The new Spanish Law on Patents is approved

20.11.2014

 

On the 14th of November the Council of Ministers approved the referral of the final draft of the new Law on Patents, which updates the Law 11/1986 on Patents, to the Parliament in order to be discussed and subsequently approved under the procedure of law creation enshrined in Spanish Constitution.

This new Law allows moving from a “weak” patent system to a “strong” one, comparable to the ones from the international systems and the industrialised countries, which benefits the Spanish patent’s image. The creation of a “strong” patent entails important benefits for the competition and citizens since it prevents the emergence of unjustified monopolies and ensures its reliability. Also, it helps to prevent the Courts and the Administration from being overloaded and guarantees legal certainty. Finally, it encourages the protection of innovation by SMEs and entrepreneurs.

Other main aspects of this Law are:

  • Legal clarity: that is achieved by the adaptation of Spanish legislation to the European Union directives (for example, in the area of supplemental certificates for pharmaceutical products) and the international treaties to which Spain is a party (TRIPS, PCT, EPO). This Law clarifies and streamlines the procedures for granting the patent since it will always be submitted for prior examination to prove that the invention fulfills the essential requirements for its granting, which are: novelty, inventive step and industrial application.
  • Lower costs: it promotes the entrepreneurship and innovation through a 50% reduction of the procurement of a patent fee for entrepreneurs.
  • Utility models: their scope is extended to include the chemicals and their regime is amended through the requirement of global novelty. In addition, the  Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) are explicitly included among the titles of protection.
  • The simplification of the requirement for the  patent applications: in accordance with the Patent Law Treaty (with effect from 6th of November of 2013).
  • Procedure: in order to obtain a “strong” patent system there will not be any difference between the general grant procedure and the substantive examination procedure. There will be a single procedure which requires the substantive examination: the examination of patentability requirements (novelty, inventive step and industrial application).

Written by: Lida Hernández and Magali Contardi

Translated by: Esmira Abdullaeva

Image: luxomedia. Under creative commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)



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