Moldova Joins the European Patent Convention

The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced that the EPC will enter into force for the Republic of Moldova on 1 June 2026. As a result, Moldova will automatically be designated in any European patent applications filed from that date. Previously a "validation state", accession of Moldova brings the number of states in the European Patent Organisation to a total of 40. The other 39 states are the 30 states of the EEA (the EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) along with Albania, Switzerland, the UK, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, San Marino and Türkiye.

In addition to the EPO states, European patents can be used to obtain protection by "extending" to Bosnia-Herzegovina or "validating" in Morocco, Tunisia, Cambodia, Georgia, and Laos. A validation agreement has also been signed with Costa Rica, but this is not yet in force.

A European patent is an efficient and cost-effective mechanism for obtaining patent protection in a large number of independent states/territories after a single examination and grant process. It provides an applicant/patentee with a great deal of flexibility, with the final choice of in which countries to bring the patent into force (and the associated costs) being deferrable until the scope of granted patent is known.

The decision regarding in which countries to bring a European patent into force and how best to achieve this will be different for different applicants depending on their commercial needs. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can provide you with further advice regarding this.