WIPO PCT Working Group Expands Language Regime and Deploys Digital Services
On behalf of the Russian Federation the delegation of Rospatent actively participated in the 17th session of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Working Group held at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) headquarters in Geneva (Switzerland) on February 19-21, 2024.
The session mainly focused on expanding the languages of communication between the International Bureau (IB) of WIPO, applicants and national intellectual property offices to 10 languages of international publication (including Russian). The PCT Working Group approved the relevant amendments to the Regulations under the PCT with a view to its submission for the PCT Union Assembly approval in July 2024.
The representatives of Rospatent emphasized that the language regime expansion will bring the PCT services to a brand-new level in terms of quality, ensure the applicants’ rights and facilitate their access to these services, namely in terms of communication between the applicants, IB and receiving offices, and therefore will benefit the PCT system as a whole. The IB, in its turn, thanked Rospatent for providing translations of the PCT Forms into Russian.
In addition, the Russian delegation shared the experience in the implementation of WIPO Standard ST.26, that lays out the requirements for presenting nucleotide and/or amino acid sequences in patent applications, including the introduction of the relevant requirement into the national legislation governing the invention applications filings, followed by its technical implementation and integration of the WIPO Sequence Suite in the Rospatent operations.
Furthermore, the Working Group approved the amendments to the Regulations under the PCT related to the ways of filing international applications and related documents, the correction of defects in certain elements of an international application, and the definition of relevant prior art for both international search and international preliminary examination to include non-written disclosures.
The WIPO Member States also discussed the coordination of technical assistance, patent examiner training and the PCT online services.
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