EURASIAN PATENT EXAMINATION. EURASIAN PATENT GRANTS

EURASIAN PATENT EXAMINATION

Eurasian Patent Applications Statistics

Despite the continuing restrictions caused by the pandemic, the positive trend in filing Eurasian patent applications was restored in 2021, with an increase of 8 per cent relative to 2020.

In total, the Eurasian Patent Office received 64,374 Eurasian applications for inventions in the period from 1996 to 2021, inclusive.

Diagram 1 presents detailed numbers on the Eurasian patent applications filed in the last 5 years.

Diagram 2 presents the distribution of Eurasian patent applications by the specifics of their filing procedure.

International applications accounted for the bulk of Eurasian patent applications in 2021, totaling 2,764 applications, or 76 per cent of all applications filed.

The year 2021 saw 508 patent applications filed directly with the Eurasian Patent Office, or 14 per cent of all Eurasian applications filed in the period under review. Notably, 371 applications were filed in 2021 via the national patent offices of Contracting States to the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC), or 10 per cent of all Eurasian patent applications filed.

Diagram 3 presents the distribution of Eurasian patent applications by country of origin showing the largest numbers of Eurasian applications in 2021.

As in the preceding years, the United States of America proved to be the largest geographical source of Eurasian patent applications, representing 1,102, or 30.2 per cent of all applications filed with the Eurasian Patent Office.

Applicants from Contracting States to the EAPC filed 657 Eurasian applications in 2021.

The largest number of Eurasian patent applications were from the Russian Federation, with 432 applications, the Republic of Belarus, with 91 applications, the Republic of Kazakhstan, with 90 applications, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, with 27 applications.

Diagram 4 shows the trend in Eurasian patent application filing under the aforementioned procedures for applicants from Contracting States to the EAPC.

In 2021, the most applications were filed for inventions in organic chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and medicines. Table 1 shows the distribution of Eurasian applications filed in 2021 by subject matter.

The year 2021 saw 3,348 Eurasian patent applications filed electronically, which is 92 per cent of all Eurasian applications received this year.

Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Programs

The patent offices of Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, and Finland, as well as the European Patent Office (EPO), are partner offices of the Eurasian Patent Office for Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programs. The composition of Eurasian Patent Office partners for PPH programs did not change in the reporting year.

At the beginning of 2021, the Eurasian Patent Office and the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) agreed to renew the current PPH program for another year with the prospect of discussing the expansion of the program in the future, taking into account the Eurasian Patent Office’s appointment as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

At the end of 2021, the pilot phase of the PPH program with the Korean Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Korea (KIPO) was completed. In accordance with the memorandum signed between the Eurasian Patent Office and the KIPO on the PPH program, the program will operate on an indefinite basis from January 1, 2022.

In total, in 2021, the Eurasian Patent Office received 21 requests for accelerated examination of РРН programs, the largest number of which were submitted on the basis of decisions and work products prepared by the EPO.

 

 

EURASIAN PATENT GRANTS. MAINTENANCE OF EURASIAN PATENTS

Statistics on Eurasian patents for inventions

In 2021, 2,416 Eurasian patents for inventions were granted. The grand total for 1996 through 2021 reached 39,298 grants of Eurasian patents.

In 2021, 491 Eurasian patents were granted to applicants from EAPC Contracting States and the Republic of Moldova, which is 20.32 per cent of the total number of Eurasian patents granted in the reporting year.

In 2021, 1,925 Eurasian patents were granted to applicants from States not party to the EAPC, which is 79.68 per cent of the Eurasian patents granted in the reporting year.

Table 2 presents grants of Eurasian patents in 2021 distributed by country of origin of patent owners.

Representatives of 65 countries became Eurasian patent owners in 2021, including residents of 6 EAPC Contracting States and the Republic of Moldova.

In 2021, the largest number of Eurasian patent grants went to applicants from the United States of America, with 497 Eurasian patents (20.57 per cent), the Russian Federation, with 329 Eurasian patents (13.62 per cent), Germany, with 179 Eurasian patents (7.41 per cent), Switzerland, with 133 Eurasian patents (5.50 per cent), the Netherlands, with 124 Eurasian patents (5.13 per cent), Japan, with 103 Eurasian patents (4.26 per cent), the United Kingdom, with 89 Eurasian patents (3.68 per cent), Italy, with 87 Eurasian patents (3.60 per cent), Belgium, with 86 Eurasian patents (3.56 per cent), and the Republic of Belarus, with 80 Eurasian patents (3.31 per cent).

The year 2021 saw 1,844 Eurasian patents granted on the basis of international PCT applications that had entered the regional phase, which is 76.32 per cent of the total number of Eurasian patents issued in the reporting year.

Table 3 presents the distribution of Eurasian patents granted in 2021 on the basis of international PCT applications that entered the regional phase.

Applicants from the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Moldova were granted 120 Eurasian patents in 2021, which is 6.51 per cent of all Eurasian patents granted based on PCT applications. The largest number of such patents, 115 (6.24 per cent), went to applicants from the Russian Federation.

At the same time, applicants from 56 States not party to the EAPC were granted 1,724 Eurasian patents, or 93.49 per cent of all Eurasian patents granted based on PCT applications. The largest numbers of Eurasian patents were granted to applicants from the United States of America, with 411 Eurasian patents (22.29 per cent), Germany, with 163 Eurasian patents (8.84 per cent), the Netherlands, with 118 Eurasian patents (6.40 per cent), the Russian Federation, with 115 Eurasian patents (6.24 per cent), and Switzerland, with 113 Eurasian patents (6.13 per cent).

As of December 31, 2021, a total of 895 Eurasian patents had been terminated on the territory of the EAPC Contracting States and the Republic of Moldova due to the expiration of their twenty-year term under Article 11 of the Eurasian Patent Convention.

As of the same date, there were 17,642 Eurasian patents in force on the territory of the EAPC Contracting States and the Republic of Moldova.

The first annual fees for maintaining 2,352 Eurasian patents were paid in 2021.

Table 4 presents the details of the first annual fees paid for Eurasian patents in 2021.

Table 4 shows that the average number of designations of EAPC Contracting States and the Republic of Moldova at the stage of the first payment of annual fees for maintaining Eurasian patents in force is 4.12.

The recurrence of designations of the EAPC Contracting States and the Republic of Moldova in relation to the total patents for which the annual maintenance fee was paid for the first time in 2021 was:
Russian Federation — 94.39 per cent
Republic of Kazakhstan — 61.73 per cent
Republic of Belarus — 55.14 per cent
Republic of Azerbaijan — 46.56 per cent
Republic of Armenia — 39.71 per cent
Turkmenistan — 38.48 per cent
Kyrgyz Republic — 37.71 per cent
Republic of Tajikistan — 36.73 per cent
Republic of Moldova — 1.45 per cent

Subsequent annual fees were paid in 2021 for maintaining 13,019 Eurasian patents in force.

Table 5 presents data on Eurasian patents for which subsequent annual fees were paid in 2021.