How to Achieve Protection Abroad?

The exclusive rights arising from the protection of the invention are valid according to the territorial principle, i.e. only in the territory of the country in which the right is granted or registered.

For example, a patent application filed with the Office relates only to the acquisition of protection in the Republic of Croatia.  Patent rights in other countries can be acquired either on the basis of a patent application in each country separately or through one of the regional protection systems or through an international patent application. When you want to apply for a patent in more than 3-4 countries, it is usually more cost effective to use one of the regional or international systems.

A patent application in other countries must also be filed before any disclosure of the invention to the public, in order to preserve the novelty of the invention.

When submitting an application abroad, it is possible to keep the date of submission of the first application, and thus achieve the priority right. This can only be done within 12 months of the date of submission of the first application (i.e. application in the first country of application) or the presentation, by reference to the date and number of the first application or presentation.