(218)                Regarding Industrial Property Rights
                          in the Republic of Slovenia

   The Industrial Property Protection Office of the Republic of Slovenia 
has provided the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) with a 
consolidated text, in English, of the Law on Industrial Property of the
Republic of Slovenia which regulates the grant and protection of patents,
model rights and design rights, trademarks and service marks, and 
appellations of origin. In addition, the Industrial Property Protection 
Office has notified the USPTO that it has entered into an "extension 
agreement" with the European Patent Organisation that will enter into 
force in January 1994. After entry into force of the agreement, it will be
possible to obtain patent protection in Slovenia through obtaining a 
European patent. The Republic of Slovenia also plans to ratify the Patent
Cooperation Treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property 
Organization.
   A copy of the consolidated text of the Slovenian industrial property
law can be obtained by writing to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,
Box 4, Washington, D.C. 20231.

                                                           BRUCE A. LEHMAN
                                       Assistant Secretary of Commerce and
                                    Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks

                                [1154 TMOG 39]