– Law on Industrial Property, No. 9947, dated July 7, 2008, in force since February 15, 2009.
– Law No. 10/2013, dated February 2, 2013, on Amendments and Additions to the Law No. 9947, aligning with EU Directives.
– Law No. 55/2014, dated May 29, 2014, on Amendments and Additions to the Law No. 9947, aligning with EU Directives.
– Law No. 17/2017, dated February 2, 2017, on Amendments and Additions to the Law No. 9947, in force since March 25, 2017.

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since June 30, 1992.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since October 4, 1995.
– Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), since February 2, 1996.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since September 8, 2000.
– Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, since September 19, 2003.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since May 9, 2004.
– Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification, since July 24, 2007.
– European Patent Convention, since May 1, 2010.
– London Agreement on the application of Article 65 EPC, since September 1, 2013.
– Patent Law Treaty, since May 17, 2010.

Applicant: the inventor(s) or his/their successor(s) in title.

Foreigners: must appoint a representative.

Naming of the inventor(s): the inventor can request that the publication should not mention him.

Notion of an invention: in order to be patentable, an invention must be novel, involve an inventive step and be industrially applicable.

Novelty: the prior art includes everything which has been made available to the public by means of publications, use, demonstration or in any other way.

Novelty grace period for the inventor: six months.

Exceptions to protection: discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods; aesthetic creations; schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business; programs for computers; display of information; substances obtained through internal nuclear transformation for military purposes; surgical, diagnostic or therapeutical methods practiced on the human or animal body, but substances and devices for use in these methods are patentable.

Plant or animal varieties or essentially biological processes for their production are not patentable.

Microbiological processes or the products thereof are patentable.

Priorities: according to the Paris Convention.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney (notarization only in absence of the company seal);
2. Specification (including description and claims) with abstracts: 2 copies for translation into Albanian;
3. Formal drawings: 3 copies;
4. Priority document, if any, only on request of the Albanian Patent Office.

Note: a filing date can apparently be obtained based on a specification which is not in the Albanian language. The power of attorney must be filed within a period of one month counted from the filing date.

Electronic filing: available.

Electronic signatures: are not accepted (only wet signatures).

Filing requirements for the extension of EP (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney (notarization only in absence of the company seal);
2. Copy of claims;
3. Formal drawings;
4. Communication under Rule 51(4);
5. Front page of EEP publication;
6. Grant decision document;
7. Priority document, if any, only on request of the Albanian Patent Office.

EP extension applications: time limit for entering EP Regional phase: 31 months under both Chapters I and II. Time limit to grant the patent: 3 to 6 months.

PCT applications: time limit for entering national phase under Chapter I and Chapter II: 31 months.

For a change of name or address:
1. A document certifying the change of name/address (must be notarized);
2. Power of attorney (notarization only in absence of the company seal).

Examination: the application is examined as to form and unity. No examination as to the patentability.

Amendments: possible up to the granting decision, provided the amendments do not go beyond what has been disclosed in the application as filed. Formal changes and corrections in the application can be made on the applicant’s own initiative or, on request of the General Directorate of Industrial Property (GDIP), up to the date of grant of the patent, subject to the payment of a fee.

Division: possible if the application does not comply with the requirement of unity of the invention.

Publication: after eighteen months from the filing date, but it can be earlier at the request of the applicant and payment of a fee.

Secret patents: those relating to the defense and security of the Republic, on decision of the Ministry of Defense.

Secrecy of the files: until grant, the files may be inspected only with the written permission of the applicant.

Granting and publication: the General Directorate of Industrial Property (GDIP) decides to grant a patent if the formal requirements are met. The decision of grant is published as soon as the decision is adopted.

Substantive examination: the GDIP will not carry out the substantive examination. The granted patent will have a legal effect only within a ten-year period as of the filing date. Before the expiration of this period, the patent owner should furnish an examination report issued by an institution authorized on substantial examination of inventions (the written evidence may result from the substantive examination conducted for the same patent by the EPO, or a national Office with the status of the International Preliminary Examination Authority pursuant to Article 32 of the PCT, or from a national Office that has a cooperation agreement with the GDIP, as well as a patent granted for the same invention by one of the mentioned Offices), otherwise the patent will be considered as invalid.

Appeals against a decision of the GDIP to reject an application can be filed within thirty days to the Board of Appeal of the Patent Office.

Opposition to the granted patent can be filed with the Board of Appeal within nine months from the date of publication of the granted patent (subject to the payment of a fee). The decision of the Board of Appeal may be appealed by the parties before the court within thirty days from the date of receipt of the decision.

Delivery of document: the Letters Patent is issued in paper format only.

