Pursuant to Article 11 and Article 156 of the Law on Industrial Property in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH Official Gazette, No. 3/02), Acting Director of the Institute for Standards, Measurements and Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has adopted

THE RULE BOOK

ON PATENT GRANT PROCEDURE

I – ESSENTIAL CLAUSES

Article 1. Scope of Application

This Rule Book shall regulate the launching of a patent grant procedure and entering the  application into the register of patent applications, deposit of microorganisms for the purpose of protection of patented microbiological inventions, a preliminary examination publication procedure, the procedure for full examination of patent application, the procedure in relation to a supplementary application for a patent, the procedure for issuing of a certificate of priority right, incorporation of changes into the register, the procedure upon an appeal against the decision to grant the patent, the procedure for declaring the decision to grant the patent null and void, correction of mistakes and a set of data that shall be published in the «Official Gazette of the Institute for Standards, Measurements and Intellectual Property” (hereinafter referred to as: the Institute), and all issues contained in the Law on Industrial Property in Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter referred to as: the Law).           

II – LAUNCHING PROCEDURE FOR THE GRANT OF A PATENT

Article 2.

1.                 Request for the grant of a patent shall be submitted in three copies in the P-01 form, which is a part of this Rule Book and which shall contain:

a)                an indication as to whether the application relates to a patent or a patent with shortened validity;

b)                reference number of the case;

c)                 applicant’s data: name, family name (for natural person), or the name of the company (for legal persons), address, telephone, fax, e-mail;

d)                 representative’s data if the application is submitted through a representative;

e)                the title of invention in one of the three official languages in use in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in English if possible, and for applications to be filed under the national phase of the PCT application, the English title shall be mandatory. The title shall denote the essence of the invention in a clear and concise manner and it may not contain fanciful or commercial designations, abbreviations, names, codes, marks;

f)                   the title of  invention according to MKP;

g)                an indication of filing under the national phase of the PCT application and data contained in Annex 4 of the Application Form for the Grant of a Patent.

h)                 inventor(s) data (name, surname, address) or a statement confirming they do not want to be mentioned;

i)                   data on claim of primacy under Article 8 of the Law (designation of state, date of application and number of application) or under Article 7 of the Law (designation of state, date of exhibition);

j)                   request for the grant of a supplementary patent or submission of a supplementary application;

k)                 paid taxes and procedural costs;

l)                   contact addresses (only if different from applicant’s address or if there are more applicants and one is designated as a contact person);

m)              annexes

2.                 The application form shall be filled out using a computer or typewriter, in clear letters and free from mistakes.

3.                 Two copies of the form shall be retained by the Institute, and the third copy containing the BAP number, protocol number, date and verification shall be delivered to the applicant as a proof of the submitted application for the grant of a patent.

4.                 If the representative submits the certificate (RUBRUM) along with the request which should be verified as a proof of the submitted application, it shall be verified only if it contains the seal of the representative who submitted it.

Article 3. Essential Parts of Application

1.                 The patent application shall contain:

a)                correctly filled patent application form in three copies;

b)                description of the invention in two copies;

c)                 patent request (i) indicating the novelties of the invention and defining the matter for which the protect is sought in two copies;

d)                brief description of the essence of the invention (summary, abstract) in two copies;

e)                drawing, if any, that the description and patent request relates to in two copies;

f)                   in the case of application involving the use of living biological material, a receipt concerning the deposit of the said material.

Article 4. Annexes

1.                  Patent application shall be supported by:

a)                  authorisation, if an application is submitted through an authorised representative, and the representative submits general authorisation, then each case that he/she is the representative of must be supported by general authorisation;

b)                  the declaration of priority, if required

c)                  a receipt for paid taxes or special procedural costs.

Article 5. Language of Application

1.                  The applicants from Bosnia and Herzegovina shall submit their applications in one of the three official languages in use in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the applications to be filed under the national phase of PCT application, must contain:

a)                 description, patent claims, abstract in English language and drawings, if any, in two copies;

b)                 translation of the description, patents claims, abstract and text accompanying drawings in two copies;

c)                  The International Search Report in English or translation thereof in one of the official languages in use in Bosnia and Herzegovina in two copies;

d)                 The International Preliminary Examination Report in English and translation thereof in one of the official languages in use in Bosnia and Herzegovina in two copies if the application was submitted to the Institute as a selected authority. 

