Annual Technical Report on Industrial Design Information Activities in 2025 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 area of industrial design information will also be significantly boosted by the creation of the Integrated Information System (IIS) of the EAPO, which should replace most of the digital tools currently engaged in the processing of industrial design data. Industrial design data extraction in accordance with WIPO Standard ST.96 was implemented in 2025 (the data have been issued since October 2025); the adoption of WIPO Standard ST.87 is planned.

In 2025, due to the development of the Eurasian procedure for patenting industrial designs, the EAPO further enhanced the set of automated information systems. This set of tools provides electronic environment for filing, registration, examination of industrial design applications, granting of Eurasian industrial design patents, registration of changes in legal status and publication of applications and patents.

The EAPO information systems reflected all the innovations within the framework of the Eurasian system of legal protection of industrial designs; further automation and scaling at certain stages of the procedure were ensured.

A major institutional development took place on 4 January 2025, when Turkmenistan acceded to the Eurasian Industrial Design Registration System; as a result, all newly filed Eurasian industrial designs are now granted patent protection concurrently in all eight EAPC Contracting States.

With a view to revamp the existing information systems and to ensure the further digitalization of the office as a whole, the creation and rollout of the Eurasian Patent Organization’s Integrated Information System continued in 2025.

In 2025, a new EAPO IIS module for the preparation of official publications was put into operation, replacing the HIVE system previously used for publication purposes. The module covers the entire cycle of the processing of application and patent documents for both inventions and industrial designs, including the processing and publication of announcements; since August 2025, the EAPO Gazette and the databases of electronic publications and services have been produced using the new module.

In 2025, all major digital services of the EAPO website relating to industrial designs were redesigned in full, including the Publication Server, the electronic Gazette, the Register of Published Industrial Design Applications, Eurasian Design Patent Register, and the Fee and Payment Calculation Sheet for industrial designs (Fee Calculator); the updated services allow access to their data via API.

Web services (API) are available in EAPO-ONLINE for filing industrial design applications, supplementary files for industrial design applications and divisional applications.

The functionalities for working with industrial designs, digital three-dimensional models, electronic digital signatures, and a number of other functions in EAPO-ONLINE were expanded in the reporting year in response to requests from users of the system.

In 2025, the information technology units of the Eurasian Patent Office proceeded with the implementation of modern practices using AI tools in the office’s operations.

The AI-based technology for the industrial design image search continued to be developed in 2025. The image collection used for the image-based AI search of industrial designs reached 607,931 images, while the number of requests to the system increased by 12%. The system operates with images of Eurasian industrial designs as well as industrial designs from several EAPO Member States, and it is planned to build a common regional search database that will allow examiners of the Eurasian Patent Office and the national patent offices to assess the novelty of industrial designs, including the level of similarity of claimed industrial designs with trademarks registered in the region. In the reporting year, the AI-based image search system, developed previously, was put into industrial operation.

On 1 September 2025, the Eurasian Patent Office established a Center for the Implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technologies, which coordinates the office’s AI activities, including IP image search applied to industrial designs.

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

In 2025, the Eurasian Patent Office received 566 Eurasian applications for 1228 industrial designs. In 2024, 562 applications for 1204 industrial designs were received.

In 2025, Eurasian design applications continued to cover a broad range of classes of the International Classification of Industrial Designs (ICID).

The majority of industrial design applications were filed in respect of the following classes of ICID:

Class 9 (“Packaging and containers for the transport or handling of goods”) — 12.5%;

Class 12 (“Means of transport or hoisting”) — 10.6%;

Class 25 (“Building units and construction elements”) — 8.7%;

Class 6 (“Furnishing”) — 7.4%;

Class 23 (“Fluid distribution equipment, sanitary, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment, solid fuel”) — 5.8%;

Class 32 (“Graphic symbols and logos, surface patterns, ornamentation, arrangement of interiors and exteriors”) — 5.5%;

Class 2 (“Articles of clothing and haberdashery”) — 4.6%;

Class 14 (“Recording, telecommunication or data processing equipment”) — 4.4%;

Class 27 (“Tobacco and smokers’ supplies”) — 4.1%.

In 2025, the Eurasian Patent Office granted 531 patents for 1125 industrial designs. In 2024, 402 Eurasian patents for 961 industrial designs were granted.

In 2025, the EAPO examiners used the 15th edition of the ICID, which entered into force on January 1, 2025.

Useful links (URLs)

Legal information on industrial designs: selected normative acts (in English): https://www.eapo.org/en/documents-2/legal-protection-of-industrial-designs/

Annual Report of the Eurasian Patent Office:
https://www.eapo.org/wp-content/themes/eapv-theme/reports/report2025/services/en

Documents related to the filing of Eurasian industrial design applications and regulating other aspects of the patent procedure are available at www.eapo.org / section “Documents” / subsection “Legal Protection of Industrial Designs” (in Russian only, unless otherwise stated):

1) Patent Regulations under the Eurasian Patent Convention. Part II. Industrial Designs (translation into English is available);

2) Statute on Fees of the Eurasian Patent Organization for Legally Significant and Other Actions Performed in Relation to Applications for the Grant of Eurasian Industrial Design Patents and Eurasian Industrial Design Patents (translation into English is available);

3) Rules and Requirements Related to the Application for the Grant of a Eurasian Industrial Design Patent;

4) Procedure for Completing the Request Form for the Grant of a Eurasian Industrial Design Patent;

5) Procedure for Completing Web Forms for Filing Eurasian Industrial Design Applications;

6) Procedure for Granting Eurasian Industrial Design Patents;

7) Procedure for Maintenance of the Register of Eurasian Industrial Design Patents;

8) Procedure for Preliminary Examination of an Application for Eurasian Industrial Design Patent;

9) Procedure for Substantive Examination of an Application for Eurasian Industrial Design Patent;

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

11) Procedure for Electronic Exchange of Copies of Earlier Applications and Applications for the Grant of Eurasian Patents in the Framework of Eurasian Patent Procedures.

