Grigory Ivliev, President of the Eurasian Patent Office, stated this at the International Conference of Eurasian Patent Attorneys “Transformation of the Eurasian Patent System. Assessment and Prospects,“ which started today in Minsk.

Last year, the number of patent applications from EAPO Member States increased by 20% compared to the previous year. The EAPO received more applications not only from Russia but also from Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The dynamics with respect to industrial designs is also positive. The number of applications from EAPO Member States increased by 60% in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Grigory Ivliev associated such results with the business necessity of the companies.

“In the current economic environment, trade turnover between Eurasian countries is growing. The volume of mutual trade in the EAEU countries has almost doubled over the past 10 years, rising from $45 billion to $89 billion. Unilateral illegitimate measures have resulted in Russian export flows being reoriented towards neutral or friendly countries. Many Russian companies use Eurasian countries as a gateway for importing and exporting goods,” said Grigory Ivliev.

Grigory Ivliev also covered the necessity of creating Eurasian trademark and utility model systems. As he noted, the introduction of new intellectual property objects in the Eurasian space will make the member states a more attractive market for external market players.

“The business community signals that they support the introduction of new objects. Analysis of statistics on inventions and industrial designs indicates that the additional system does not affect the application rates of residents interested in protection at the national level. The Eurasian trade mark can only compete with the Madrid system of international registration.

Countries with small markets can attract more new companies through the regional system. Patent attorneys will get additional workload related to the transfer of rights and challenging patents,” said Grigory Ivliev.

In conclusion, Grigory Ivliev presented a new monograph on the establishment of a unitary Eurasian patent court, “Dispute resolution in intellectual property in the Eurasian region.”