Article 6. Entry into Application Register

1.                 Patent application meeting all the requirements set out in Articles 2 and 3 of this Book of Rules shall be entered into the patent application register, a BAP number shall be assigned to it and pursuant to Article 2, the applicant shall receive a certified copy of the application form for the grant of a patent.

2.                 The application not meeting any of the requirements set out in Articles 2 and 3, shall not be entered into the patent application register. Pursuant to Article 34, paragraph 3, the Institute shall invite the applicant to correct the deficiencies noted and submit a corrected application.  Once the required conditions are met, the application shall be entered into the register of patent applications with the note of the date when the conditions were met. 

Article 7. Data Accuracy

1.        The Institute shall not check the accuracy of data provided in the patent application form, and the applicant shall bear full moral and material responsibility for any erroneously provided data.

2.                 The erroneous data that was entered into the register as a result of the data  erroneously provided in the application form, shall be corrected upon a written request for change of the data in the register by the applicant, with fees and procedural costs paid.

3.                 The Institute shall not check the accuracy of data under paragraph 2 of this Article.

Article 8. Mode of Application

1.                 The application shall be submitted in written form in person or by mail.

2.                 The application can also be submitted by fax or e-mail, in which case the application form as stipulated by Articles 2 and 3 of this Rule Book must be submitted within eight days.

Article 9. Description of Invention

1.                 The description of the invention shall:

a)                specify the technical field to which the invention relates with the designation of the invention according to the International Patent Classification (IPC). If the applicant does not know the IPC designation, it shall be determined and assigned by the Institute with charges for the IPC determination procedure.

b)                specify the technical problem for the solution of which the patent protection is sought;

c)                 indicate the background art (illustration and analysis of the familiar technical solutions for a defined technical problem)which can be regarded as useful for understanding, searching and examination of the invention; and, preferably, cite the documents reflecting such art; 

d)                disclose the invention in such terms that the technical problem and its solution can be understood, and state the advantageous effects of the invention with reference to the background art;

e)                briefly describe the figures in the drawings, if any;

f)                   provide detailed description of at least one mode for carrying out the invention, this shall be done in terms of examples and with reference to the drawings, if any;

2.                 The description of the invention must be made in a manner and order stipulated by the paragraph 1 of this Article.

Article 10. Technical Problem

1.                 The solution for the technical problem presented in the description of the invention must be fully defined. All relevant characteristics of the invention, following detailed description of the construction solution, as a proof of feasibility must be presented so that they eliminate any arbitrariness or unclarity.

2.                 If the invention relates to a production or other process, all its relevant characteristics must be listed in such a way that the feasibility of the process can be viewed in full and reproduced.

3.                 If the invention relates to a construction, and it is presented in the drawing, than both the way of functioning of its key elements and the entire construction shall be described too.

4.                 If there is more than one mode for of carrying out the invention, they shall all be described.

Article 11. Patent Claims

1.                 Patent claim should be maid in such a way that it defines the invention solely by the technical features thereof. The number of patent claims shall be reasonable in consideration of the nature of the invention claimed. If there are several patent claims, they shall be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals.

2.                 As a rule, the claim shall contain:

a)                statement indicating the designation of the subject matter of the invention and those technical features which are necessary for the definition of the claimed subject matter but which, in combination are part of the prior art;

b)                second – characterising portion of the claim preceded by such words as «chracterised in that» or “characterised by”, stating the technical features, which in combination with the features stated in subparagraph a) it is desired to protect;

c)                 If the requirement for unity of the invention under the Article 28, paragraph 3 of the Law is met, the patent application may contain more than one independent claim in the same category (product, process, apparatus, use), where it is not appropriate to cover the subject matter by a single claim.

d)                Each claim containing essential features of the invention may be associated with one or more dependant patent claims relating to the specific features of the invention.

e)                Dependent patent claim which includes specific features of any other claim (dependant or independent) shall contain, if possible at the begging, a reference to the other patent claim(s), and then state the additional features which it is desired to protect. All dependant patent claims referring back to a single previous claim, and all dependant claims referring back to several previous claims, shall be grouped together in such a way that the link among the interdependent claims can be recognised easily and their significance in that link easily interpreted.   

