1 October 2010

Serbia’s parliament has approved the country’s accession to the European Patent Convention and the Republic of Serbia became a member of the European Patent Organisation today, 1 October 2010.

The other contracting states of the European Patent Organisation are all of the 27 EU member states plus Albania, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and Turkey.

Apart from the Organisation’s members, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro also recognise European patent applications and patents on their territory on the basis of bilateral extension agreements with the European Patent Organisation. European patents are therefore now valid in 40 countries and reach a market of about 570 million people – making it the largest transnational patent system in the world.