Trademark and IP Protection for Bulgarian Companies

The three layers of IP protection

A founder operating from Bulgaria typically protects IP at three levels:

1. National — Bulgarian Patent Office (BPO)
2. EU-wide — EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office)
3. International — WIPO (Madrid system for trademarks, PCT for patents)

For most SaaS, e-commerce, and consultancy founders, the EU trademark via EUIPO is the right starting point.

EU trademark (EUTM)

• One application, valid in all 27 EU member states
• Cost: from EUR 850 (one class, online) + EUR 50 per additional class
• Term: 10 years, renewable indefinitely
• Filed at euipo.europa.eu
• Examination: ~4 months absent opposition

Your Bulgarian EOOD/OOD can be the applicant directly.

Bulgarian national trademark

Useful when:

• You want priority filing first then extend internationally
• You operate only in Bulgaria
• Cost is from BGN ~520 (~EUR 266); 10-year term

Madrid System (international trademark)

After a Bulgarian or EU base filing, extend to non-EU markets (US, UK, China, etc.) via WIPO's Madrid Protocol. Bulgaria is a member; one form covers ~100 countries.

Copyright and software

Copyright in Bulgaria is automatic on creation — no registration required. For software:

• The employer owns code created by employees within the scope of duties (Bulgarian Copyright Act, Art. 14)
• For contractors, sign explicit assignment agreements — default rules favour the author
• Open-source contributions and licences should be tracked for due diligence

Trade secrets

The Bulgarian Trade Secrets Protection Act (transposing EU Directive 2016/943) requires:

• Information must be secret
• Have commercial value because of being secret
• Be subject to reasonable steps to keep secret (NDAs, access controls, employee handbook clauses)

Patents

• Bulgarian patents via BPO; European patents via EPO (Munich); validate in chosen states
• Useful for hardware, processes, biotech; rarely for pure software in the EU (excluded by EPC Art. 52)

IP-holding structures

Some founders place IP in a separate Bulgarian or EU entity and license it to operating subsidiaries. This works when:

• Genuine economic substance is present (ATAD III)
• Royalties are arm's length with proper transfer pricing documentation
• The IP-holding entity actually develops, enhances, or maintains IP (DEMPE functions)

Bottom line

For most founders, file an EU trademark from your Bulgarian company, lock down IP assignment in every employment and contractor agreement, and add patents or licensing structures only when commercial scale justifies the overhead.