Annual Report 2021
PRESIDENT’S FOREWORD
Dear colleagues, dear friends,
The year 2021 can rightfully be considered historic for the Eurasian patent system. Thanks to the efforts of the Eurasian Patent Office and the Member States of the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO), the year has been rich in important events that have laid a solid foundation for our organization’s new areas of activity.
MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS: FACTS AND FIGURES
In 2021, the Eurasian Patent Office was appointed as an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The decision on the appointment was made on October 7, 2021 during the fifty-third (twenty-third ordinary) session of the Assembly of the PCT Union.
On March 17, 2021, the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention (Protocol) entered into force with respect to the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the Republic of Armenia. The Protocol’s entry into force made the functioning of the Eurasian system of the legal protection of industrial designs possible. On April 11 and 12, 2021, the Protocol entered into force for the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan, respectively. On November 30, 2021, the Republic of Tajikistan became a party to the Protocol.
On June 1, 2021, the Eurasian Patent Office began to receive Eurasian industrial design applications.
In 2021, the positive trend in Eurasian patent applications filing was restored, with an increase of 8 per cent.
The number of Eurasian patent applications filed in electronic form reached 92 per cent of all Eurasian applications filed in 2021.
A new information and search resource, the EAPO Pharmaceutical Register, containing information on Eurasian patents for invention related to active pharmaceutical ingredients with assigned international nonproprietary names (INN), was posted with open access on the EAPO web portal on March 1, 2021.
ACTIVITIES OF THE EAPO ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL
In 2021, the Eurasian Patent Organization’s Administrative Council held three meetings, and the Budget Working Group of the EAPO Administrative Council held one meeting.
The main regulatory legal acts that make it possible to support the filing and examination of Eurasian industrial design applications were adopted by the EAPO Administrative Council at its thirty-seventh (tenth extraordinary) meeting.
The EAPO Administrative Council held an election for the EAPO President during its thirty-eighth (eleventh extraordinary) meeting. According to the voting results, the Administrative Council of the EAPO appointed Grigory Ivliev as the new President, taking office on February 11, 2022.
At the thirty-ninth (twenty-eighth ordinary) meeting of the Administrative Council of the EAPO, the text of the contract between the EAPO and Grigory Ivliev, concluded with the elected President for a six-year term, was approved.
During its twenty-sixth meeting, the Budget Working Group considered the EAPO Annual Report for 2020 and the draft EAPO Budget for 2022, as well as the draft of the new edition of the Financial Regulations under the EAPC, finalized by the Eurasian Patent Office taking into account the proposals of the patent offices of the EAPC Contracting States. All of the documents were recommended for approval by the EAPO Administrative Council.
REGULATORY ACTIVITIES
A number of objective factors supported operative regulatory activity throughout 2021. Among these, the main factors were undoubtedly the entry into force of the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention and the appointment of the Eurasian Patent Office as an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
EURASIAN PATENT EXAMINATION. VALIDITY OF EURASIAN PATENTS FOR INVENTIONS
The Eurasian Patent Office received 3,643 Eurasian patent applications in 2021.
3643
64374
In total, 64,374 Eurasian patent applications were filed in the period from 1996 to 2021, inclusive.
International applications accounted for the bulk of Eurasian applications in 2021, totaling 2,764 applications. The Eurasian Patent Office received 508 applications filed directly, while 371 applications were filed via the national patent offices of EAPC Contracting States.
In 2021, 2,416 Eurasian patents were granted.
2416
39298
In total, 39,298 Eurasian patents were granted in the period from 1996 to 2021, inclusive.
As of December 31, 2021, there were 17,642 Eurasian patents in force on the territory of the EAPC Contracting States and the Republic of Moldova.
In accordance with Rule 16(5) of the Patent Regulations under the EAPC, which provides for the term extension of Eurasian patents in respect of objects requiring special permission for use, the term of 74 Eurasian patents was extended upon the request of the patent owners in the reporting period.
EXAMINATION OF EURASIAN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN APPLICATIONS
The Eurasian Patent Office received 92 Eurasian industrial design applications in 2021,
92
190
with a total of 190 industrial designs claimed.
The year 2021 saw 7 Eurasian industrial design patents granted. The number of registered industrial designs totaled 16.
OPPOSITIONS AND APPEALS
The Eurasian Patent Office received 3 oppositions and 13 appeals in 2021. The general trend of recent years continued in 2021, reflecting the low number of oppositions received by the Eurasian Patent Office (0.12 per cent of the total number of Eurasian patents granted per year).
DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATION, NETWORK TECHNOLOGIES AND INFORMATION ACTIVITY
In 2021, the work of the Eurasian Patent Office on the development of its automated systems and information technologies was aimed at the launch of a set of tools for workflow and publication in relation to Eurasian industrial design applications and patents and at the improvement of paperless workflow tools and technologies.
The Eurasian Patent Office also introduced new information products in 2021: the EAPO Pharmaceutical Register, a mobile application, a search system for sequences of nucleotides and amino acids, and a system for the preliminary automatic classification of Eurasian applications using artificial intelligence tools and technologies.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
The most important achievements in international cooperation for the Eurasian Patent Organization in 2021 were the entry into force of the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention and the subsequent launch of a system for the legal protection of industrial designs, as well as the appointment of the Eurasian Patent Office as an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. The Eurasian Patent Office’s international cooperation over the course of the year, in addition to its traditional areas of collaboration, was aimed at supporting its activities within these new areas of work.
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
In the management of its finances during the reporting period, the EAPO relied on the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC), the Financial Regulations under the EAPC, and the effective law of the country of residence of the EAPO headquarters.
EURASIAN PATENT ATTORNEYS
Extensive cooperation with patent attorneys from the EAPO member states and the development of the institution of Eurasian patent attorneys are important and significant areas of EAPO activity.