Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia and the Slovak Republic have acceded to the European Patent Convention.
Said states can therefore be designated in the European patent applications filed on or after 1st July 2002. It will not be possible to request the designation of said states for European patent applications already filed before 1st July 2002.
In the same way, the protection in the above-mentioned states will be provided for by international patent applications (PCT) filed on or after 1st July 2002 and designating the European patent.

To date the states adhering to the European Patent Convention are 24, namely: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.