Official translation

Official translation Official translation THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA PATENT LAW 18 January 1994 No. I-372 Vilnius (as amended by 30 October 2001 No. IX-568) This Law shall legitimise inventions as objects of industrial property, regulate the rights and duties of legal and natural persons with respect to inventions, provide legal protection thereof. CHAPTER

1. PROTECTION OF INVENTIONS Article
2. Form of Protection of Inventions The form of protection of inventions shall be a patent granted by the State Patent Bureau in the procedure established by this Law. Article
3. Patentable Inventions Patents shall be available for any inventions in all fields of technology, provided that they are new, involve an inventive step and are capable of industrial application. The following shall not be regarded as inventions: 1) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods; 2) design of products; 3) schemes, rules and methods of games, intellectual or economic activities, as well as programmes for computers; and 4) presentations of information. Patents shall not be granted for: 1) methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy, and diagnostic and prophylactic methods practised on the human or animal body. This provision shall not apply if an object of invention is equipment or materials utilised for such methods; 2) plant or animal varieties or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals. This provision shall not apply to microbiological processes for the production of plants or animals or the products thereof; 3) inventions the commercial exploitation of which would be contrary to public interests, principles of morality and humanity. Decisions to refuse granting patents may not be adopted merely because the exploitation of such inventions is prohibited by laws or other legal acts. Where the object of invention is a method, patent protection shall also be granted with respect to a product made by such method. Article
4. Novelty of an Invention An invention shall be considered new if it does not form part of the state of the art. The state of the art shall consist of everything which, before the filing date of patent application or where priority is claimed, before the priority date, has been published or was in public use in the Republic of Lithuania or abroad. An invention shall not be considered new if although unknown from the state of the art it had been described in an application for patent of a different applicant having an earlier filing date and published in the Official Bulletin of the State Patent Bureau later or on the same date, that the state of the art had been established. Article
5. Inventive Step An invention shall be considered to involve an inventive step, if it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art to which it pertains. Article
6. Industrial Applicability An invention shall be considered industrially applicable if it can be made or used in industry, agriculture, health protection and other spheres. Article
7. Grace Period Disclosure of information shall not effect the patentability of an invention if the information was disclosed within 6 months preceding the filing date of a patent application and where the disclosure of information has been made: 1) by a person having an interest in making an abuse with respect to inventor or his successor in title to their disadvantage; 2) where an inventor or his successor in title displayed his invention at an official or officially recognised exhibition in accordance with the Convention on International Exhibitions signed at Paris on 22 November
8. An inventor or his successor in title willing to benefit from the grace period provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article, shall have the burden of proving that he has the right to the grace period. Article
9. Right to a Patent The right to a patent shall belong to the inventor or his successor in title, or the employer, in the case of a service invention. If an invention is made at an enterprise, institution or organisation which carries out scientific research, designing, construction works and other works of creative character under contract with a client who finances an appropriate work, the right to a patent for the invention shall be established by such contract. If the employer renounces the right to a patent or, within four months, does not inform the inventor about the intention to make use of this right, the right to a patent shall be passed over to the inventor. Joint inventors shall, unless they agree otherwise, have equal rights to the patent. Where several inventors have made the same invention independently of each other, the right to a patent shall belong to the inventor whose application has the earliest filing date with the State Patent Bureau or who has the earliest priority right to this invention as long as his application is not withdrawn or deemed withdrawn. Article
