The Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) is an international

organization An organization or organisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is an legal entity, entity—such as ...

set up in 1995 by the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC) to grant

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Ja ...

patents. The official language of the EAPO is

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and its current president is Saule Tlevlessova. The headquarters of the EAPO is in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, Russia.

Membership and signatories

Member states

As of February 2021, the following 8 countries are contracting states to the EAPC and therefore members of the Eurasian Patent Organization: * * * * * * * *

Former members

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

is a former member state of the Eurasian Patent Organization. On 26 October 2011, Moldova denounced the Eurasian Patent Convention, meaning that, since 26 April 2012, it is no longer party to the Convention. In December 2011, negotiations on a "validation and co-operation agreement" between the

European Patent Office The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation

(EPO) and Moldova were authorized by the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation. The validation agreement with Moldova took effect on 1 November 2015. Although Moldova left the Eurasian Patent Organization, the Intellectual Property Agency of Moldova signed a Cooperation Agreement between Moldova and the Eurasian Patent Office in 2017.

Signatories that did not become members

Although

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

were original signatories to the Eurasian Patent Convention, they have not ratified it. In 2019, negotiations between the

(EPO) and Georgia were expected to result in a validation agreement, similar to the one existing between the EPO and Moldova.

International cooperation

The EAPO cooperates with other patent organizations and has signed memorandums of understanding with the following: *

African Regional Intellectual Property Organization The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), formerly African Regional Industrial Property Organization, is an intergovernmental organization for cooperation among African states in patent and other intellectual property matter ...

European Union Intellectual Property Office The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO; french: links=no, Office de l'Union européenne pour la propriété intellectuelle), founded in 1994, is the European Union Agency responsible for the registration of the European Union trad ...

Korean Intellectual Property Office The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is the patent office and intellectual property office of South Korea. In 2000, the name of the office was changed from "Korean Industrial Property Office" to "Korean Intellectual Property Office". It i ...

World Intellectual Property Organization The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishi ...

PPH programme

The Patent Prosecution Highway Programme (PPH Programme) constitutes bilateral agreements between the Eurasian Patent Office and other patent offices designed to provide applicants with opportunities to get a patent faster and more efficiently, in one of the participating patent offices. The programme allows for an accelerated examination of patents compared to applications from non-participating patent offices. Currently, partner offices participating in the programme include the Japan Patent Office,

, China National Intellectual Property Administration,

, and the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.

Exchange of patent documentation

In addition, according to its own web site, the EAPO maintains various agreements on the exchange of patent documentation with 38 countries across

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, and North America.

References

External links

* Patent offices Patent law treaties Intellectual property law in Europe Intellectual property law in Asia Commonwealth of Independent States Post-Soviet alliances Eurasia Multilateral relations of Russia Organizations established in 1995 {{International-law-stub