On April 22 – 26, 2019, the XII International Forum “Intellectual Property – XXI Century” was held in Moscow. EAPO co-organized the event, as well as held its own discussion section titled “Actual Aspects of Patent Protection of Medicines in the Eurasian Region” on April 26, 2019.

Representatives and leading examiners of the Chemistry and Medicine Division of the EAPO Examination Department specializing in legal protection of inventions in the field of medicine and biotechnology moderated the section and made presentations.

Eurasian patent attorneys, patent attorneys of the Russian Federation, lawyers, IP specialists from pharmaceutical enterprises and research institutes of Moscow, Moscow Region, and St. Petersburg attended the section.

The issues of patent protection of medicines and the balance of interests of the original medicines developers and the society aroused great interest of the participants.

During the presentations and discussions, the section participants reviewed the moral and ethical problems of the legal protection of biotechnological inventions, current aspects of the examination of Eurasian applications on pharmaceuticals, issues of exclusion from patent protection for the purpose of state registration of medicines and access to information on the status of patents for pharmaceutical products.

EAPO representatives participated in the other Forum events as well.

On April 24, 2019, an EAPO representative spoke on the Eurasian Patent Procedure at the section “Foreign Patenting and Trademark Registration”.

The section addressed the issues of legal IP protection in countries with intensive patent activity, including the European Union countries and the neighboring states, China, the USA, and the countries of the Persian Gulf. Participants got acquainted with the basic procedures and conditions of patenting inventions and registration of trademarks in these countries.

The award ceremony for winners of the XI International Intellectual Property Olympiad for high school students was held on April 25, 2019 as part of the plenary session of the Forum.

The winners of the Olympiad received the EAPO Medal “Advancing the Future” in nominations for creativity and for socially significant project.