f)                   Claims shall not, except where absolutely necessary, rely, in respect of the technical characteristics of the invention, on references to the description or drawings. In particular, they shall not rely on such references as: ”as described in part ….. of the description” or “as illustrated in figure ….. of the drawing”. 

g)                If the patent application contains drawings, the features mentioned in the claims shall preferably be followed by reference signs. If used, the reference signs should be put in brackets. If the introduction of reference signs does not increase the intelligibility of the patent claim, in that case they should not be used. The reference signs shall not be construed as limiting the claim.

h)                 The unity of invention is used to determine a group of inventions linked to form a technical relationship among them that involves at least one common or corresponding special technical feature. The expression “special technical features” is defined as meaning those technical features that define the contribution which each claimed invention, considered as a whole, makes over the prior art. The determination regarding unity of invention is made without regard to whether a group of inventions is claimed in separate claims or as alternatives within a single claim.

Article 12. Sketch (drawing)

1.                 On sheets containing drawings, the usable surface area shall not exceed 26,5x 17 cm. These sheets shall not contain frames around the usable or used surface. The minimum margins shall be as follows:

a)                upper side: 2,5 cm

b)                left side: 2,5 cm

c)                 right side: 2,5 cm

d)                lower side: 1 cm.

2.                 The drawings shall be executed in the following manner:

a)                with uniformly thick, black, with sufficient contrast and durable lines and strokes without colourings;

b)                cross-sections shall be indicated by hatching which should not impede the clear reading of the reference signs and leading lines;

c)                 the scale of the drawing and the distinctness of their graphical execution shall be made such that, after the photographic reproduction with a reduction in size, all details are discernable without difficulty;

d)                all numbers, letters and reference signs of a figure shall be simple and clear, brackets, circles or quotation marks shall not be used in association with numbers and letters;

e)                all elements of a figure shall be in the same scale, except where the use of different scales is indispensable for the clarity of the figure;

f)                   the numbers and letters shall not be less than 0,32 cm of height; for the lettering of drawings, the Latin letters and, where customary, Greek alphabets shall be used;

g)                the same sheet of drawings may contain several figures; where figures drawn on two or more sheets are intended to form one whole figure, the figures on the several sheets shall be arranged that the whole can be assembled without concealing any part of the partial figure; the figures shall be arranged on the sheet in such a way as to avoid wasting space while remaining clearly separated from one another, one below the other; different pictures shall be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and independently of the numbering of the sheets. 

h)                 reference signs not mentioned in the description must not appear in the drawings and vice versa;

i)                   the same features, when denoted by reference signs, shall, throughout the application, be denoted by the same signs;

j)                   if the drawings contain a large number of reference signs, it is strongly recommended to attach a separate sheet listing all reference signs and the features denoted by them.

k)                 the drawings shall not contain text matter, except, when absolutely indispensable; short words such as “water”, “steam”, “open”, “closed”, “section on A-B” or block-diagram and flow sheet diagrams short catchwords indispensable for understanding.

3.                 The drawings shall be drawn with the aid of drafting instruments in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article.

Article 13. Abstract (summary)

1.                 The abstract shall consist of a summary of the invention as contained in the description, the claims, and any drawings; the summary shall indicate the technical field to which the invention pertains and shall be drafted in a way to allow clear understanding of the technical problem, the gist of the solution of that problem through the invention, and the principal use or uses of the invention; where applicable, the chemical formula which, among all the formulae contained in the application, best characterizes the invention.

2.                 The abstract shall not contain statements on the alleged merits or value of the claimed invention or on its speculative application.

3.                 If the application contains the drawing, the applicant shall indicate the figure or, exceptionally, several figures that he/she is proposing to be publicised along with the abstract. The Institute may decide to publish other or more figures if these are deemed to better characterise the invention. Each main technical feature mentioned in the abstract and illustrated by a drawing shall be followed by a reference sign, placed between parentheses.

4.                 The abstract shall contain 150 words at maximum.

Article 14. Requirements of the Application Documents

1.                 All of the application papers must be presented in a form permitting the direct reproduction of readily legible copies in any number by use of photographic, electrostatic, photo-offset and scanning. All sheets shall be free from cracks, creases and folds. Only one side of a sheet of paper shall be used.

2.                 The pages shall have A4 size (29,7x21 cm), white colour, pliable, strong, smooth, mat  and durable.

Each sheet shall be used in such a way that the upper and lower sides of the page are shorter (so-called portrait format).

