Regulatory Activities

The amendments and addenda made to the Patent Regulations under the EAPC can roughly fall into several groups.

The first group covers amendments and addenda resulting from the Eurasian Patent Office transition to a paperless office solution. Specifically, the Office is in a position to report that all publications are now made exclusively in electronic form. These include Eurasian applications for patent protection, patent search reports, data on Eurasian patents granted for inventions as well as Eurasian patent descriptions.

Amendments and addenda in the second group specify the provisions in the Patent Regulations under the EAPC for administering the exclusive right in the invention conferred by the Eurasian patent. Specifically, the new provisions require that contracts other than, but on a par with, license contracts governing the use of a protected invention shall be registered in accordance with the national legislation of the Contracting States in which the Eurasian patent has effect. Furthermore, the national IP Offices of the Contracting States are obligated to inform the Eurasian Office quarterly of all registered license contracts with respect to Eurasian patents. Whereas the Eurasian Patent Office bears the responsibility to enter in the Register of Eurasian Patents the particulars of license contracts registered by the national Offices and publish the corresponding information in the Gazette of the Eurasian Office.

Contained in the third group are amendments and addenda that streamline the procedures for administrative revocation of a Eurasian patent. Specifically, the newly detailed provisions have more stringent requirements to the language of an opposition against the grant of a Eurasian patent for invention; they set forth in greater detail the procedure for taking a decision to maintain a Eurasian patent for invention in amended form; also, the new language addresses the entry into force of Eurasian patent grant opposition decisions.

The fourth group encompasses amendments and addenda streamlining the procedures for revoking the registration of a transfer or pledge of right to a Eurasian application or a Eurasian patent for invention. Specifically, the new language establishes grounds for such a revocation and requires that the information about a revoked registration of a transfer or pledge of right to a Eurasian application or a Eurasian patent for invention be published in the Gazette of the Eurasian Patent Office in a situation where information about such a registration of a transfer or pledge of right in a Eurasian application or a Eurasian patent for an invention was previously published.

The amendments and addenda to the Administrative Regulations under the EAPC and the Eurasian Patent Office Staff Employment Regulations rely on the Eurasian Office human resources management framework endorsed by the thirty-third (twenty-fourth ordinary) meeting of the Eurasian Patent Organization's Administrative Council, 6-7 September 2017.

The amendments and addenda increase the minimal quotas – from three to five – for Eurasian Office staff from each EAPC Member State, with the maximum number subject to equitable geographic representation.

As formalised by the amendments and addenda to the Administrative Regulations under the EAPC and the Eurasian Patent Office Staff Employment Regulations, Eurasian Office vacancies are filled exclusively on a competitive basis and subject to an employment agreement to be concluded for a fixed term (i.e. not less than three and not more than five years), with sixty-five years of age capping a staff member’s job tenure with the Eurasian Patent Office.

Also, the amendments and addenda require that Eurasian Office Vice Presidents be appointed subject to equitable geographic representation and an employment agreement be concluded for five years on a non-renewable basis.

The reported year saw other amendments and addenda made to the Patent Regulations under the EAPC, Administrative Regulations under the EAPC and the Eurasian Patent Office Staff Employment Regulations.

The Eurasian Patent Office issued a series of orders to further streamline corporate workflow management of Eurasian applications for patent protection. Specifically, as a consequence of the Eurasian Patent Office transition to paperless workflow management, its Order no.7 of 20 February 2017 formalises the procedure for preparing and issuing Eurasian patents and the ensuing documents. In keeping with Rule 62 of the Patent Regulations under the EAPC, Order no.37 of 16 June 2017 governs the Eurasian Office procedure for storage preparation, storage and subsequent destruction of paper documents related to the Eurasian patents.

Aiming to implement the Basic Guidelines for Procurements of Goods, Works and Services formalised by the EAPO Administrative Council’s thirty-second (twenty-third ordinary) meeting, 1-3 November 2016, the Eurasian Patent Office issued Order no.11 of 28 March 2017 setting forth Regulations for EAPO Procurements of Goods, Works and Services. The Eurasian Patent Office issued Order no.10 of 28 March 2017 endorsing the Regulations for the Eurasian Patent Office Procurement Committee.