Eurasian Design System Enters into Force in Tajikistan, EAPO to Serve as ISA, IPEA

On November 30, 2021, the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention entered into force in Tajikistan, three months after the country deposited its instrument of ratification with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The Eurasian industrial design protection system became operational on June 1, 2021, when the Eurasian Patent Office started accepting design applications, allowing applicants to obtain protection simultaneously within the territory of the states where the Protocol was in force – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia. Now Tajikistan has been added to the list of countries.

The two remaining Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) member states – Belarus and Turkmenistan – have yet to complete their ratification procedures. According to Article 22 of the Protocol, Eurasian design patents will have legal effect in the EAPO member states in which the Protocol was in force on the application filing date.

Additionally, on November 22, 2021, EAPO and WIPO signed an Agreement appointing EAPO as an International Searching Authority (ISA) and an International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) for the period from the date of entry into force of the Agreement until December 31, 2027. The date of commencement of the EAPO as an active ISA and IPEA will be announced in due course.

Prepared by: Djurdja Krivokapić

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Source: EAPO website