Annual Technical Report on Industrial Design Information Activities in 2023 submitted by the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO)

I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Development of industrial design information activities is addressed as part of the following strategic documents: EAPO Development Program for 2023–2028 (Section 3, “Digitalization of Eurasian Patent Office.”), The EAPO Digitalization Concept until 2030, Comprehensive plan for interaction on information technology issues with the national IP offices of the EAPO Member States for 2023–2028.

...

The first stage of the project was completed in the year under review. It included the creation of the new official EAPO website, the upgrading of the Automated General Workflow Management System (AGWMS), and the development of a detailed plan for the second stage of activities. All of these project objectives were successfully completed. The first stage of the project laid the foundations for the introduction of fully revamped services of the EAPO website, which is planned for 2024. The IIS project provides for the phased introduction of the new system by the end of 2025.

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

In 2023, the Eurasian Patent Office received 369 Eurasian applications for 860 industrial designs. In 2022, 233 applications for 639 industrial designs were received. In 2023, the list of items for which Eurasian design applications were filed expanded to 28 classes of the International Classification of Industrial Designs (ICID).

...

10) Guidelines for the Drafting, Filing and Examination of an Application for Eurasian Industrial Design Patent.

III. SOURCES OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Informing of third parties and the general public about submitted for registration and registered industrial designs is one of the key principles of the Eurasian system of legal protection of industrial designs. Mandatory publication of both lodged and registered industrial designs is provided for by the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention of September 9, 1994, adopted on September 9, 2019 (hereinafter referred to as the Protocol). On the website of the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) www.eapo.org free access is granted to:

...

Main types of publications in the field of industrial design information

Official Gazette

EAPO Gazette "Industrial Designs (Eurasian Applications and Eurasian Patents)" is published monthly online at EAPO website at https://www.eapo.org/ru/?publs=desbull. At the same time, the actual publication of industrial designs in the Gazette is carried out instantly (on the daily basis), i.e. industrial design information ready for publication is placed in the corresponding online Gazette on the day when its technical preparation is actually finished.

...

EAPO Gazette contains all official information about changes in the legal and procedural status of Eurasian industrial design applications and patents. Similar information about changes in the legal and procedural status of Eurasian applications and patents is available at the Eurasian publication server, which provides users with extensive search capabilities, including search in announcements. The legal status of Eurasian industrial design patents is also indicated in the Register of Eurasian industrial design patents.

IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

The Eurasian regional system of legal protection of industrial designs supports application filing and the registration procedure administration in electronic form. Eurasian applications are submitted electronically through the EAPO-ONLINE system. This tool allows to:

...

Servers similar to HP, Dell, ORACLE, Cisco, Lenovo from 100 to 200 pcs.

V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION

Access to Eurasian industrial design information and the use of this information is invariably included in the topics of EAPO speakers when delivering presentations as part of the promotion activity of the new Eurasian system of legal protection of industrial designs.

...

On December 2023, the EAPO in cooperation with the Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property held an online seminar on patenting of industrial designs within the Eurasian Patent Organization. Examiners from the EAPO, national patent offices of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation highlighted the specifics of the national systems for industrial design patenting during the seminar.

VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION

EAPO took part in the meeting of the Coordination Committee of CISPATENT project (regional patent database covering information on inventions protected in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan). The initiative was launched to expand coverage of CISPATENT data and include industrial design information.

...