The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced that the Republic of Moldova will become the 40th contracting state of the European Patent Convention (EPC). Moldova took the final step towards acceding to the EPC on 25 March 2026 and will become a contracting state on 1 June 2026.
It has been possible since 1 November 2015 to validate European patents in Moldova in view of a bilateral validation agreement between the EPO and Moldova. Before 1 June 2026, any applicant filing a European patent application (or a PCT application designating Europe) has been able to pursue protection in Moldova by paying a validation fee to the EPO within the same period as paying designation and extension fees. Similar bilateral agreements are in place for Morocco, Tunisia, Cambodia, Georgia and Laos. There is also a bilateral agreement with Costa Rica, but it has yet to come into force.
For applications with a filing date on or after 1 June 2026, it will no longer be necessary to pay the validation fee to pursue protection in Moldova. Instead, Moldova will be automatically designated along with the other 39 members of the EPC. Thus, from 1 June 2026, it will be possible to obtain protection in 40 countries from a single European patent application without the need to pay any extension or validation fees.