Patent Law amended

This article examines some of the amendments to the Patent Law which came into force on 16 June 1998.

First, in addition to the Paris Convention, priority can also be determined on the basis of the first application filed in any member state of the WTO.

Second, substances derived by splitting the nucleus, methods of their derivation and use are now patentable in Estonia.

Third, for a product which has been made using a patented method, the use, distributing, selling, offering for sale or obtaining (including the import) for the said purposes of the same product without the consent of the patentee is considered as infringement of the exclusive rights of the patentee. There is reversed onus of proof, ie the defendant must prove the use of a different method in making such a product.