LEGAL BASIS

• Patent Law No. XXXIII of 1995, in force since January 1, 1996.
• Decree No. 20/2002 (XII.12) (IM) on Rules of formal requirements of patent applications, in force since January 1, 2003.
• Decree No. 19/2005 (IV. 12.) (GKM) on Fees of the Proceedings before the Intellectual Property Organization (HIPO), in force since June 11, 2009.
• Law No. L of 2002 on Enactment of the Convention on the Grant of European Patents.
• Regulation (EC) No. 469/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 6, 2009 concerning the supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, Stockholm Act.
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since June 27, 1980.
• European Patent Convention, since January 1, 2003.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney, simply signed by the applicant, no legalization required (can be filed later);
• Assignment (if the applicant is other than the inventor(s)), no legalization required (can be filed later);
• Assignment of priority right (if the applicant is not the applicant of the priority application, and not the inventor), no legalization required (can be filed later);
• Application documents can be filed in any language (exceptions: the claim for a patent and the identification of the applicant should be in Hungarian), comprising specification and abstract; Hungarian translation thereof can be filed within four months;
• Formal drawings, if applicable;
• Priority document(s), if applicable, with a translation in English, German or French, no legalization required (should be filed within four months from the filing date; no extension of term is possible).

REMARKS

National Phase of PCT: under Chapter I: 31 months; under Chapter II: 31 months.
Validity: 20 years from the filing date.
Annuities: are accumulated and due on the day of publication.
Opposition: not provided for.

LEGAL BASIS

• Act No. 11 of 1997 on the Protection of Trade Marks and Geographical Indications, in force as of July 1, 1997; last comprehensive revision by Act No. CLVII of 2013.
• Act 2005 CLXV on Enforcement of Industrial Property Rights and Copyrights, effective as of January 1, 2006.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, Stockholm Act.
• Madrid Agreement, Stockholm Act.
• Madrid Protocol, since October 3, 1997.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Name and address of applicant;
• Specification of goods and/or services (International Classification);
• Power of Attorney, signed by the applicant (no legalization, late filing possible);
• 1 print of the mark (only for device marks);
• If priority is claimed, priority document must be filed within two months after filing date.

REMARKS

Kinds of protection: trademarks comprising a word or device or a combination of both, two- and three-dimensional designations. Service marks are registrable.
Classification: International.
Obligation to use the registered mark: compulsory. Non-use during any five-year period of effective registration allows any interested party to require cancellation of the registration. Cancellation ex officio on the basis of non-use is excluded.
Duration – renewals: 10-year period from the filing date, renewable for further periods of 10 years.
Opposition: possible within three months from the publication date but on relative grounds only and by persons concerned by the cited prior right.

LEGAL BASIS

• Law No. XLVIII of 2001 on Protection of Industrial Designs.
• Decree No. 19/2001 (XI.29), (IM) of the Minister of Justice on Rules of Formal Requirements in Industrial Design cases.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, Stockholm Act.
• Hague Agreement, since April 7, 1984, Geneva Act, since May 1, 2004.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Defining the name of the design and preferably the class according to the Locarno Agreement;
• Power of Attorney, simply signed by applicant, no legalization;
• Assignment of priority right;
• 3 copies of drawings or photographs, size between 3 x 4 cm and 9 x 12 cm, showing the design in several views, if necessary; if colors are claimed, drawings (photographs) must be colored;
• Priority document.

REMARKS

Duration - renewals: 5 years. Can be extended for four additional 5-year periods.
Opposition: not provided for.

LEGAL BASIS

• There is no specific legislation on country code top-level domain names.

FILING

• ccTLD: .hu
• Applicant: for top-level domains: EU citizens, legal entities operating in the EU and owners of national trademarks or trademarks granted protection in Hungary; for sub-domains: any natural person or legal entity (except the .tm.hu SLD, under which only trademark holders can register domain names).
• Local presence: not required, but must have a local administrative contact.

REMARKS

• Duration – renewals: depends on appointed Registrar; usually one year, renewable.
• Uniform dispute resolution procedure: none, but an alternative dispute resolution procedure (ADR) is avalailabe.