Rospatent Reached Optimal Examination Time for Inventions & Utility Models

Over 8 months of 2020, Rospatent had reached the shortest time possible to examine an application for inventions and utility models.

The average examination time for an invention has been 3.84 months, 36.6% less than during the same period of 2019 (6.06 months). While the average examination time for a utility model has been 1.05 months, 30.5% less than in 2019 (1.51 months).

Currently, there is a trend that the examination time is reducing in all national IP offices. Facing an increase in the number of filed applications, many offices not only keep the existing examination time but also significantly reduce them. The decision to reduce examination time is often made at the governmental level.

For instance, the State Council of the People's Republic of China instructed the national IP Office (CNIPA) to reduce the examination time up to 17.5 months by the end of the year (the average examination time was 22.5 months in 2018).

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Asia’s share of all applications filed worldwide increased up to 66.8% for inventions and 97.7% for utility models, primarily driven by strong growth in filings in China, which accounted for around two-thirds of all applications filed in the region. It is still difficult to search for and identify relevant patent documents published in the local language (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) since the patent examiners carry out the search mainly in English.

When the pandemic began, national IP offices got involved in fighting the COVID-19 spread. Many have introduced an expedited examination procedure for the inventions related to infection control. Such patent applications are reviewed within 2-6 months.

In April 2020, Rospatent introduced this procedure as well. The applications for inventions designed to combat COVID-19 are examined by panels. Information search is carried out simultaneously by several experts in a duplicate mode in order to minimize the risk of data loss.

Background Information:

European Patent Office database (Еspacenet) comprises abstracts in English from Asian countries (Japan, China, and Korea). The data is uploaded 3-4 months after the patent publication in the national language.

CNIPA publishes documents in Chinese within 7 days. Abstracts in English are usually available 4 months later.

Korean Patent Office (KIPRIS) immediately publishes patent documents in Korean. Abstracts in English are available 4 months later.

Japanese Patent Office (J-PlatPat) immediately publishes patent documents in Japanese. Abstracts in English are available 3 months later.