Bulgaria

GENERAL INFORMATION

Area: 111,000 sq. km.

Population: 6,782,659 (2024).

Capital: Sofia.

Language: Bulgarian.

Currency: Lev.

 

 

GENERAL REMARKS

Until the end of 1989, the Republic of Bulgaria was a country with a planned economy based on socialist (Marxist-Leninist) organization.

Member of the European Union as of January 1, 2007.

 

 

PATENTS OF INVENTION

LEGAL BASIS

• Law on Patents and Utility Models Registration, in force since June 1, 1993, with latest amendments as of December 8, 2023.

 

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention.
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since May 21, 1984.
• European Patent Convention, since July 1, 2002.

 

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (no legalization);
• Specification;
• Drawings;
• Priority document, if claimed.

 

REMARKS

National Phase of PCT: under Chapter I and II: 31 months.

Validity: issued after full examination – valid for 20 years from the filing date.

Annuities: accumulated and due within three months after the granting decision; subsequent annuities are payable in advance, before the anniversary of the filing date.

Opposition: possible within three months after the date of publication of the patent application.

 

 

TRADE AND SERVICE MARKS

LEGAL BASIS

• Law on Marks and Geographical Indications, in force since December 17, 2019 (Official Gazette No. 98/December 13, 2019), with latest amendments as of March 6, 2026.

 

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention.
• Madrid Agreement, since May 1, 1985.
• Madrid Protocol, since October 2, 2001.

 

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (no legalization);
• Priority document, if claimed.

 

REMARKS

Kinds of protection: trademarks or service marks may consist of words, including names of persons, letters, numerals, drawings, figures, form of the article or the packing thereof, combination of colors, sound signs or any combination of such signs. Besides the original version, filing of word mark applications in the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet is highly recommended.

Classification: International.

Obligation to use the registered mark: compulsory; if not used within five years after the registration date, the registration can be cancelled upon request of an interested party.

Duration – renewals: 10-year period after the filing date, renewable for further 10-year periods.

Opposition: possible within three months from the publication of the trademark application.

 

 

INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS

LEGAL BASIS

• Law on Industrial Designs, in force since December 15, 1999 (Official Gazette No. 81/September 14, 1999), with latest amendments as of October 27, 2020.

 

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention.
• Hague Agreement, Stockholm Act, and Geneva Act, since October 7, 2008

 

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (no legalization);
• As many photos or drawings necessary to obtain an exact idea of the design, but not more than 7;
• Brief description of the design (up to 100 words), only by initiative of the applicant;
• Priority document, if applicable.

 

REMARKS

Duration – renewals: after formal and substantive examination: 10 years from the filing date, renewable for three consecutive 5-year periods.

Opposition: not provided for.

 

 

DOMAIN NAMES

LEGAL BASIS

There is no specific legislation although some regulations on the organization and management of country code top-level domain names do exist.

 

 

FILING

• ccTLD: .bg
• Applicant: individuals and legal entities.
• Local Presence: required.

 

REMARKS

Duration – renewals: one year, renewable optionally for 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10 years.

Uniform dispute resolution procedure: none, but an administrative procedure other than UDRP is available.

 

 

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