10. Service Inventions A service invention shall be an invention made: 1)during the execution of an employment contract which provides for inventing activities; 2)on a concrete assignment, in the course of designing, constructing, scientific research or creation of technologies; 3) when using the experience accumulated by an enterprise, institution or organisation, or its technologies and equipment. The worker who made a service invention, must immediately inform the employer in writing. Until the filing of a patent application, the employer and worker may not disclose the essence of an invention. A patent application regarding a service invention shall be filed with the State Patent Bureau, on behalf of an enterprise, institution or organisation. Upon the receipt of a patent on a service invention, the employer must pay remuneration to the inventor. The amount of remuneration shall depend on the economic value of the invention and any benefit derived by the employer from the utilisation of the invention. The conditions of remuneration and the payment thereof shall be established in a remuneration agreement which is signed by the employer and inventor, and which is concluded within six months following the granting of a patent or within one year of the beginning of the use of an invention, if the beginning of the use of the invention is prior to the granting of a patent. Remuneration shall not be paid if the employment contract of a worker provides for making inventions and he has been or is paid an agreed increased salary. If no agreement exists between the parties, the amount of remuneration shall be established by the court. The rights and duties of the employer and worker, related to service inventions, with the exception of the payment of remuneration, shall expire when the patent becomes null and void or after one year of the termination of labour relations. Article
11. Mention of the Inventor A patent application and patent must contain mention of the name of the inventor or inventors. Any publication of the State Patent Bureau of a patent application or patent, must mention the name of the inventor or inventors. An inventor shall have the right to request that his or her name should not be mentioned. Therefore, he shall have to file a declaration with the State Patent Bureau. The State Patent Bureau shall have to proceed accordingly. CHAPTER
12. PATENT GRANT Article
13. Filing a Patent Application A person wishing to obtain a patent for an invention shall file a patent application with the State Patent Bureau. An application may be filed by several legal or natural persons or by both natural and legal persons. An application may be filed on behalf of an inventor by his representative. Foreign legal and natural persons shall file applications with the State Patent Bureau through a patent attorney of the Republic of Lithuania. Article
14. A Patent Application A patent application shall contain: 1) a request for the grant of a patent; 2) a description of the invention; 3) one or more claims; 4) drawings if necessary for the understanding of the essence of the invention; 5) an abstract; 6) a document confirming payment of the fee; 7) a document confirming the right to file a patent application (provided it is filed not by inventor himself) and the declaration regarding inventorship of the invention. A request to grant a patent shall be filed in the Lithuanian language. Other documents shall be filed in Lithuanian or any other language designated by the State Patent Bureau. In the event that the documents comprising a patent application are filed in another language, translation thereof into Lithuanian must be supplied. Translation of documents comprising a patent application must be furnished by an applicant to the State Patent Bureau within 3 months from the date of filing a patent application. Article
15. Date of Filing a Patent Application The filing date of a patent application shall be the date of receipt by the State Patent Bureau of the following documents: a request to grant a patent; a description of the invention together with claims; any drawings if necessary for the understanding of the essence of the invention; a document confirming payment of the fee. Where an applicant fails to supply all the documents as stated in paragraph 1 of this Article, the patent application shall be treated as if not have been filed. Article
16. Disclosure A specification must disclose the invention in such full and clear terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to use the invention. Where a patent application refers to a biologically reproducible material which cannot be disclosed in the application in such a way as to enable any person skilled in the art to use it, and such material is not available to the public, it shall be deposited for safe-keeping with a depository institution. The patent application filed with the State Patent Bureau shall be accompanied by a document about the deposition of such biological material. A specification contained in the patent application shall be presented as prescribed by the State Patent Bureau. Article
17. The Claims The patent application shall contain one or more claims. All claims above 10 shall be subject to payment of an additional fee. The claims shall define the scope of legal protection. All claims shall be clear and concise. The claims shall be presented as prescribed by the State Patent Bureau. Article
18. Abstract The abstract shall merely serve for the purpose of technical information on the invention and shall be presented as prescribed by the State Patent Bureau. The abstract shall not be taken into account when establishing the scope of patent protection. Article
19. Unity of Invention A patent application shall be filed so as to relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept. Failure to comply with the requirements of unity of invention shall not be a ground for invalidation of a patent. Article
