BULGARIA PROVIDES SPECIAL SEARCH SERVICES

Special search services are already provided by the national offices of the European patent organization’s member states starting on 1^st September. This step is result of the decision of on Administrative Council (28 June 2007) of the European Patent Organization to stop the EPO’s Special Search Programme. The decision is related to the establishment of the European Patent Network, which is a result of the strategy debate (June 2004-June 2006) on co-operation between EPO and member states’ national offices. The main goal of European Patent Network is to improve the efficiency of European’s patent system. 14 national offices, including Bulgaria have confirmed that they are capable of providing similar services. Since other national offices have shown interest the list is expected to grow.