Changes in Hungarian patent law

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CHANGES IN HUNGARIAN PATENT LAW On 1 July 1994 the Act No. VII of 1994 amending the Patent Act of 1969 entered into force. This note summarizes the main points of the change. 1. The exclusion of medicines, chemical compounds and foodstuffs for human or animal consumption from patentable inventions is abolished. So, in a patent application for such an invention both product and process claims are allowed. In new applications filed after 1 July 1994 convention priority can be claimed also for product claims even if the priority date is earlier than 1 July 1994. 2. According to transitional provisions, patent applications pending on 1 July 1994 can be completed with product claims until the grant of the patent, however, not later than 30 June 1995. Such product claims will have a modification priority of not earlier than 1 July 1994. The date of the modification priority is the date on which the product claim is submitted to the Hungarian

Patent Office. Therefore, in pending PCT applications containing product claims, in which Hungary is a designated or elected country, the national phase shall be entered as soon as possible, but in any case before 30 June 1995, even if the 21 or 30 months term is longer. Patent rights derived from such product claims may only be enforced as from said modification priority date. 3. The Act No. VII of 1994 introduced a special transitional patent ('pipeline') protection for pharmaceutical products. According to this Act pipeline protection can be requested for any pharmaceutical product, i.e. for any active substance or composition, provided that patent protection has been granted in any foreign country before 1 July 1995, and the priority date of the foreign patent is between 1 January 1987 and 30 June 1993. Pharmaceutical products placed on the market in Hungary prior to 1 July

1994 are, however, excluded from pipeline protection. The request for grant of pipeline protection, stating the number Of the foreign patent and name and address of the applicant, shall be submitted to the Patent Office within one year from 1 July 1994. The document certifying the grant of the foreign patent, a copy of the foreign patent specification and the Hungarian translation thereof shall be filed within three months counted from the filing date of the request. The transitional patent protection shall take effect on the date of grant, and its effect shall be retroactive to 1 July 1994. The term of protection shall expire at the same time as that of the foreign patent. For maintaining the transitional patent protection annuities shall be paid. G6d611e, K~kes, M~sz~ros & Szab6 Patent and Trademark Attorneys Keleti K~roly u. 13/b, H-1024 Budapest, Hungary. Fax: +(36 1) 166 36 00

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A M E N D M E N T OF THE CZECH COPYRIGHT In April 1990, shortly after the democratic changes of November 1989 an amendment to the Czechoslovak Copyright Act was passed at the instigation of the Republic's President Vaclav Havel. The 1990 Amendment abolished all restrictions in relation to authors living abroad; amended copying of works regulations on blank audio and audiovisual media for personal needs; explicitly specified computer programs among the examples of protected copyright works; more closely specified the definition of radio and television broadcasting; amended cable and satellite broadcasting regulations and significantly broadened neighbouring rights, i.e. the rights of performing artists, producers of phonograms and videograms and broadcasting organizations. The 1990 Amendment prolonged the term of protection of audiovisual works and the protection term of the rights of performing artists

for recorded performances from 25 to 50 years. In a similar way it prolonged the protection term of producers of phonograms and videograms for their recordings and of broadcasters for the programmes broadcasted. In addition, the 1990 Amendment granted equal rights to physical and juridical persons as regards the exploitation of copyright, enabling once more enterprise in the entertainment and other copyright industries for individuals and private companies after a gap of 40 years. Another Copyright Act Amendment, passed at the end of 1991 within the Radio-and-Television Broadcasting Act, abolished the radio and television licence provisions contained in the 1965 Act. These were used for decades by the former regime for very low copyright compensations for authors, producers and performers. A number of secondary regulations were

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issued for the implementation of the 1990 Amendment. These further adjusted the renting of audio and audiovisual media and limited copying of these media for personal needs (the so called 'blank media levy system'). It also dealt with the organization of public performances, and the exclusive rights of copyright agencies and organizations of performing artists. These regulations are dealt with in more detail below. Since the foundation of the Czechoslovak federation on 1 January 1969 the Copyright Act has been a federal law, supplemented in detail by secondary regulation. From 1989 these are within the powers of both of the Republics respectively. Gradually greater differentiation is likely to take place, for example, in the fixing of royalty rates. There is a continuing task for both of the independent Republics to prepare completely new copyright legislation that