20. Division of Application An applicant who does not observe the requirements of the unity of invention shall be obligated to divide his patent application into two or more applications (divisional applications). An applicant may divide his patent application into two or more applications on his own initiative. In each separate patent application the essence of the invention must not be disclosed wider than it was disclosed in the initial patent application. The filing date of the initial application shall be established for each separate patent application or, if priority is claimed, the priority date of the initial application. Priority documents and any required translations thereof that are submitted to the State Patent Bureau in respect of the initial patent application shall be considered as having been submitted in respect of all divisional applications. Article
21. Right of Priority When filing a patent application the applicant may submit a declaration claiming the priority, pursuant the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, on the basis of one or several national or international applications earlier filed in foreign countries, specifying the filing date and the country of the said application or applications. The State Patent Bureau may request from the applicant claiming priority within 3 months from the filing date of the application to furnish a copy or copies of previously filed applications and a translation thereof into the Lithuanian language. Upon establishing that the requirements of paragraph 2 of this Article are not observed, the State Patent Bureau may request the applicant to fulfil the requirements. Upon failure to fulfil the requirements, the declaration claiming the priority shall be regarded as not have been filed. Article
22. Examination The State Patent Bureau shall make an examination of a patent application and establish whether the application complies with the requirements provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 2, in Article 11, paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 13, as well as in Articles 14 and
23. After the State Patent Bureau finds that the application does not meet the requirements as provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article, it shall invite the applicant to meet such requirements. If the applicant fails to do so, the State Patent Bureau shall adopt a resolution to refuse the grant of a patent. Article
24. Amendment or Correction of Application. Withdrawal of Application The applicant shall have the right to correct or amend the patent application during its pendency in the State Patent Bureau. No amendment or correction of the patent application may go beyond what has been disclosed in the application as filed. The applicant shall have the right to withdraw a patent application at any time during its pendency in the State Patent Bureau. Article
25. Publication of Patent Application The State Patent Bureau shall publish the patent application as filed by the applicant within 18 months from its filing date, or if priority is claimed, from its priority date. In the event that the applicant files a written request with the State Patent Bureau to have his patent application published earlier, the State Patent Bureau proceeds accordingly, but no earlier than six months after the filing date of the application. A patent application shall not be published if it is withdrawn within 17 months from its filing or priority date. Provisional legal protection shall be provided to a published patent application from the date of its publication until the date of patent grant. If the published patent application is later withdrawn or disputed by another person, it shall be considered that the application has not been provided with the provisional legal protection provided for in paragraph 3 of this Article. If an invention is kept secret, the inventor shall be paid compensation according to the agreement made between the state secret protection institution and the inventor of the invention. Article
26. Patent Grant If the patent application complies with all requirements of the examination, the State patent Bureau, on payment of the prescribed fee by the applicant, shall within six months grant a patent. Upon the decision to grant a patent, the State Patent Bureau shall publish notification of the patent grant in its Official Bulletin. The form of a patent document and the number of data entered shall be established by the State Patent Bureau. A patent shall be granted in one copy only. In the event that there are several applicants, unless otherwise agreed, the patent shall be granted in the name of the applicant who is stated first in the request. Article
27. Register of Patents The State Patent Bureau shall keep the Register of Patents of the Republic of Lithuania. On the register patents shall be assigned a serial number in the order of their grant. The data of the patent, as well as the data relating to its corrections and other data pertaining to the patent grant, use and protection shall be entered in the Register of Patents of the Republic of Lithuania. An extract of any entry in the Register of Patents of the Republic of Lithuania shall be furnished by the State Patent Bureau to any person upon his request and payment of the prescribed fee. The extract from the Register shall be regarded as an official document. Article
28. Inspection of Patent Applications Files After a patent application is published, any person interested may inspect it. To inspect a patent application before it is published shall be possible only upon written consent of the applicant. Where a patent application has been withdrawn in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 20 before it is published, inspection of the application shall be possible only upon written consent of the person who has withdrawn the application. Article
