On September 10-11, 2019 the thirty-fifth (twenty-sixth ordinary) session of the Administrative Council of the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO AC) was held in Nur-Sultan, Republic of Kazakhstan.

The session was attended by the delegations of all Contracting States to the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC Contracting States), headed by the plenipotentiary representatives of the Contracting States in the EAPO Administrative Council (or their deputies), as well as the delegation of the Eurasian Patent Office, headed by President Saule Tlevlessova. Director of the Department for Transition and Developed Countries of the World Intellectual Property Organization Michal Svantner took part in the session as an observer.

President Tlevlessova informed the participants of the session about the main indicators of the EAPO work in 2018, noting the 5.6% growth of the number of Eurasian applications and a 12% increase in the share of applicants from the EAPC Contracting States in comparison with 2017, informed about the EAPO activities in the field of international cooperation, including the accelerated patent prosecution of patent application in accordance with the Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Programme (PPH Pilot Programs) and Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC), interaction with Eurasian patent attorneys, development of the EAPO IT infrastructure and digitalization of the Office’s work.

According to the results of the session the Administrative Council adopted the EAPO Annual Report 2018, approved a number of documents, such as draft EAPO Budget for 2020, Amendments to the Financial Regulations under the Eurasian Patent Convention and the Regulations on Formation and Expenditure of the EAPO Reserve Fund, Draft Provisions on Trainings at EAPO, as well as Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation between the Eurasian Patent Office of the Eurasian Patent Organization and the Intellectual Property Office of the European Union.

The Agenda of the session, along with issues related to the current EAPO activities, included the development of the Organization.

EAPO President thanked all EAPC Contracting States for their support in the creation of the Eurasian system for the legal protection of industrial designs. The participants of the session discussed the results of the Diplomatic Conference, appreciated the EAPO efforts, and approved further steps for creation of the EAPO legal framework in the field of industrial designs.

The participants of the session discussed the initiative of the Eurasian Patent Office to expand its functions within the framework of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and, in accordance with Article 20 of the EAPC, authorized the Eurasian Patent Office to seek appointment as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority under the PCT.