Israel 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

Inventions protections available in Israel include:

• Inventions

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

• Methods of medical treatment or diagnosis
• Computer programs
• Business methods
• Other: Methods of medical treatment of the human body; New species of plants or animals, other than microbiological organisms not produced from nature. 

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

• Name and address of the applicant(s)
• Specification (description, claims and drawings)
• Power of Attorney
• Other: Certified copy(ies) of the priority application/s (unless the DAS code of these documents is available); Certified English translation of the application, if the application was published in any language other than English/Arabic/Hebrew. Optional: Name and address of the inventor(s); sequence listings (if relevant). The executed Power of Attorney from the applicant need not be notarized or legalized.

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

No, the applicant does not have a provisional right upon the publication of an application in Israel. 

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

• At the time of entry into the national phase (for PCT application)
• At any time during prosecution
• Other: Israel has a pre-grant opposition system. Accordingly, after examination, any person may file an opposition against the grant of a patent. The opposition proceeding may take 3-5 years. During the opposition period, the applicant may amend the specification in order to clarify it, to eliminate a mistake in the specification, or to restrict the claims. The Registrar of Patents shall permit an amendment if he is satisfied that it will not result in a broadening of the scope of claims in the specification and will not add anything to the specification, which in essence was not included in it originally.

No, it is not required to file a request for substantive examination in Israel.

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

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

Yes, there is a process for accelerated examination of an application in Israel including (1) Advanced examination due to the Applicant's advanced age or medical condition pursuant to Section 19A(1) of the Patents Law (hereafter: "the Law") or the age or medical condition of the inventor pursuant to Section 19A(6); (2) Advance examination pursuant to Section 19A(3) of the Law due to concerns regarding the use of the claimed invention by another person without the applicant's consent or there are grounds for concern that he may do so.; (3) Advanced examination of applications classified as "Green Applications", i.e. applications directed to inventions which are instrumental in improving environmental quality or combatting the Coronavirus; (4) Advanced examination of applications filed in Israel without claiming priority from another application [and which are also not national phase applications of international applications; (5) Advance examination of applications for which PPH ("Patent Prosecution Highway") treatment is requested, i.e. applications the counterparts of which have received a favorable examination report in other jurisdictions; (6) Advance examination of applications with respect to which a response to the international report (i.e. IPRP or Written Opinion from the International Search Authority) has been submitted prior to examination of the application under consideration. The latter route is currently a pilot route. All of the above advance examination routes trigger examination within three months from the ILPTO's approval of the request for advance examination in the route of choice or three months from the date a response to the Notice before Examination (i.e., first, a non-substantive round of examination) has been submitted, the later of the two.

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

Yes, late payment of an annuity is permissible in Israel.

Available enforcement methods in Israel include:

• Civil enforcement

None identified.