The regional seminar “Common Examination Space: Current Issues of Patenting” was held in Yerevan and attended by representatives of the national patent offices of the EAPO Member States, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property, Eurasian patent attorneys, and other IP specialists.

The issues on the international agenda were discussed: patenting in the field of pharmaceuticals and medicine, protection of computer inventions and graphical user interfaces. Within two days, examiners shared information on the examination and current challenges.

Kristine Hambaryan, Head of the Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia, EAPO President Grigory Ivliev, and Vladimir Ryabovolov, Director General of the National Centre of Intellectual Property of the Republic of Belarus, opened the seminar.

Kristine Hambaryan highlighted the challenges in the patent field with regard to the processes of technological development:

“We are in an era when technological discoveries not only affect our everyday lives, but also change the landscape of industry and research. These changes raise new problems that require in-depth analyses and informed decision-making.”

Grigory Ivliev emphasized the importance of coordinating positions in the examination of inventions and industrial designs.

“The purpose of our seminar is to discuss different viewpoints of offices, patent attorneys, right holders in order to find common ground and possible areas for convergence of our approaches. We believe that there are prospects for harmonization of examination methodologies, taking into account the experience of the leading patent offices. This coordination is necessary, first of all, for applicants.”

Vladimir Ryabovolov shared the experience of the Republic of Belarus in improving the national IP system and noted that the development of the regional system provides for commensurate, and often harmonized in time and tasks, improvement of national intellectual property systems. Vladimir Ryabovolov elaborated on the problem of decreasing filing activity and measures taken in the Republic of Belarus to overcome the factors contributing to it.

“Currently, apart from fulfilling the functions of a classical patent office, one of the main tasks of the National Centre of Intellectual Property is to develop forms and methods of participation in the innovative development of the country as a whole.”