The Visegrad Patent Institute is an international organization for cooperation in the field of patents, based in Budapest, founded by the national patent offices of four countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic. The Assembly of the International Union for Cooperation in the Field of Patents of the World Intellectual Property Organization has designated the Visegrad Patent Institute as an international body for drafting reports on state of the art and international body for preliminary examination of patent applications, and the Visegrad Patent Institute began work on July 1. 2016.

By signing the agreement with the Visegrad Patent Institute, the applicants of international applications are given the opportunity to choose which international body will be responsible for preparing the report on the search of the state of the art, as well as for the preliminary examination of their applications. Namely, according to the valid regulations, only the European Patent Office is competent to act as an international body for PCT applications filed by citizens of the Republic of Serbia or persons who have a residence or registered office in the territory of the Republic of Serbia.

An international patent application shall be filed in English with the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia or the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization. If, in the process of formal examination of the international application, the applicant submits to the Visegrad Patent Institute an earlier report on the search of the state of the art, 40% of the fee for the international report on the search of the state of the art will be refunded. Therefore, if in the procedure of international application priority is requested on the basis of the national application and for that application the applicant received a report on the search of the state of the art from the Intellectual Property Office, on the basis of such report a refund of the fee for the international report on search of the state of the art can be requested.