29. Settlement of Disputes Disputes arising before the patent grant between the applicant and the examiner of the State Patent Bureau with respect to the filing or priority date of a patent application, conclusions of examination and refusal to grant a patent shall be settled by the Board of Appeals of the State Patent Bureau. The applicant or his representative shall have the right to participate in the hearings of the Board of Appeals. CHAPTER
30. EFFECTS OF A PATENT Article
31. Rights of the Owner of a Patent Where the subject matter of a patent is a product, the owner of the patent shall have the exclusive right to prevent third parties not having the owner’s consent from the acts of making, using, offering for sale, selling, importing or exporting that product. Where the subject matter of a patent is a process, the owner of the patent shall have the exclusive right to prevent third parties not having the owner’s consent from the act of using the process, and from the acts of using, offering for sale, selling, importing or exporting a product obtained directly by that process. The owner of the patent shall have no right to prevent third parties from performing acts referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, provided that: 1) the act is done privately and for non-commercial purposes and it does not significantly prejudice the economic interests of the owner of the patent; 2) the act is done for experimental purposes or for scientific research, and this does not conflict with a normal exploitation of the patent and does not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the patent owner; 3) the act consists of preparing medicines for individual cases in a pharmacy upon the prescription of a physician or if it is indicated how to use the medicines so prepared. The owner of the patent shall have the right to prevent all third parties from supplying or offering to supply essential elements of the patented invention with the exception of those which are widely known in the economic activities, if the supply and offering to supply them is necessary for performing the acts provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article. Rights to the patent application and the patent itself shall be inheritable. The state shall not inherit these rights. Article
32. Term of Patents and Maintenance Fees The term of a patent shall be 20 years as from the date of filing the application. The maintenance of a patent shall be subject to the payment of an annual fee. The first annual fee shall be due in respect of the third year of the validity of a patent. The annual fee shall be paid within two last months of the current year of the validity of a patent. The annual fee increased by 50% may still be validly paid within 6 months from the due date prescribed in paragraph 4 of this Article. Article
33. Supplementary Protection Certificate* A supplementary protection certificate (hereinafter referred to as "certificate") may be granted to a patent owner or his successor in title for a period not exceeding five years, if legal protection is conferred to: 1) active ingredients of a medicine; 2) active substances of a plant protection product. The certificate shall be granted, if the patent owner or his successor in title lodges an application for a certificate with the State Patent Bureau. The application shall contain the following documents: 1) a request for a certificate; 2) a copy of the first authorisation to place a medicine or a plant protection product on the market; 3) a document confirming that the set fee has been paid. An application for a certificate must be lodged with the State Patent Bureau before the patent expires, but not later than within 6 months of the date on which the authorisation to place the medicine or the plant protection product on the market was granted, or within 6 months of the date on which the patent was granted, if the patent was granted later than the authorisation. The State Patent Bureau shall establish requirements applied to the documents, the procedure for examination of an application, granting and validity of the certificate. Information about an application for a certificate, the grant and expiry of a certificate shall be published by the State Patent Bureau in its Official Bulletin. Information regarding the grant and duration of a certificate shall be recorded in the Register of Patents of the Republic of Lithuania. The granted certificate shall take effect at the end of the lawful term of the patent for a period equal to the period which elapsed between the date on which the patent application was lodged and the date of the authorisation to place a medicine or a plant protection product on the market, reduced by a period of five years, but not exceeding five years from the date on which it takes effect. The duration of the certificate shall depend on the payment of a set annual fee. The certificate shall confer on its holder or his successor in title all the rights, duties and restrictions established by this Law. Legal protection conferred by the certificate shall extend only to the medicine or plant protection product covered by the authorisation to place the corresponding medicine or plant protection product on the market, and must not exceed the legal protection conferred by the patent. *Article 271 of the Patent Law shall come into force on 1 January
34. The provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 271 of the Patent Law regarding the time limit of lodging an application for a certificate shall not apply to the owner, or his successor in title, of the patent valid in the Republic of Lithuania, the application for which has been filed after 1 February 1994, if an application for a certificate is lodged within 6 months from the date of the accession of the Republic of Lithuania to the European Union. Article
