Rospatent IP News Digest January 2022
Russia to accede to Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement
Following the signing on December 24, 2021 by President Vladimir Putin of the Federal Law No. 450-FZ “On the Accession of the Russian Federation to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications”, the work is under way to adapt the Russian legislation to the Lisbon System.
The Federal Law will enter into force one year after the date of its official publication. Instrument of accession will be submitted to WIPO in due course.
On 19 January 2022, at the headquarters of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, the instrument of accession of Belarus to the Protocol to the Eurasian Patent Convention on the Protection of Industrial Designs was deposited with WIPO.
This marks the accession of 7 EAPO Member States (all except Turkmenistan) to the Protocol adopted on September 19, 2019. The Protocol should enter into force for Belarus on 19 April 2022.
It has been noted that the country’s participation in regional intellectual property conventions is a practical step towards improvement of the innovation environment and business climate in Belarus.
Natural persons will be able to register trademarks
On January 27, 2022, the Government of the Russian Federation approved a bill allowing natural persons to register trademarks.
The measure will allow to equalize the rights of Russian and foreign citizens. Russia is a party to the Madrid Agreement, according to which both legal entities and individuals can register trademarks. Therefore, Rospatent has no grounds to refuse to examine an application of a foreign citizen. After the entry into force of these amendments to the legislation, the Russian citizens will have the same rights as foreign citizens in this area.
Trademark applications show the best statistical growth in Russia, with growing demand from smaller enterprises.
On January 31, 2022, a meeting was held in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) between the Head of Rospatent Mr. Grigory Ivliev and the CEO of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Swailem.
The parties discussed cooperation between the Offices in the promotion of Russian and Arabic languages in WIPO, research and examination, professional training in IP field and in patent analytics.
The main outcome of the meeting was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Rospatent and the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property. The document establishes the groundwork for interaction between the Offices and contains a extensive list of areas of cooperation, including examination, information technology development, training of IP specialists and cutting-edge technologies.
The parties agreed to draft and sign a Memorandum on the pilot program Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH). The launch of this program will allow the Offices to reduce examination time of and ease the work of examiners.
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