The European continent is ‘split’ between the European Patent Convention (EPC) countries and the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC) countries. The EPC was the model for the EAPC; therefore Eurasian patents work in a similar way to European patents in EPC countries.

There are eight EAPO member states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Moldova is a former member state; in 2011, it denounced the Eurasian Patent Convention, the treaty that instituted Eurasian patents and the EAPO in 1995.

Minimal Filing Requirements

Patent Applications

• Applicant data
• Name, address and occupation of the inventor
• Priority application data
• Patent specification
• Drawing and claim

All other documents may be filed subsequently. Powers of attorney and declarations need not be legalized or notarized unless requested by the Patent and Trademark Office.

Some documents may require translation into Russian.