Eurasian Patent Organization: Development During COVID-19
On September 10-11, 2020, the 36th session of the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) Administrative Council took place under the chairmanship of Kyrgyzpatent’s Head Dinara Moldosheva. Representatives of the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC) Contracting States met virtually to discuss Organization’s activities and recent developments.
The Russian delegation, led by Rospatent’s Head Grigory Ivliev congratulated the EAPO management and the meeting participants on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Organization.
The Council discussed the EAPO Annual Report 2019 and approved the Budget 2021. President of the Eurasian Patent Office Saule Tlevlessova presented the key results of the Organization, highlighting its financial stability.
The participants were briefed on the ratification of the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs and on the activities carried out by the Eurasian Office to ensure the functioning of the Eurasian system of the legal protection of industrial designs. The delegates highlighted that all interested EAPC Contracting States should participate in the drafting of the regulations required for the Protocol implementation.
The Russian delegation proposed a number of improvements to the EAPO resolution mechanisms, which was followed by the decision to carry out a comprehensive study on the issue.
Furthermore, the Administrative Council discussed the evolution of the Eurasian Patent Office’s initiative on seeking appointment as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The delegates also talked about an update of the EAPC Financial Instruction and improvements to a number of normative legal documents in order to harmonize the legislation with the PCT.
Background Information: The EAPC is an international patent law treaty instituting both the EAPO and the legal system pursuant to which Eurasian patents are granted. It was signed on 9 September 1994 in Moscow, Russia, and entered into force on 12 August 1995. The Eurasian patent system allows an applicant to obtain a patent valid in all Contracting States to the Convention (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan) on the basis of a single application filed in the EAPO.
On September 9, 2019, the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the EAPC was signed at the diplomatic conference in Nur-Sultan on September 9, 2019. The instrument aims at broadening Organization’s activities functioning by creating a Eurasian system of the legal protection of industrial designs.