35. Scope of Legal Protection and Interpretation of Claims The scope of legal protection conferred by a patent shall be determined by the claims. The description and drawings may be used to interpret the claims. Claims shall be considered to cover not only all the elements as expressed in the claims but also their equivalents. An element shall be considered as being equivalent to an element as expressed in a claim if: it performs substantially the same function in substantially the same way and produces substantially the same result as the element expressed in the claim; it is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the same result as that achieved by means of the element as expressed in the claim, can be achieved by means of the equivalent element. The State Patent Bureau shall take into consideration any statement of the applicant or the owner of the patent to limit the scope of the claims filed before the patent grant or within the patent validity term. If the patent description contains examples of the embodiment of the invention or examples of the functions or results of the invention, the claims shall not be interpreted as limited to such examples. Article
36. Right of Prior Use Natural and legal persons who in good faith were using or were making effective or serious preparations for such use before the filing date or, where priority is claimed, the priority date of a patent application, shall have the right to continue such use or to use the invention as envisaged in such preparations without taking into consideration the will of the owner of the patent. The right of the prior use may only be transferred together with the enterprise or its activities or with that part of the enterprise or its activities in which the use of an invention or preparations for such use have been made. Article
37. Rights of the Owner of the Patent with respect to Foreign Means of Transport The following shall not be considered the violation of the rights of the owner of the patent: 1) the use of the means, which are the subjects of the patent, on any foreign vessel, temporarily or accidentally entering the waters of the Republic of Lithuania provided that such means shall be used exclusively for the needs of the vessel; 2) the use of the means which are the subjects of the patent in the construction of foreign air or land carriers or the exploitation of these means, as well as their use in supplementary constructions thereof, when such means of transport temporarily or accidentally enter the Republic of Lithuania. CHAPTER
38. CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP Article
39. Change in Ownership of Patent Application or Patent Any contract assigning a patent application or a patent shall be made in writing. Any change in the ownership of a patent application or a patent shall be recorded on payment of the fee with the State Patent Bureau. The right to a patent or a patent application shall be obtained as of from the date of the registration with the State Patent Bureau. The State Patent Bureau shall publish in its Official Bulletin information on the change of the ownership. Article
40. Judicial Assignment of a Patent Application or a Patent The person concerned may request the court to order the assignment of the patent application or the patent to him if the essential elements of the invention claimed in a patent application or patent are created by him, but not by the applicant of a patent application or by the patent owner. Article
41. Change of Joint Ownership of a Patent Application or a Patent A patent application or a patent may jointly belong to several applicants or several joint owners of the patent. Each of the joint applicants may independently without the consent of the others assign by succession his share in the application, but the joint applicants may only jointly withdraw the patent application or conclude licence agreements with third parties. Each of joint owners of the patent may independently without the consent of the others assign or transfer by succession his share in the patent or institute court proceedings for infringement of the patent. The joint owners may only jointly surrender the patent or conclude licence agreements with third parties. The regulations provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article shall be applicable only in the absence of an agreement to the contrary between the joint applicants or owners of the patent. CHAPTER
42. LICENCE AGREEMENT. LICENCE OF RIGHT Article
43. Licence Agreement Licence agreement means any agreement by which a party (the licenser) allows the other party (the licensee) to perform any of the acts referred to in Article
44. A licence agreement must be made in writing. Oral licence agreement shall not be valid. On payment of the prescribed fee the licence agreement shall be recorded in the Register of Patents of the Republic of Lithuania and shall be enforced as of from the date of such recording. Article
45. Rights of Licensee The rights given by the licenser to the licensee shall extend to the performance of all the acts referred to in Article 26, unless otherwise provided in the licence agreement, without limitations throughout the entire territory of the Republic of Lithuania and through any application of the said invention. In the absence of any provisions to the contrary in the licence agreement, the licensee may not allow a third person to perform any of the acts referred to in Article
46. Article
47. Rights of Licenser In the absence of any provisions to the contrary in the licence agreement, the licenser may allow a third person to perform any of the acts referred to in Article 26 and may perform them himself. If the licence agreement provides that the licence is exclusive the licenser may neither allow any third party to perform, nor perform himself the acts referred to in Article
