At its 173rd
meeting on 13 December 2022, the Administrative Council of the European Patent
Organisation decided to extend an invitation to accede to the European Patent
Convention (EPC) to the Republic of Moldova. Moldova is expected to become the
40th contracting state to the EPC.
The Republic of Moldova has a
long history of close co-operation with the European Patent Organisation. In
2013, the European Patent Organisation and Moldova signed a Validation
Agreement that became effective on 1 November 2015. The extensive co-operation work between the European Patent Office
(EPO) and the Agency
on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI) under the framework of
the Validation Agreement paved the
way for the invitation for the Republic of Moldova to accede to the EPC.
In recent
years this covered areas such as training and upskilling – both within and outside AGEPI – complemented
by data exchanges to deepen the pool of patent information and knowledge available
to users of both offices. AGEPI also joined the federated register, allowing
direct access to up-to-date status information on EP patents granted in the
Republic of Moldova.
Before acceding to the EPC, the
Republic of Moldova will need to enact national legislation to facilitate its implementation
and application. The EPO will fully support Moldova during this process, while also
taking a number of procedural and administrative steps prior to the accession,
which will take place according to a timetable mutually agreed by both offices.
In the meantime, the EPO looks forward
to welcoming the 40th contracting state to the EPC in the near
future.