Luxembourg belongs to the following patent-related international treaties:

• Paris Convention
• Patent Cooperation Treaty ("PCT")
• TRIPS
• Strasbourg Agreement on the International Patent Classification ("IPC") system
• Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure
• European Patent Convention ("EPC")

Inventions protections available in Luxembourg include:

• Inventions

The following subject matter is excluded from patent protection in Luxembourg:

• Methods of medical treatment or diagnosis
• Computer programs
• Business methods
• Other: Aesthetic creations; discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods; information presentations; plant varieties or animal breeds and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals, with the exception of microbiological processes and the products obtained by such processes.

Documents and information required for filing a national patent application in Luxembourg include:

• Name and address of the applicant(s)
• Name and address of the inventor(s)
• Specification (description, claims and drawings)
• Abstract

No, it is not possible to request early publication or deferment of publication in Luxembourg.

Yes, the applicant has a provisional right upon publication of an application in Luxembourg. Reasonable compensation to be fixed according to the circumstances may be claimed by the owner of the patent from any third party who, during the period between the date on which the file of the patent application was made public or the date on which a copy of the patent application, certified as being in conformity, was notified to that third party, and the day of the grant of the patent, has made exploitation of the invention which after that period would be prohibited under the patent.

It is possible to file voluntary amendments in Luxembourg at the following times:

• Other: The applicant has the right to make amendments to the claims, description and drawings: (i) once, until either the introduction of the request for the preparation of the research report or until receipt by the service of the documents required for the establishment of such a research report; (ii) once, after either the receipt of the research report or after the transmission of the research report to the applicant; and (iii) once, if a divisional application is filed. Furthermore, a patent application cannot be amended in such a way that its purpose extends beyond the content of the application as initially filed.

Yes, it is required to file a request for substantive examination in Luxembourg. The request has to be filed 18 months from the application date. 

Yes, there is a third-party opposition procedure upon publication or after grant in Luxembourg. 

The time period from application to grant in Luxembourg is between 2-3 years.

No, there is no process for accelerated examination of an application in Luxembourg. 

Yes, it is required to pay an annuity to maintain the validity of a patent in Luxembourg. 

Yes, late payment of an annuity is permissible in Luxembourg. There is a grace period of six months after the expiry of the deadline for payment of the annuity, accompanied by a surcharge. 

Available enforcement methods in Luxembourg include:

• Civil enforcement
• Administrative enforcement

None identified.