Serbia became member of the European Patent Organisation (EPO) on 1 October 2010 . As a result, the procedure of filing patent applications will become simple r and less exp ensive. Serbian applicant s will no longer have to go through the examination procedure in e ach EPO country separately but may file only one application with the Serbian Intellectual Property Bureau or EPO . Furthermore , a pplicants from Serbia will no long er have to hire representatives from the EPO when making filings before EPO. Since t he Cooperation and Extension Agreement between Serbia and EPO terminated with the entry into force of the EPC with respect to Serbia , extension system is no longer applica ble. except with respect to European and international applications filed prior to 1 October 2010 and Europeans patents granted in respect of such applications. The change in the regime of protection (EPC instead of national regime) is more formal than s ubstantial , given that the Serbian national regime is essentially in line with the convention regime.
