ACTIVITIES OF THE EAPO ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL

The meetings of the EAPO Administrative Council were held in a hybrid format at the EAPO’s headquarters in Moscow, Russian Federation. All EAPO member states took part in the meetings: the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) attended the meetings as an observer.

The meetings were chaired by Mirzo Ismoilzoda, Plenipotentiary Representative of the Republic of Tajikistan on the EAPO Administrative Council and Director of the National Center for Patents and Information, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The EAPO’s current operations and prospects for its advancement were discussed at the meetings.

Fortieth (twelfth extraordinary) meeting of the EAPO Administrative Council

At its fortieth (twelfth extraordinary) meeting, the EAPO Administrative Council approved the EAPO’s annual reports for 2020 and 2021, adopted the EAPO budget for 2022, and approved a series of EAPO regulatory legal acts in various areas of its activities. In particular, a new version of the Financial Regulations under the Eurasian Patent Convention (Convention) was approved and entered into force on April 11, 2022. The new version specifies the basis for the financial support of the EAPO, its budget planning, accounting within the EAPO, and its financial statements. In addition, the Procedure for the Transfer by the Eurasian Patent Office of Shares of Fees paid in accordance with Articles 8(2) and 15(5) of the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention (Protocol) which belong to the Contracting States to the Protocol was approved and also entered into force on the above-mentioned date. This EAPO regulatory legal act was approved by the EAPO Administrative Council, composed of Plenipotentiary Representatives of the Contracting States to the Protocol: the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan.

The EAPO Administrative Council reached a historic decision on the approval of the Agreement between the EAPO and the International Bureau of the WIPO in relation to the functioning of the Eurasian Patent Office as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. For the purposes of the provisions of the Agreement, the EAPO Administrative Council approved amendments and addenda to the Patent Regulations under the Eurasian Patent Convention and the Statute on Fees of the Eurasian Patent Organization for legally significant and other actions performed in relation to Eurasian patent applications and Eurasian patents for inventions. The above amendments were aimed at ensuring that the Eurasian Patent Office can function as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority. As a result of the EAPO Administrative Council’s decision, the amendments took effect as of July 1, 2022.

The issue of supplementing the Eurasian Patent Office’s Pharmaceutical Register with information on national patent documents was specially considered by the EAPO Administrative Council at the meeting. The members of the EAPO Administrative Council supported the Eurasian Patent Office’s initiative, which was aimed at expanding the scope of the patent information contained in the Eurasian Patent Office’s Pharmaceutical Register.

As is tradition, the EAPO Administrative Council also made the decision to award V.I. Blinnikov Gold Medals “For Promoting Invention and Patent Practice” to representatives of the States party to the Convention. The recipients included:

– V.F. Utkin Ryazan State Radio Engineering University Federal State Budgetary Higher Education Institution (Russian Federation) for contribution to the development of inventive activity;

– State Institution Republican Scientific and Technical Library (Republic of Belarus) for contribution to the development of patenting in the Eurasian region.

Special attention was paid at the meeting of the EAPO Administrative Council to the expansion of educational programs implemented by the Eurasian Patent Office in relation to representatives of the national patent offices of the States party to the Convention and to the intensification of collaboration between representatives of the Eurasian Patent Office and the national patent offices of the States party to the Convention in the EAPO’s key areas of activity.

Forty first (twenty-ninth ordinary) meeting of the EAPO Administrative Council

At its forty-first (twenty-ninth ordinary) meeting, the EAPO Administrative Council reviewed and adopted amendments to the EAPO budget for 2022, and also approved the EAPO budget for 2023. In addition, the Council approved a series of amendments to EAPO regulatory legal acts aimed at improving the EAPO’s activities and the Eurasian Patent Office itself. In particular, the Administrative Council approved amendments and addenda to the Patent Regulations under the Eurasian Patent Convention and amendments to the Statute on Fees of the Eurasian Patent Organization for legally significant and other actions performed in relation to Eurasian industrial design patent applications and Eurasian industrial design patents. The amendments and addenda to the Patent Regulations under the Eurasian Patent Convention entered into force on November 1, 2022, in accordance with the EAPO Administrative Council’s decision. The amendments to the Statute on Fees of the Eurasian Patent Organization entered into force on January 1, 2023.

For the purposes of the further development of a unified expert-information space for industrial property in the Eurasian region, the EAPO Administrative Council approved the Procedure for Electronic Exchange of Documents on Eurasian Applications and Patents, which was developed by the Eurasian Patent Office, and it entered into force on October 1, 2022. The purpose of this EAPO regulatory legal act is to ensure the electronic exchange of documents on Eurasian applications and patents between the Eurasian Patent Office and the national patent offices of the States party to the Convention.

