OJ EPO 2004, 619

1. On 1 December 2003, the President of the European Patent Office and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina signed an agreement on co-operation in the field of patents (Co-operation and Extension Agreement).

2. This agreement entered into force on 1 December 2004. From this date it will be possible to extend the protection conferred by European patent applications and patents to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Extended European patent applications and patents will enjoy essentially the same protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina as the patents granted by the EPO for the currently 30 member states of the European Patent Organisation.

3. The legal provisions governing the extension of European patents in Bosnia and Herzegovina were published in Sluzebni Glasnik BiH (Official Journal of Bosnia and Herzegovina) No. 2/2004, 119 ff on 3 June 2004 and came into force on that date.

4. Extension occurs at the applicant's request.

4.1 Extension to Bosnia and Herzegovina is deemed requested for any European and international patent application filed on or after 1 December 2004. Extension to Bosnia and Herzegovina is not available for applications filed prior to that date, or for any European patents resulting from such applications. The extension fee is EUR 102. It must be paid to the EPO within the time limits prescribed in the EPC for paying designation fees (Article 79(2) EPC, Rule 107(1)(d) EPC). After expiry of the relevant basic time limit, the extension fee can still be validly paid within the period of grace for the payment of designation fees, provided that within that period a surcharge of 50% is also paid.

4.2 If the extension fee is not paid in due time, the request for extension is deemed withdrawn. Further information concerning the extension of European patent applications and patents to Bosnia and Herzegovina will be published in later issues of the Official Journal.