On December 5, 2012 a delegation from the European Patent Office consisting of Mrs. Nina Formby, Project Leader for CIS and Mongolia and Dr. Peter Swaren, Classification Coordinator, Directorate Classification visited the Eurasian Patent Office.

The purpose of the visit was to discuss and analyze the current status of cooperation activities between the EPO and the EAPO realized in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Cooperation between the EAPO and EPO and a presentation on the new Cooperative Patent Classification system (CPC).

From the EAPO side the delegation was headed by Khabibullo Fayazov, Vice-President of EAPO and represented by Vladimir Sirotyuk, Director,Patent information and Automation Departmen; Marina Kryukova, Director, International Relations Department; Mr.Dmitriy Rogojin , Director Deputy Examination Department; Director Formal Examination Department as well as specialists from corresponding departments.

Mr. Fayazov informed the participants of the meeting that the principle strategic priority of the Eurasian Patent Office is to enhance its activities via extensive use of information technologies and automation systems in order to accomplish the transition towards the paperless workflow of the patent prosecution, as well as electronic publications.

During the meeting parties reviewed and discussed the draft Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Cooperation, which is to be signed in 2013, as well as summed up the accomplished and ongoing activities in accordance with the current biennial work plan; furthermore parties deliberated on the new activities which to be included in the subsequent work plan. The parties also discussed technical cooperation in the field of machine translation.

Dr. Swaren’s presentation was dedicated to the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) system, which is presently being commissioned at the EPO and other Offices; he comprehensively explained the benefits, peculiarities and operational principles of the CPC. Dr. Swaren respectively answered all the questions from EAPO experts.

The parties reaffirmed their commitment to further development of the cooperation in the field of information technology, exchange of patent data and the development of human resources