3.                 Each of the documents making up the patent application (request, description of the invention, patent claims, drawings and abstract) shall commence on a new sheet and be signed by the applicant. The sheets shall be connected that they can easily be separated and joined together again.

4.                 Minimally allowed margins on the sheets not containing drawings are:

a)                upper side of the page 2 cm

b)                left side of the page 2,5 cm

c)                 right side of the page 2 cm

d)                lower side of the page 2 cm

e)                The largest recommended margins on the sheets not containing drawings are:

f)                   upper side of the page 4 cm

g)                left side of the page 4 cm

h)                 right side of the page 3 cm

i)                   lower side of the page 3 cm

5.                 When submitting the application, the margins on the sheets shall be completely empty  (clear).  

6.                 All the sheets in the application shall be numbered in consecutive Arabic numerals which shall be placed at the top of the sheet, in the middle, but not on the margin.

7.                 The request, the description of the invention, the patent claims, the drawing and the abstract shall be dully printed. Exceptionally, graphic symbols and characters as well as chemical or mathematical formulae may, if necessary, be written by hand. The typing shall be a single line spaced.

8.                 The height of the capital letters in the text shall not be less than 0,21 cm, and they shall be in a dark, indelible colour.

9.                 The request, the description of the invention, the patent claims and the abstract shall not contain any drawings. The description of the invention, patent claims and summary can contain chemical or mathematical formulas, while description of the invention can also contain the abstract-tables. Patent claims may contain the tables only ……….The tables and chemical or mathematical formulae can be shown in “the landscape format” if ”the portrait format” can not provide satisfactory overview. The sheets where the tables and chemical or mathematical formulae are shown in “the landscape format” shall be placed in such a way that the heading of the table or formula is on the left side of the sheet.

10.            The value of all physical qualities shall be expressed in units of the International Unit System (SI). The symbols shall be used for mathematical, chemical and molecular formulas and atom masses, as well as the technical expressions and signs commonly accepted in the respective technical field.

11.            Titles, signs and symbols shall be consistently used throughout the text of the application.

12.            Each sheet shall be reasonable free from erasures, alterations, overwriting and interlineations. If appropriate, non-compliance with this rule may be authorised on condition that it does not jeopardise the authenticity of the contents and the possibility for satisfactory quality of the multiplication.              

Article 15.

Prohibited Matter

1.                 The application shall not contain:

a)                statements or drawings contrary to the law or morality;

b)                elements disparaging the products or processes of a third person or the merits or validity of application or patents submitted by a third person; mere comparison with the prior art shall not be considered disparaging per se;

c)                 any statement obviously irrelevant or unnecessary     

2.                 Should the application contain prohibited matter, the Institute shall omit them when publishing the application, indicating the place and number of words or drawings omitted. 

3.                 Should the application contain the statements within the meaning of paragraph 1, point b) of this Article, the Institute may decide to omit them when publishing the application. The Institute shall indicate the place and number of words or drawings omitted and shall furnish, upon request, the copy of the passages omitted.

Article 16. Documents filed subsequently

1.                 The provisions of articles 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 of the Rule Book shall apply to documents filed subsequently replacing documents making up the patent application. These documents shall be submitted to the Institute in the same manner as initial application.

2.                 All applications and documents filed after filing of the initial patent application  must be signed. If a document has not been signed, the Institute shall invite the party concerned to do so within 30 days counting from the day when the invitation was received. If signed in due time, the document shall retain its original date of receipt; otherwise it shall be deemed not to have been received.

3.                 Such documents communicated to other persons or relating to two or more patent applications or patents, must be filed in a sufficient number of copies. If the party concerned does not comply with this obligation in spite of a request by the Institute, the missing copies shall be provided at the expense of the party concerned.

Article 17. Changes to the application

1.                 The applicant shall duly inform the Institute of a change in the address or the seat with reference to the number of patent application (hereinafter referred to as BAP number).

2.                 All documents submitted to the Institute by an applicant shall contain BAP number.

3.                 The applicant shall pay the taxes and special costs of the procedure pertaining to the changes set forth in paragraph 1 of this Article. If the applicant fails to pay due taxes and procedural costs, the documents shall be deemed not to have been received.            

Article 18. Submission of application for an

invention relating to deposit of biological material

1.