At the 41st meeting of the EAPO Administrative Council, a number of amendments and additions was brought to the procedure for patenting industrial designs and inventions. Starting from November 01, 2022, additions and amendments to Part I «Inventions» and Part II «Industrial Designs» of the Patent Regulations to the Eurasian Patent Convention come into force.
One of the most significant innovations is the ability to file digital three-dimensional models (3D models) in relation to Eurasian applications for inventions and Eurasian applications for industrial designs.
From November 01, 2022, the deadlines for filing an invalidation action against grant of a Eurasian patent for an invention in accordance with Rule 53(1) of the Patent Regulations or a Eurasian patent for an industrial design in accordance with Rule 116(2) of the Patent Regulations are also extended. Now, the term for filing such invalidation actions will be nine months from the date of publication of information on the grant of a Eurasian patent for an invention or a Eurasian patent for an industrial design, respectively.
The changes also relate to the procedures for obtaining a Eurasian patent for an invention and are aimed at optimizing the timing of their implementation. For example, in accordance with the new wording of Rule 49(3) of the Patent Regulations, amendments to the claims are allowed before the notice of readiness to grant a Eurasian patent is sent to the applicant.
In addition, the list of verifications carried out in relation to the claimed industrial design at the stage of substantive examination has been expanded, as well as the methods for excluding elements of the appearance of the product, for which the applicant does not claim legal protection. It also eliminates the need for the applicant to submit a paper copy of an earlier application if such application is available to the EAPO through the WIPO Digital Access to Patent Documents Service (WIPO DAS).