What is the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO)? Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) Review

The Eurasian Patent Office was established more than 20 years ago under the Eurasian Patent Treaty (EAPC). Its purpose is to provide an integrated patent protection system in Central Asia. According to the official website of the organization, the current contracting states are Turkmenistan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. The official language is Russian. The Eurasian Patent Convention grants patent applicants the right to obtain patents in eight countries based on a single application in a single language, with a unified procedure, before the Eurasian Patent Office is created. In each member state, the right holder of the Eurasian patent obtains the same rights as he or she enjoys a patent in one country. If the applicant intends to seek patent protection in at least two member states of the Eurasian Patent Convention, the Eurasian patent is a simpler, faster and cheaper way to obtain patent protection. Once granted, it will take effect in all contracting states from the date of publication. The validity period of the Eurasian patent right is 20 years from the date of filing the application.

Overview

The Eurasian patent, after examination and registration by the EAPO, grants the patentee the exclusive right to use his invention which is new, inventive and industrially applicable. If the subject of the invention is a process, the patent protects the product obtained by this process.

Eurasian Patent Grant Conditions

● Novelty

The invention is not prior art and there is no conflicting application. Prior art refers to the technology disclosed before the application date or priority date. However, if a third party discloses the invention without the consent of the inventor, applicant or other right holder within 6 months before the application date or priority date, it will not affect the novelty of the invention.

Creativity

The invention is not obvious or readily accessible to a person familiar with the prior art. The following criteria may also be considered when determining whether an invention is inventive:

1. The commercialization results of the invention;

2. Whether the invention meets long-term needs;

3. The complexity of the problem;

4. The special contribution of the invention to technological progress;

5. Whether the invention can overcome the doubts raised by professionals;

6. Professional recognition, etc.

● Practicality

The invention may be applied in industry, agriculture, health or other fields of human activity. The minimum requirements for demonstrating industrial applicability are:

1. The purpose of the invention should be described in the application document; and

2. It must be established that the invention can be carried out by using means and methods known before the filing date or described in the application documents.

Non-patentable subject matter

The following objects are not inventions and therefore cannot be patented:

1. Discovery;

2. Scientific theories and mathematical methods;

3. Information presentation;

4. Business organization and management methods;

5. Symbols, diagrams and rules;

6. Rules and methods of intellectual activities;

7. Computer programs and algorithms;

8. Design and layout of buildings, equipment and spaces;

9. It only concerns the appearance of the product and the treatments intended to meet aesthetic requirements.

Furthermore, the Eurasian patent does not grant the following:

1. Plant or animal varieties:

2. Integrated circuit topology diagram;

3. Certain inventions, the prevention of which is necessary for the maintenance of public order and morals, for the protection of human, animal and plant life and health and for the avoidance of serious damage to the environment. This exclusion cannot be made solely because certain commercial exploitation is prohibited by the legislation of one or more of the Member States to the Eurasian Patent Convention.

program

There are two ways to obtain a Eurasian patent: one is to submit a patent application to EAPO directly or indirectly through a domestic patent approval agency of a signatory country to the Eurasian Patent Convention; the other is to submit an international patent application through the PCT procedure in accordance with the Patent Cooperation Treaty and designate the Eurasian Patent Office.

If the laws of the signatory countries of the Eurasian Patent Convention require that Eurasian patent applications must be transferred through their domestic patent examination and approval authorities, then applicants who have their residence or principal place of business in these countries cannot submit applications directly to the EAPO. The domestic patent examination and approval authorities will first examine whether the application meets the requirements of the Eurasian patent, and after the examination is passed, the application will be transferred to the EAPO for further procedures. If the transfer procedure can be completed within the time limit prescribed in the Patent Regulations of the Convention, the applicant's Eurasian patent application filing date will be the domestic application date.

If the applicant does not have a residence or principal place of business in a country that has signed the convention, then he or she needs to entrust a patent agent to complete the application process.

Procedure for applying for a Eurasian patent directly with the EAPO

1. Patent search

EAPO conducts substantive examination of patent applications and recommends that applicants search for prior art before submitting an application. The following online search tools are available:

● Eurasian Patent Search (Russian)

● EAPATIS Patent Information System, which includes patent documents from EAPO, WIPO, EPO, the United States, the Soviet Union (from 1924 to its disintegration) and subsequent signatories to the Eurasian Patent Convention, as well as patent application documents submitted through the PCT procedure.