48. Article
49. Licence of Right The owner of a patent may file a statement with the State Patent Bureau that he is prepared to allow any person to use the invention as a licensee in return for appropriate compensation. In this case the annual fees shall be reduced by 50%. The State Patent Bureau shall refuse to accept such statement as long as an exclusive licence granted by the owner of the patent for the same invention is recorded in the Register of Patents of the Republic of Lithuania. The owner of the patent may withdraw such statement at any time upon written notification to this effect to the State Patent Bureau, provided that no one has previously informed the State Patent Bureau in writing of his intention to use the invention. Any person willing to make use of the licence of right may file a statement with the State Patent Bureau and shall be entitled to use the invention as a licensee. Any licence so obtained shall be treated as non-exclusive. Upon the receipt of a statement of any person to make use of the licence of right, the State Patent Bureau shall have no right to record an exclusive licence granted for the same invention in the Register of Patents of the Republic of Lithuania, unless the said statement is withdrawn. CHAPTER
50. COMPULSORY LICENCE Article
51. Compulsory Licence Repealed 15 June
52. Article
53. Exploitation of an Invention with the Authorisation of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania The Government of the Republic of Lithuania may adopt a resolution to permit a central or local government institution, natural or legal persons as well as an enterprise which does not have the rights of a legal person to market, without the agreement of the owner of a patent, a patented invention in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, if: an invention protected by a patent is related to public needs, national security and public health protection, development of economically important sectors; the court determines that a method of the exploitation of an invention employed by the owner of a patent or licensee is anti-competitive. An invention may be exploited only for the purpose in respect of which the resolution has been adopted. The owner of a patent must, for the exploitation of the invention, be remunerated fairly, taking into consideration economic value of the invention. If the owner of a patent or a person who has authorisation to use an invention, requests, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania may, taking into consideration their reasons, change the conditions of the use of a patented invention, and time limits of the validity of permission. When authorisation to use a patented invention is issued to the owner of a patent which improves a previously patented invention (second invention) and that may infringe the exclusive rights of the owner of the first patent, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania shall, before the adoption of this resolution, take into consideration the following additional conditions: the claimed in the second patent shall involve an important technical advance of considerable economic significance in relation to the invention claimed in the first patent; the owner of the first patent shall be entitled to a cross-licence (authorisation to each owner to use the patented inventions)to use the invention claimed in the second patent; the use authorised in respect of the first patent shall be non- assignable except with the assignment of the second patent. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania may declare the resolution null and void, if the circumstances which led to the authorisation to use a patented invention cease to exist, or if a central or local government institution, natural or legal persons as well as an enterprise which does not have the rights of a legal person uses a patented invention for the purpose other than that in respect of which the resolution has been adopted. Authorisation to exploit an invention must be non-exclusive, i.e. the owner of a patent shall not lose the right to use a patented invention himself, and it shall not prohibit the owner of a patent to conclude license agreements related to the use of a patented invention as well as to further exploit a patented invention or to implement his rights in other ways. Authorisation to use a patented invention may not be transferred, except when the enterprise (or a part thereof) in which a patented invention is used, is transferred in a manner prescribed by law. Attached to a request to permit the exploitation of a patented invention must be evidences confirming that the person seeking authorisation has requested, but has not received authorisation of the owner of a patent to use the patented invention. This provision shall not apply in the case of a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency or in cases of public non-commercial use of a patented invention. The owner of a patent must be informed in writing about a resolution, which is being drawn up, concerning the authorisation to use a patented invention, and about an intention to use a patented invention for the purposes provided for in subparagraph 1 of paragraph 1 of this Article. Resolutions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania concerning the authorisation to use a patented invention without the consent of the owner of a patent may be appealed against in court in a manner prescribed by law. Upon the receipt of the resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania concerning the authorisation to exploit an invention, the State Patent Bureau shall publish information on the authorisation in the next issue of its Official Bulletin. CHAPTER
