• Patent fees

Fees associated with filing patent applications in Hungary as well as other patent fees are available in the fee calculator.

• Term for filing a patent application in Hungary

The term for filing an application claiming conventional priority in Hungary is 12 months calculated from the earliest date of claimed priority.

• Filing requirements in Hungary

The official language of proceedings before the HIPO is Hungarian. It is possible to file an application in any other language, however, the Hungarian translation must be provided within 4 months from the filing date, in case the patent application is filed in any other foreign language other than English. If the patent application is filed in English, the deadline for submitting the Hungarian translation is 12 months from the filing date or 16 months from the priority date.

To obtain the date of filing, it is necessary to provide the Hungarian Patent Office with the following:
-  request to grant a patent in Hungarian;
-  applicant’s details and contact information in Hungarian;
-  description or document that can be regarded as a description, even though it does not comply with other requirements, or instead a reference to an earlier application;
-  details of a priority application.

A certified copy of the Priority Document must be filed within 16 months from the earliest priority date. This term is not extendable. The translation thereof is not required.

A simply signed original Power of Attorney should be filed within the term set by the Hungarian Patent Office. No legalization or notarization is required.

If the applicant is not the inventor, the Assignment Deed as well as the Declaration of Assignment should be filed within the term set by the Hungarian Patent Office.

• Examination of a Hungarian patent application

Patent applications in Hungary undergo formal and substantive examination. If an application complies with the formal requirements, the Hungarian Patent Office administers the filing date and conducts a Novelty Search. The request for substantive examination may be filed either at the time of filing or at the latest within 6 months from the date of mention of the issuance of the Search Report in the Official Gazette.

• Novelty grace period

The novelty grace period in Hungary constitutes 6 months before the filing date if the disclosure occurred:

- due to an abuse of the rights of the applicant or his predecessors in title;
- due to the fact that the applicant or his predecessors in title have displayed the invention at an exhibition officially recognized by the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office.

• Grant, validity term and maintenance fees

After the decision to grant a patent, the Hungarian Patent Office sends the text of the description, the claims and drawings to the applicant who has three months to either confirm the text or to propose amendments. The grant fee shall be paid within the aforementioned period of 3 months. Patents in Hungary are valid for 20 years from the filing date of the application. Annual maintenance fees are payable starting from the 4th year in advance before the anniversary of the filing date. The annual fees due before the publication of the application are payable within a grace period of 6 months from the date of publication. The annual fees which become due prior to the grant of a patent granted on the basis of an application treated as classified data may also be paid within a grace period of six months from the date on which the decision to grant a patent come into force, while all other annual fees may also be paid within a grace period of six months from the due date. Annuities paid during the first three months of the grace period are not subject to any surcharge. From the fourth month, the surcharge constitutes 50%.

• Duration of registration procedure

In the case of a smooth registration procedure, the average time of obtaining a patent in Hungary is 3 years counted from the filing date.

• Representation by a patent attorney

For foreign patent applicants, it is necessary to perform patent prosecution in Hungary through an agent, a registered patent attorney in Hungary.

• Utility Model

Any solution relating to the configuration or construction of an article or arrangement of parts thereof may be registered as utility model in Hungary if it is new, industrially applicable and involves an inventive step. Utility models in Hungary are subject to formal and substantive examinations,however, they are not examined in respect to novelty and inventive step. The term of protection for a utility model in Hungary is 10 years from the filing date.

• Notes

1. Online Search Database for Hungarian Patents and Utility Models
2. The patent in Hungary may also be obtained via registration of the European patent and its further validation in Hungary.
3. Maintenance fees due by May 31, 2022, including the first year's fee, are payable except for applications filed between August 7, 2021, and May 31, 2022, where the first year's fee is not required. Maintenance fees for the first three years due on or after June 1, 2022, are not payable.

Brief summary is based on the information provided by MILOJEVIC, SEKULIC & ASSOCIATES on 07.03.2024
Please contact us if the above information is not in conformity with Hungarian IP Laws