).
• Presentations of information.
• Inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to public order or morality.
• Methods for treatment, surgery, or diagnosis of humans or animals.
• Plant and animal varieties and essentially biological processes.

Three ways to get a Macedonian patent

1. National application before IPPO.
2. PCT — one international application via WIPO, then national-phase entry in Macedonia within 31 months.
3. European patent extension — if you have a granted European patent, extend it to Macedonia under the Extension Agreement.

What a national application contains

• Request for grant of patent (form P-1), A4, in three copies
• Description of the invention
• One or more patent claims
• Abstract
• Drawings (where needed)
• Macedonian translation if the application is in a foreign language
• Proof of payment of fees
• Power of attorney (if filed through a representative)

  in that case
• Priority document (if claiming Paris Convention priority)

Procedure step by step

1. Filing — electronic via e-prijava.ippo.gov.mk or paper.
2. Formal examination — completeness check.
3. Publication — 18 months from earliest priority.
4. Request for substantive examination — must be filed within the prescribed time (typically 6 years from filing).
5. Substantive examination — IPPO examines patentability conditions.
6. Decision — grant or refusal. Upon grant, certificate issuance fee and annual maintenance fees begin.

Term and maintenance

• 20 years from filing date (Art. 74(1)).
• Up to 5 years extension for medicinal products or plant protection products via a Supplementary Protection Certificate (Art. 75).
• Patents granted under the short procedure (Art. 60) have a 10-year term.
• Annual maintenance fees (Art. 84). Non-payment causes lapse.