The European Patent Organisation welcomes Montenegro as the 39th contracting state

The European Patent Organisation welcomes Montenegro as the 39th contracting state.

As of 1 October 2022, Montenegro became the 39th state to join the European Patent Organisation as a new contracting state. The European Patent Organisation has grown now from 16 EPC signatory states in 1973, to 39 contracting states. These include all 27 EU member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) as well as Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. The European Patent Office (EPO) applies a centralised procedure for examining European patent applications for the Organisation's contracting states, one extension state (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and four validation states (Cambodia, Republic of Moldova, Morocco and Tunisia).

Montenegro moved thus from an extension state to a contracting state. As a consequence, it will no longer be necessary to pay an extension fee to pursue protection in Montenegro when the filing date of the European or corresponding PCT patent application  is on or after 1 October 2022. Paying a single designation fee will allow protection to be sought in up to 39 different countries.