54. CONSIDERATION OF DISPUTES. ENFORCEMENT OF RIGHTS Article
55. Institutions for Consideration of Disputes concerning the Legal Protection of Inventions Disputes regarding the patenting and the use of inventions shall be dealt with by the following institutions: 1) the Board of Appeals of the State Patent Bureau, in respect of all disputes relating to the patenting of an invention prior to the patent grant; 2) the Vilnius County Court, in respect of disputes regarding: decisions of the Board of Appeals of the State Patent Bureau relating to the refusal to grant a patent; assignment of a patent application or a patent to a different person; all matters relating to the invalidation of a granted patent in full or in part; all matters concerning infringement of a patent application for which provisional protection is granted; all matters relating to infringement of a patent; all matters relating to the declaration of non-infringement; all matters relating to a compulsory licence. Disputes relating to the resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania concerning the granting of authorisation to use a patented invention, changing of the conditions related to the use of a patented invention with authorisation of the Government, establishment of the amount of remuneration to the owner of a patented invention for the use of such patent, and revocation of authorisation shall be settled in a manner prescribed by law. Article
56. Protection of Rights The owner of a patent or the applicant shall have the right to institute court proceedings against a person who has infringed or is infringing the patent or published patent application, for which provisional protection was granted, and to require the termination of infringing acts, as well as compensation for the inflicted damage. Any of them shall also have the right to institute court proceedings against any person who is performing acts which make it likely that such infringement will occur. Such proceedings may not be instituted later than three years from the establishment of the fact of infringement. Unless the licence agreement provides otherwise, any licensee may request the owner of the patent to take measures to protect his rights obtained under the licence agreement. The licensee shall specify the legal acts needed to protect his rights and the relief desired. Such licensee may, if he proves that the owner of the patent received his request but failed to institute proceedings against the infringer of patent rights within three months from the receipt of request, institute proceedings against the infringer in his own name, after notifying the owner of the patent of his intention. The owner of the patent shall have the right to join in the proceedings as a person concerned. Even before the expiration of the three month period, the court may, on the request of the licensee, grant an appropriate injunction to prevent infringement of the rights of the owner of the patent, if the licensee proves that immediate action is necessary to avoid substantial damage. If the subject-matter of a patent is a process for obtaining a product and the product obtained by the defendant is identical to the product obtained by the patented process, or if there is a reason to believe that the product is produced by infringing the patent, but the plaintiff is unable through reasonable efforts to determine the process actually used, the defendant must prove that the process to obtain the identical product is different from the patented process. In the adduction of proof that the process to obtain an identical product is different from the patented product, the protection of defendant's manufacturing and commercial secrets must be ensured. Article
57. Application of Customs Supervision Measures Customs supervision measures, established by the law, may apply to the products the import whereof into the Republic of Lithuania and export from there is deemed to be an infringement of the rights of the owner of a patent. Article
58. Declaration of Non-Infringement Any person concerned shall have the right to institute court proceedings against the owner of the patent requesting the court to declare that the performance of a specific act does not constitute infringement of the patent. If the person concerned proves that the acts performed by him do not constitute infringement of the patent, the court shall pass the decision of non-infringement. The owner of the patent shall notify any licensees of the proceedings. In the absence of any provision to the contrary in the licence agreement the licensees shall have the right to join the proceedings. CHAPTER
59. CHANGES IN PATENTS. SURRENDER. INVALIDATION Article
60. Changes in Patents The owner of the patent shall have the right to request the State Patent Bureau to make changes in the patent in order to limit the extent of the protection conferred by it. The owner of the patent shall have the right to request the State Patent Bureau to make changes in the patent in order to correct mistakes and clerical errors. The State Patent Bureau must comply with lawful requirements of the owner of the patent. No changes in the patent shall be permitted which would result in the extension of the scope of the invention set forth in the patent application. The State Patent Bureau shall publish the changes of the patent in its Official Bulletin. Article
