The Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) has announced that it will accept Eurasian design patent applications from 1 June 2021.
On 9 September 2019 the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention was signed in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. According to the protocol, rights holders will be able to obtain legal protection for their industrial designs in all member states through a single Eurasian patent.
A Eurasian design patent will have legal effect within a member state's territory where the corresponding Eurasian design application has been filed after the protocol has taken effect in that state.
As of 15 April 2021 the protocol had taken effect in five out of the eight member states – namely:
- Armenia;
- Azerbaijan;
- Kazakhstan;
- Kyrgyzstan; and
- Russia.
Therefore, patents granted based on first applications that are filed from 1 June 2021 will be valid in these countries.
In the development of the protocol's provisions, the EAPO approved the official fees for industrial designs and adopted Part II of the Patent Regulations, which contains provisions pertaining to the processing of Eurasian design applications.
