Eurasian Patent

With the aim of creating a unitary framework for patent protection and establishing for inventors easier and cheaper procedures, as compared to national ones, to obtain a patent across several countries of the former USSR in one step in 1995 the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC) was signed, which instituted an international regional system of legal protection for inventions on the basis of one Eurasian patent. At the present time the following 8 countries are parties to the Eurasian Patent Convention: Republic of Belarus, Turkmenistan, Republic of Tajikistan, Russian Federation, Republic of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan Republic, Kyrgyz Republic and Republic of Armenia. Republic of Moldova have signed a Collaboration Agreement on Legal Protection of Inventions in the Republic of Moldova after the denunciation by the Republic of Moldova of the Eurasian Patent Convention. In accordance with the provisions of the Agreement, the Republic of Moldova recognizes within its territory the effect of Eurasian patents.

The interests of applicants before the Eurasian Patent Organization must be represented by authorized Eurasian patent attorneys.

The essence of the Eurasian patent system is that on the basis of one application filed with the Eurasian Patent Organization (Moscow) one patent valid in the territory of all the Contracting States is granted.

With respect to a Eurasian application for the grant of a Eurasian patent the Eurasian Patent Office performs formal examination, conducts a patent search of the international type, publishes the particulars of the Eurasian application and the search report. Upon request made by the applicant, substantive examination is carried out to determine whether the claimed technical solution fulfills the requirements for patentability embodied in the novelty, inventive step, industrial applicability. The outcome of substantive examination is the decision to grant or refuse to grant a Eurasian patent. After grant of a Eurasian patent, the patent owner can choose EAPC Contracting parties where the Eurasian patent will be maintained.

The term of a Eurasian patent is 20 years from the filing date of the Eurasian application. For some categories of inventions the validity of a Eurasian patent may be extended, but by no more than for 5 years.

Fees related to obtaining and maintenance of a Eurasian patent are payable to one office – EAPO.

Procedural advantages of obtaining a Eurasian patent relative to procedures for obtaining national patents in every Contracting State party to the EAPC are as follows:

no need to take into account the particularities of legislation of each Contracting State party to the EAPC (the Eurasian Patent Convention has harmonized the procedure for patenting inventions by creating a unitary patent system throughout the territory of its Contracting States);
no need to pay fees in each country where patent protection for an invention is sought (one fee is paid at various times during the patent application procedure);
all required documents are submitted in one language (Russian);
a Eurasian application may be filed on paper carrier and also in electronic form;
a Eurasian application is processed through one representative – Eurasian patent attorney.

Additional information on various topics related to the Eurasian patent system is available on the official website of the Eurasian Patent Office.