2. Submit your application

EAPO recognizes a 12-month priority right, that is, if the same invention has been applied for a patent or utility model in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property or in a member country of the World Trade Organization, the applicant can file a Eurasian patent application within 12 months from the previous application date and claim priority.

The application documents include:

(1) Application form (in Russian);
(2) description of the invention;
(3) Claims;
(4) Drawings;
(5) Abstract:
(6) Power of attorney (a written power of attorney that does not require notarization should be submitted when submitting the application or within 2 months after EAPO receives the application);
(7) Priority declaration document and other materials.

If the subject matter of the invention is a nucleotide and/or amino acid sequence, the sequence should be attached to the application in a machine-readable format.

The application form should be filled in Russian. Other application documents can be written in any language, but if they are not written in Russian, a Russian translation must be attached.

Applicants can submit application documents by themselves, either in paper form or online. Before using the online system, applicants need to provide EAPO with their real name, residential address, valid email address, contact number, passport or other ID information via email ([email protected]). EAPO will provide the applicant with the username and password of the online system and confirm the applicant's electronic signature.

3. EAPO confirmation

After receiving the application materials, EAPO will conduct a preliminary check to determine whether the application materials are complete. If incomplete, EAPO will immediately notify the applicant to supplement the documents within 4 months. If the requirements are met, EAPO will issue a notification letter to the applicant indicating the application date, application number, and time to submit other relevant documents.

For applications filed directly with EAPO, a cover letter with the date the application materials were received is sent together with the notification letter.

4. Formal Examination

After determining the filing date, EAPO will conduct a formal review of the application materials to check whether the application documents are filled out correctly, whether they meet the relevant requirements for submitting applications to EAPO, whether the international classification of inventions is correct, and whether the priority (if any) is legal. If the documents do not meet the requirements, EAPO will require the applicant to modify them within a given period. For applicants who do not have a residence or principal place of business in a country that is a signatory to the Eurasian Patent Convention, the EAPO will examine whether the applicant is eligible to apply and whether the documents he submits meet the application requirements.

5. EAPO International Patent Search

After the application materials have been formally examined, EAPO will conduct an international patent search in combination with the claims and form a search report. The purpose of international patent search is to examine the novelty, creativity and practicality of the invention by searching the prior art. EAPO shall send the applicant a search report compiled based on the international patent search.

6. Publication of patent applications and search reports

EAPO will publish the patent application and search report 18 months after the filing date or priority date. Applicants have the right to apply for early publication. The published documents include: abstract, patent specification, claims, drawings or other materials, search report (can also be published separately).

7. Substantive Examination

The purpose of substantive examination is to determine the patentability of the invention (novelty, creativity, practicality). After the patent application is published, the applicant can apply for substantive examination within 6 months after the publication date of the patent application (if the search report is published separately, from the publication date of the search report).

After the applicant submits a request for substantive examination, EAPO organizes an examination team of at least three people to conduct substantive examination of the patent application.

If the substantive examination finds that the application does not meet any of the patentability requirements, the application will be rejected. The applicant can appeal to the EAPO Committee (Board of the Eurasian Office) within 3 months from the date of the rejection notice. After receiving the appeal, the Board will organize at least two examiners to review the EAPO's rejection decision.

8. Patent publication and issuance of patent certificates

After the substantive examination is passed, EAPO will register the patent in the Eurasian Patent Register and publish the patent in the EAPO Gazette within 6 months after registration. Applicants or others can query relevant information online.

The grant date of a patent is the date of publication in the EAPO Gazette.

After the patent is published in the Gazette, EAPO immediately issues a patent certificate to the patent applicant.

The maximum term of protection of a Eurasian patent is 20 years, starting from the date of filing the application.

9. Objection Procedure

After a patent is issued, anyone who objects to the validity of the patent may file an opposition with EAPO. EAPO resolves complaints against patents through opposition procedures.

References

• 1. How to file a Eurasian patent application (in Russian): Eurasian Patent Office website
• 2. Eurasian Patent Procedure: Eurasian Patent Office Website