Duration: twenty years from the filing date (extendible to max. twenty-five years, for pharmaceutical products i.e. medical products).

Paediatric extension: not available.

Annuities: are due each year.

Annuity grace period: six months with a fine. A two-month extension is possible by payment of an additional fee.

Re-establishment of rights: the request shall state the reasons that have prevented the applicant to meet the deadline and be accompanied by payment of the respective fee, within twelve months from the term of expiry.

Assignment: must be recorded in the Patent Register.

Licenses: may be recorded in the Patent Register in order to entitle the licensee to institute legal proceedings.

Pledge/guarantee of patent: must be recorded in the Patent Register via deposit at the GDIP of the signed contract of guarantee or pledge, accompanied by payment of the respective fee. 

Levy of execution procedures: must be recorded in the Patent Register at the request of one of the parties to the contract, accompanied by payment of the respective fee; an enforcement action is registered in the Register and published in the Bulletin of the GDIP.

Right of prior user: is protected.

Compulsory licenses: an applicant shall be required to prove that the requirements for a compulsory license have been complied with and further that: (a) the patentee was unwilling to grant a voluntary license to exploit the patent under appropriate conditions and within a reasonable period of time; (b) he is able to exploit the invention to the required extent. The scope and duration of a compulsory license shall be established by the court. A compulsory license shall be non-exclusive and non-assignable and shall have effect until expiration of the term of validity fixed by the court or until the lapse of patent protection. Compulsory licenses may be granted by the Patent Office after three years of non-working calculated from the date of grant or four years from the filing date, whichever is later. The owner of the patent shall be entitled to adequate compensation taking into account the economic value of the authorization. When the parties do not agree, the amount of this compensation shall be set by the court.

Exploitation of secret patents: the Ministry of Defense has the right to exploit secret patents, but the applicant or the owner shall be compensated by the Ministry of Defense if they agree on the amount of the compensation. If not they have the right to have the amount of compensation set by the court.

Exploitation by the government: may be authorized by the Minister of Defense or the Minister of Health if the national security or public safety so requires even without the owner or applicant’s approval. This exploitation is subject to payment of equitable remuneration. If not satisfied with the remuneration, they can appeal to the court against the decision of the Ministers.

Revocation: may be requested in court if the subject matter is not patentable; if the patent cannot be carried out by a person skilled in the art; if the invention is not disclosed in a manner sufficiently clear; if the subject matter of the patent extends beyond the content of the patent application as filed; if the patent was granted on a divisional application beyond the content of the earlier application as filed; or if the protection given by the patent has been extended.

Infringement: working a patented invention by a person other than the owner, without his consent, constitutes an infringement of the patent. The owner has the right to institute proceedings in the Regional Court of Tirana against infringer. Decisions of the Regional Court of Tirana may be appealed to the Court of Appeal.

The Albanian Office may act as receiving Office. It may be elected and is bound by Chapter II of the PCT.

Provisional protection: any international application designating Albania, which has been published under PCT Article 21, shall give rise to the same rights as those which the Albanian law provides in accordance with Article 26 for the compulsory national publication of unexamined national applications as such. Provisional protection shall be effective as from the date on which an Albanian translation of the claims of the international application is published by the Albanian GDIP. This translation shall be published within three months from the date of its submission to the Albanian GDIP. In respect of an international application for which the Republic of Albania is designated or elected and for which the applicant wishes to obtain protection under the provisions of Chapters I to IX of the Albanian Law, the applicant shall within thirty-one months from the date of filing of the application or, if priority has been claimed, from the priority date: (a) furnish a translation of the international application in the Albanian language; (b) pay the respective fee. The GDIP shall act as a receiving Office within the meaning of the PCT if the applicant is a resident or national of Albania. Any international application designating Albania which has been published under PCT Article 21, shall give rise to the same rights as an application published in accordance with Article 26 of the Albanian Law.

A granted European patent filed on or after February 1, 1996, can be extended to Albania based on the agreement between the European Patent Office and the Government of Albania. As of May 1, 2010, it is possible to designate Albania in European patent applications as well as in international applications filed before May 1, 2010 pursuant to the Patent Cooperation Treaty, for which the EPO acts as designated or elected Office, and in which Albania is designated.

European patent validation requirements: (a) appointment of a national professional representative is required; (b) the translation of the European patent into the Albanian language is carried out for the full patent specification only when the publication of the grant of the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin is made only in German or in French, while, when the publication is made in English, only the claims should be translated; (c) the time period for filing the translation is three months after the date on which the mention of the grant of the European patent is published in the European Patent Bulletin, extendible only for one additional month against: (1) a request for extension of the time period for filing the translation and (2) payment of an additional Office fee; (d) the minimum time period for paying renewal fees due at validation is two months.