Applications for European patents can be filed with the Bulgarian Patent Office, to be forwarded to the European Patent Office, according to Patent Act amendments, which passed at second reading on Wednesday. The amendments, sponsored by the Council of Ministers, are connected with Bulgaria's accession to the Convention on the Grant of European Patents. A European patent affords legal protection to an invention on the territory of one or more member states by filing one patent application, which is subject to examination by a single body, the European Patent Office. Patents will be granted for any inventions, in all fields of technology, provided that they are new, involve an inventive step and are susceptible of industrial application.