Agreement enables state of the art searches for Slovenian patent applicants

4. 3. 2026

Slovenian Intellectual Property Office

A new Cooperation Agreement between the Visegrad Patent Institute and the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office on Search Cooperation has been signed. The Agreement enables patent applicants in Slovenia to obtain a search report accompanied by a written opinion for national patent applications, in accordance with the standards applied under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Two women sitting and signing documents. — VPI Director Johanna Stadler and SIPO Director Karin Žvokelj | Author VPI

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The Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and the Visegrad Patent Institute (VPI) have concluded this Agreement to enable the VPI to prepare search reports accompanied by a written opinion for national patent applications filed with the SIPO.

Under the Agreement, the service will be available for national patent applications filed with the SIPO. The deadline for preparing the report will generally be eight weeks from receipt of the order, and the fee for conducting the search with a written opinion will now be lower, amounting to 650 euros.

The search report will include a review of the relevant state of the art and will be accompanied by a written opinion as to whether the invention appears to be novel, to involve an inventive step and to be industrially applicable, in line with the standards and quality levels applied under the PCT.

The search report and the written opinion will be issued in English, enabling their direct use in subsequent European or international proceedings.

The Agreement was signed by Director of the SIPO Karin Žvokelj and Director of the VPI Johanna Stadler on the margins of the international conference “From Idea to Value, from Value to Future”, held on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office. The conference focused on the development of the intellectual property system and on issues related to the valuation and financing of intellectual property.