In view of the indisputable importance of the long-term professional experience of the examiners of the Eurasian Patent Office in ensuring the effectiveness of the Eurasian patent procedure, the EAPO Administrative Council reviewed and approved addenda to the EAPO regulatory legal acts concerning the employment of Eurasian Patent Office staff, which were aimed at improving the EAPO’s HR Policy. The addenda, which entered into force on September 21, 2022, were introduced to the Administrative Instructions under the Convention and to the Eurasian Patent Office Staff Employment Regulations.

The EAPO Administrative Council paid special attention at its meeting to expanding the regional patent organization’s scope of activities. The members of the EAPO Administrative Council discussed proposals for the creation of a Eurasian system, based at the EAPO, for the legal protection of trademarks and service marks, a Eurasian system for the legal protection of utility models, and the improvement of the Eurasian patent dispute resolution system. These proposals were prepared by the Eurasian Patent Office as a result of interaction between representatives of the office and representatives of the States party to the Convention within the Working Group on legal aspects of the EAPO’s activities.

A significant fraction of the issues considered by the EAPO Administrative Council at its meeting concerned the expansion of the EAPO’s cooperation with international organizations and with the national patent offices of States not party to the Convention, in particular, with WIPO, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the national patent offices of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of India, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Republic of Turkey.

The EAPO Administrative Council, constituting the States party to the Protocol, also considered and approved the EAPO’s accession to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. The EAPO’s accession to this international agreement will make the Eurasian system for the legal protection of industrial designs even more attractive to applicants.

At its meeting, the EAPO Administrative Council also considered the traditional issue of awarding representatives of States party to the Convention with V.I. Blinnikov Gold Medals “For Promoting Invention and Patent Practice.” Following a discussion of the candidates nominated for awards, the EAPO Administrative Council decided to award medals to:

– А.М. Alexey Volodin, General Director of the Tyazhpressmash Company (Russian Federation), for contribution to the development of inventive activity;

– Scientific and Research Institute of Physical and Chemical Problems Institution of the Belarusian State University (Republic of Belarus) for contribution to the development of inventive activity;

– М.М. Modandgul Tagbergenova, Patent Attorney of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Eurasian Patent Attorney, Chairman of the Chamber of Patent Attorneys of Kazakhstan Public Association (Republic of Kazakhstan) for contribution to the development of patenting in the Eurasian region;

– Gumarbek Daukeev Almaty University of Energy and Communications (Republic of Kazakhstan) for contribution to the development of inventive activity;

– A.B. Bekturov Institute of Chemical Sciences (Republic of Kazakhstan) for contribution to the development of inventive activity;

– Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Blok Shaikenov (Republic of Kazakhstan) for contribution to the development of inventive activity;

– Kamran Imanov, Plenipotentiary Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the Administrative Council, Chairman of the Management Board of the Intellectual Property Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, for contribution to the development of patenting in the Eurasian region;

– Mirzo Ismoilzoda, Plenipotentiary Representative of the Republic of Tajikistan on the Administrative Council, Director of State Institution National Center for Patents and Information, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan, for contribution to the development of patenting in the Eurasian region;

– Ata Annaniyazov, Plenipotentiary Representative of Turkmenistan on the Administrative Council, Head of the State Intellectual Property Service of the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, for contribution to the development of patenting in the Eurasian region.

The EAPO Administrative Council put special priority at its meeting on the implementation of projects of particular importance to the development of the Eurasian region. In particular, these include a pilot project for the expansion of the capabilities of technology parks in the commercialization of the results of intellectual activity, which is being implemented by the EAPO jointly with the WIPO, and a project for the creation of a common patent information space.

The meeting of the EAPO Administrative Council ended with the election of officials for the EAPO Administrative Council.

Ata Annaniyazov, Plenipotentiary Representative of Turkmenistan on the EAPO Administrative Council and Head of the State Intellectual Property Service of the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, was elected Chairman of the EAPO Administrative Council for the following two-year term. Yury Zubov, Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian Federation on the EAPO Administrative Council and Head of the Federal Intellectual Property Service, and Rakhat Kerimbayeva, Plenipotentiary Representative of the Kyrgyz Republic on the EAPO Administrative Council and Director of the State Intellectual Property and Innovation Agency of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, were elected Deputy Chairmen of the EAPO Administrative Council.