The following announcement from the Eurasian Patent Office is being
distributed by the World Intellectual Property Organization. Unlike the
European system, the Eurasian system does not require translations into
the languages of the national states (unless for court cases).
Greg Aharonian
Internet Patent News Service
====================
December 1995
ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE STARTING DATE OF OPERATIONS
UNDER THE EURASIAN PATENT CONVENTION
1. The starting date of operations under the Eurasian Patent Convention,
which was done at Moscow on September 9, 1994, is January 1, 1996. As from
that date, the Eurasian Patent Office receives Eurasian patent applications
and Eurasian patents can be sought in international applications under the
PCT.
Name of the Office: Evraziiskoe patentnoe vedomstvo (EAPV)
Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO)
Location and mailing address: M. Cherkassy per. 2/6, EAPV
Moscow, Centre, GSP, 103621
Russian Federation
Telephone: (70-95) 206 63 21
(70-95) 921 24 23
The president of the Eurasian Patent Office is Mr. Victor I. Blinnikov.
2. By December 31, 1995, the following nine states (hereinafter referred
to as "the Contracting States") had deposited their instruments of accession
to, or ratification of, the Eurasian Patent Convention with the Director
General of the World Intellectual Property Organization: Armenian, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation,
Takijistan and Turkmenistan.
3. The Convention allows anyone - irrespective of nationality of domicile -
to obtain a Eurasian patent for invention, having effect in all the
Contracting States, by filing a single application with, and making a single
payment to, the Eurasian Patent Office in Moscow. The request part of an
application for the grant of a Eurasian patent must be in Russian. Other
parts of the Eurasian application, may at the time of filing of the
application, be in Russian or any other language. For any parts that are
not in Russian, a Russian translation may be furnished by the applicant
within two months following the date of receipt, by the Eurasian Patent
Office, of the Eurasian application. The Eurasian Patent Office accepts
the filing of applications by facsimile, but the signed original must reach
the Office within 14 days.
4. The procedure in the Eurasian Patent Office follows the usual rules:
there is an examination as to form; this is followed by search, publication
after the expiry of 18 months from the priority date, substantive examination
(which is done on the request of the applicant; such a request must be made
before the expiry of six months from the date of publication of the search
report), and grant or refusal of grant of a Eurasian patent.
5. If the grant of a Eurasian patent is refused, the applicant may
transform his Eurasian application into national applications having the
filing date and the priority date, if any, of the Eurasian application, in
those Contracting States in which he wishes to obtain a national patent
under the national procedure.
6. The granted Eurasian patent is not a bundle of national patents but
has, in the Contracting States, a unitary legal effect governed by the
Convention and the Patent Regulations adopted by the Administrative Council.
7. Any dispute concerning the validity in a Contracting State, or an
infringement in a given Contracting State, of a Eurasian patent will be
decided by the national courts or other competent authorities of that State
on the basis of the Convention and the Patent Regulations. Such a decision
has legal effect only in the territory of that Contracting State.
8. In the case of a dispute, any national court ot other competent
authority of a Contracting State in which Russian is not a State language
may require the plaintiff furnish to it a translation of the Eurasian
patent in the State language.
9. There is no requirement and no possibility to designate Contracting
States in the Eurasian patent application. The Eurasian patent has effect
on the territory of all Contracting States from the date of its publication
by the Eurasian Patent Office. However, at the time when the annual
maintenance fees are due and are paid, the owner of the patent must designate
by name those Contracting States in which he wishes the effect of the patent
to continue. Designations must be addressed to the Eurasian Patent Office,
and the maintenance fees must be paid at the same time. A separate fee is
payable in respect of each designated Contracting State.
10. Any person who has the right to be a representative before the national
Patent Office of a Contracting State and who is registered with the Eurasian
Patent Office as a patent agent may act as representative before the Eurasian
Patent Office. Where the applicant does not have his residence or principal
place of business in the territory of a Contracting State, he/she is required
to be represented by such a registered patent agent.
11. The fee to be paid at the filing of a Eurasian application (so called
"unitary procedural fee") is US$ 800, plus US$50 for each claim in excess of
ten, if any. This fee also covers search and publication. This fee is
reduced 25% when the application, filed via the PCT, enters the regional
phase before the Eurasian Patent Office and is accompanied by an
international (PCT) search report. A further amount of US$ 800 is payable
when examination is requested. Finally, US$ 500 are payable when the Eurasian
patent is granted.
12. The list of registered patent agents, the schedule of fees and printed
applications (and other) forms are available from the Eurasian Patent Office.