13.06.2023

The regional seminar "Intellectual Property: A Key Integration Factor in the Eurasian Space," was organized in Nesvizh (Republic of Belarus) with the participation of the delegations from the EAPO member states. Grigory Ivliev, President of the Eurasian Patent Office, delivered an opening statement at the seminar and chaired the section "Intellectual Property Integration within the Eurasian Space".

Grigory Ivliev noted that "intellectual property is often regarded as something secondary. And meanwhile, how can we implement joint industrial projects if we do not determine the ownership of the technology, design, and brand and how each party shall exercise the rights to them? That is why IP is a key integration factor".

At the opening ceremony, Grigory Ivliev emphasized that the Office intends to expand the successful experience and best practices of dealing with IP in the national patent offices, as stipulated in the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) Development Program until 2028.

The Chairman of the State Committee on Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus, Sergey Shlychkov, highlighted the importance of IP in the economy of the Union State. The Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Education and Culture of the Russian Federation, Lilia Gumerova, presented the Russian experience in improving regulation and proposed the Eurasian Patent Office to advance cooperation within the framework of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Science and Education.

The Director of the Department for Transition and Developed Countries of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Asan Habip, emphasized the international nature of the IP system and the importance of developing regional cooperation. The Deputy Director of Rospatent, Andrey Solonovich, noted that the most complex problems in the development of national IP ecosystems can be solved through the development of integration.

The opening ceremony ended with the awarding of the EAPO’s highest awards. The Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics and the Director General of the National Center of Intellectual Property of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Ryabovolov, were awarded with the V.I. Blinnikov Gold Medal "For Promoting Invention and Patent Practice.”

The President of the Eurasian Patent Office moderated the section "Intellectual Property Integration within the Eurasian Space". The Head of the Office stressed the importance of the common information and examination space.

This direction implies harmonization of approaches when granting patent protection, including with the participation of the Assembly of Eurasian Patent Attorneys, increasing the efficiency of procedures and reliability of granting legal protection, data and patent information exchange to improve the work of national patent offices' examiners.

Within the section, the participants discussed the directions and mechanisms of the development of examiner cooperation in the Eurasian region, international experience of the examination optimization by the largest patent offices, and a specific example of cooperation between the EAPO and the Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia.

The speakers discussed the improvement of digital services in the Eurasian Patent Office, the national patent offices, the digitalization of Rospatent, and the pilot project of the Federal Agency for Legal Protection of Military, Special, and Dual-Use Intellectual Property Assessment. Galina Podrezenok, First Deputy Director of the National Center of Legislation and Legal Research of the Republic of Belarus, noted that the formation of the Eurasian intellectual property market is in high demand and that a legal basis for its operation already exists. The Chairman of the Council of the Assembly of Eurasian Patent Attorneys, Sergey Belyaev, highlighted the willingness of patent attorneys to actively participate in the development of the IP system in the Eurasian space.