61. Surrender The owner of the patent may surrender the patent by written declaration to the State Patent Bureau. The surrender may be limited to one or more claims of the patent. The State Patent Bureau shall record surrender in the Register of Patents and publish it in the Official Bulletin. The surrender of the patent shall take effect as of from the date of the receipt of the declaration of the owner of the patent by the State Patent Bureau. Article
62. Invalidation On the request of any persons concerned the court may invalidate a patent, in whole or in part, on one of the following grounds: 1) the invention is not patentable within the meaning of Articles 2-5 of this Law; 2) the patent does not disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art; 3) the disclosure contained in the patent goes beyond what has been disclosed in the application as filed, or if the patent was granted on a divisional application, which goes beyond what has been disclosed in the initial application as filed; 4) the owner of the patent has no right to it within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Article 8 of this Law. If the patent is recognised invalid in part, the corresponding limitation of the rights conferred by the patent, the reduction of the number of claims, and corresponding amendments to description and drawings shall be made. Article
63. Effects of Invalidation To the extent that a patent is invalidated by the court in whole or in part it shall be considered null and void as from the filing date of the patent application. When a decision of the court to invalidate a patent, in whole or in part, becomes final, the court shall send it to the State Patent Bureau, which shall record data on the invalidation in the Register of Patents of the Republic of Lithuania and publish it in its Official Bulletin. CHAPTER
64. INTERNATIONAL PATENT APPLICATION Article
65. General Provisions An international patent application shall mean a patent application filed under the Patent Co-operation Treaty done at Washington on 19 June
66. In this Chapter of the Law when speaking about an international patent application references are made to articles of the Patent Co-operation Treaty and the Regulations under the Patent Co-operation Treaty. The provisions of the Patent Co-operation Treaty, of this Law and executive acts shall apply in respect of an international patent application for which the State Patent Bureau acts as a receiving, designated or elected patent office. Article
67. International Patent Application for which the State Patent Bureau Acts as a Designated or Elected Patent Office Any international patent application for which the State Patent Bureau is a designated or elected patent office and which has been published under Article 21 of the Patent Co-operation Treaty shall enjoy provisional protection under paragraph 3 of Article 21 of this Law. The provisional protection shall become effective from the date on which a translation into Lithuanian of the claims of the invention described in the international patent application is published by the State Patent Bureau in the Official Bulletin. If the applicant of an international patent application for which the State Patent Bureau is a designated or elected patent office wishes to obtain a patent of the Republic of Lithuania under this Law, he must within the time limit applicable under Articles 22 or 39 of the Patent Co-operation Treaty furnish a translation of the international patent application into Lithuanian and pay the prescribed fee. Article
68. International Patent Application Filed with the State Patent Bureau as a Receiving Patent Office An international patent application may be filed with the State Patent Bureau if the applicant is a resident or a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania. A fee for transmitting an international patent application to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organisation and to the International Searching Authority shall be paid as provided for in item 14 of the Regulations under the Patent Co-operation Treaty. An international patent application must be filed in the language established by the State Patent Bureau. CHAPTER
69. EXTENSION OF EUROPEAN PATENTS Article
70. General provisions A European patent application and a European patent extending to the Republic of Lithuania shall, according to the following provisions of this Chapter, have the effect of and be subject to the same conditions as a national application filed and a national patent granted under the Patent Law of the Republic of Lithuania. A European patent application means an application for a European patent filed under the European Patent Convention, done at Munich on 5 October 1973, as well as an international application filed under the Patent Co-operation Treaty, done at Washington on 19 June 1970 for which the European Patent Office (hereinafter referred to as the EPO) acts as designated or elected office and in which the Republic of Lithuania is a designated country. An extended European patent means a patent granted by the EPO on a European patent application in respect of which extension to the Republic of Lithuania has been requested. A national patent application means a patent application filed under this Law with the State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania. A national patent means a patent granted on a national patent application. Article
71. Request for Extension A European patent application and a European patent granted on such application shall be extended to the Republic of Lithuania at the request of the applicant. The request for extension shall be deemed to be filed with any European patent application filed on or after the date on which the Agreement implementing Article 3