On June 26-27, 2019, the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) hosted a Workshop on patent search strategies in the field of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

The European Patent Office (EPO) examiners Ms. Gabriela Greif and Ms. Elena Schumann delivered lectures for the EAPO experts.

The EPO lecturers presented information on the EPO practice in patent search and evaluation of patentability of inventions in the field of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, searching parameters and functional features depending on the technical result, as well as tools used in the search.

The participants of the workshop discussed the approaches of the European and Eurasian patent offices for conducting searches, on actual cases considered the current EPO practice in structuring the search strategies in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

Organization of workshops for exchange of experience in the field of patent searches and examination is one of the prior EAPO activities to ensure high standards of work and quality of granted Eurasian patents. The participation of lecturers from the EPO – a key partner of EAPO in such events – allows to compare the approaches of the two regional patent offices in application proceedings for actively developing technologies, to become aware of latest changes in the practice of the offices and to discuss current trends in the development of IP system.