On February 24, 2021, President of the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) Saule Tlevlessova met with representatives of the international pharmaceutical professional community to discuss the concept of formation and use of the EAPO Pharmaceutical Register.

The meeting was attended by Vladimir Shipkov – Executive Director of the Association of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (AIPM), Vadim Kukava – Executive Director of the Association of Pharmaceutical Companies “Innovative Pharma” (InPharma), as well as representatives of AstraZeneca, Baker McKenzie and Gowling WLG.

The EAPO delegation presented the EAPO Pharmaceutical Register – a new information and search tool, which would contain information on Eurasian patents related to active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) with international non-proprietary names.

Creation of the EAPO Pharmaceutical Register will provide access to patent information on API protected by Eurasian patents, as well as to up-to-date information on the legal status of such patents including information on the validity of Eurasian patents on the territory of the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC) Contracting States, on the Eurasian patent term extensions, on registered licensing agreements, and on registration of medical products in these States.

The EAPO Pharmaceutical Register will be formed on the basis of the EAPO information resources, some external specialized databases, as well as information provided by the Eurasian patent owners themselves. The EAPO plans to launch the EAPO Pharmaceutical Register in March 2021. The EAPO representatives expressed their readiness to discuss any proposals on the improvement of this new EAPO tool.

Representatives of the pharmaceutical industry briefed on the activities and role of their associations, including protecting IP rights of developers of original medical products. The main goals of the associations are to support innovation via open and transparent IP legislation, adherence to ethical standards, and a commitment to a sustainable pharmaceutical market strategy and a policy of predictable healthcare regulation.

The participants of the meeting also discussed the situation related to the Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 31, 2020 No. 3718-p, which grants the right to use inventions protected by Eurasian patents in order to provide the population of the Russian Federation with remdesivir medication without the consent of the patent owner. The delegations noted the unprecedented situation not only for the Russian Federation, but for the entire Eurasian region and the EAPO as the office granting the relevant Eurasian patents.