Once an application for the grant of a patent is filed, it is examined with respect to compliance with the formalities and patentability provided for under the patent law including novelty, inventiveness (state-of-the-art) and industrial application. The Institute examines the compliance of the application to the formal requirements. Should the examination results reveal that the application suffers formal deficiencies, or that the invention is not subject to patent protection, the examination procedure is suspended and the applicant is requested to remedy the deficiencies or to notify the Institute his objections within the period set forth in the regulations.

Should the examination conducted by the Institute shows no deficiency as to formal requirements or when any such deficiency has been duly remedied and completed in accordance with the requirements, the Institute shall inform the applicant that the request, if not filed earlier, for conducting the search on the state-of-the-art, is to be filed within 15 months from the filing date. In the absence of opposition, the letters patent or the utility certificate is issued.

Within 15 months from the date of filing the application, the applicant shall request the Institute to conduct the search on the state-of-the-art where priority is claimed; such period (15 months) runs as of the date of priority. Failure to take action causes the lapse of the application.

After receiving the search report, the applicant must decide within 3 months whether to proceed with substantive examination or to request the grant of a patent without said examination or as a result of deferred-examination for a period of 7 years. The patentee of a non-examined patent or any third party may request before the expiration of a 7-year term (from the filing date), that the prosecution for the substantive examination be resumed in order to obtain a patent for a duration of 20 years.

Should the applicant request a Substantive Examination; the applicant shall request the Institute to conduct the examination after the 6 months following the publication of the state-of-the-art search report, where third parties may raise objections to the grant of the patent.

The Institute shall notify the applicant of the examination report it has established, as to the deficiency or meeting of patentability requirements of the application, and shall grant the applicant 6 months for him to rectify the deficiency, or to amend the claim(s) and to object to it. During the prosecution of the granting procedure, amendment of claims to rectify obvious errors such as spelling errors, providing of incorrect/inappropriate documents, the claim(s) may be amended only during the prosecution of the granting procedure. Also, the transformation of a patent application into a utility model application is possible.

The Institute shall reach its final decision after examining the applicant's observations and, if any, the amendments made in the application. The decision of the Institute may consist of granting the patent for all or part of the claims. The application shall be open to public upon its publication, after the lapse of a period of 18 months from the date of filing the application or, if any, from the date of the claimed priority.

A patent is valid for 20 years, and a utility certificate is valid for 10 years. Annuities are to be paid during the final 3 months of each year of the protection period. However, late payment of the annuities with a surcharge is allowed within 6 months from the lapse of the annuity due date. It is possible to pay the annual fees in advance to cover the whole or a part of the validity period in advance.

The right to a patent may be assigned or licensed. An assignment shall have no effect against third parties, unless it has been recorded at the Patent Office and published in the Official Gazette.