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:

- EAPO Gazette "Industrial Designs (Eurasian Applications and Eurasian Patents)", available under section "Applications and Patents" of the website;

- Eurasian Publication Server, section "Information resources" of the website;

- Index of applications for industrial designs under section "Applications and Patents". This information source allows to browse all published Eurasian applications with the main representation of the product and, if necessary, proceed to the details of the particular application. Also, in the case of registration of an industrial design (or several industrial designs), the status of the application changes in the Index, namely, the number of the Eurasian patent is displayed in addition to the number of the Eurasian application. https://www.eapo.org/pubservices/designs-register/en

- Oppositions against grant of Eurasian industrial design patents (in Russian) https://www.eapo.org/applications-and-patents/vozrazheniya-protiv-vydachi-evrazijskogo-patenta-na-promyshlennyj-obrazecz/

- Eurasian Design Patent Register https://www.eapo.org/pubservices/info/registry/designs/patents

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.

The EAPO Gazette main sections:

BZ1L – Eurasian industrial design applications (publication of applications);

FG4L – Eurasian industrial design patents (publication of patents);

PB4L – Eurasian industrial design patents, from which certain industrial designs were excluded as a result of the transfer of the exclusive right to industrial designs under an agreement;

TH4L – Republication of Eurasian industrial design patents (correction or amendment of images of an industrial design in a Eurasian patent);

TZ4L – Republication of Eurasian industrial design patents (amendment in the title page).

The following announcements are published in the EAPO Gazette:

Announcements related to Eurasian industrial design applications:

FA9L – Withdrawal of a Eurasian industrial design application

FC9L – Refusal to grant Eurasian industrial design patent

HC1L – Change in name of an applicant in a Eurasian industrial design application

HK9L – Corrections to EAPO Gazette “Industrial Designs” related to published Eurasian industrial design applications

HM1L – Change in composition of creators in Eurasian industrial design application

TH1L – Correction or amendment in the Eurasian industrial design application (change of images)

NF9L – Restoration of right in respect of a Eurasian industrial design application

PC1L – Registration of transfer of right to a Eurasian industrial design application under a contract

PD1L – Registration of transfer of right to a Eurasian industrial design application by succession in title

PB1L – Registration of transfer of right to a Eurasian industrial design application in respect of certain industrial designs under a contract

Announcements related to Eurasian industrial design patents:

LC4L – Eurasian industrial design patents for which, pursuant to Rule 116(5) of Patent Regulations, decision of partial grant of opposition was made

LD4L – Eurasian industrial design patents for which a decision of limitation was made on the basis of request filed pursuant to Rule 118(2) of Patent Regulations

MA4L – Revocation of a Eurasian industrial design patent at the proprietor’s request

MC4L – Revocation of a Eurasian industrial design patent in full under administrative opposition procedure

MD4L – Opposition filed to granted Eurasian industrial design patent

MF4L – Designated states decision on revocation of a Eurasian industrial design patent in full

MH4L – Designated states decision on revocation of a Eurasian industrial design patent in part

MK4L – Eurasian industrial design patents expired after termination of the term of validity

ND4L – Extension of term of validity of a Eurasian industrial design patent

NG4L – Rejection of opposition to granted Eurasian patent

NZ4L – Discontinuation of processing of opposition to granted Eurasian patent

PB4L – Registration of the transfer of the exclusive right to certain industrial designs in a Eurasian industrial design patent under a contract

PC4L – Registration of transfer of the exclusive right to all industrial designs in a Eurasian patent under a contract

PD4L – Registration of transfer of right to a Eurasian industrial design patent by succession in title

RE4L – Registration of pledge of right to an industrial design

QB4L – Registration of license agreement / sublicense agreement / other agreement in a Contracting State

QZ4L – Amendments and supplements in a license agreement / sublicense agreement / other agreement in a Contracting State

QC4L – Termination of a license agreement / sublicense agreement / other agreement in a Contracting State

QM4L – Decision on invalidation of a license agreement / sublicense agreement / other agreement in a Contracting State

RH4L – Grant of a duplicate of an industrial design protection certificate

RL4L – Decision of a court or other competent authority in respect of Eurasian industrial design patent

RB4L – Cancellation of registration of transfer of the exclusive right to an industrial design

RF4L – Cancellation of registration of pledge of the exclusive right to an industrial design

TB4L – Change in the composition of creators in a published Eurasian industrial design patent

TC4L – Change in name of a patent proprietor in a Eurasian industrial design patent (without change in its legal status)

TK4L – Corrections to EAPO Gazette “Industrial Designs” related to published Eurasian industrial design patents

TH4L – Republication of Eurasian industrial design patents (corrections or amendments of the images of industrial design in a Eurasian patent)

TZ4L – Correction or amendment in a Eurasian industrial design patent (front page)

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:

1) establish the date of receipt of the application;

2) view the current procedural status of the application;

3) receive notifications about the receipt of new correspondence from the EAPO (in case the Agreement on the receipt of correspondence from the EAPO in electronic form is concluded).

The EAPO uses SOPRANO procedure automation tool for industrial designs, linked with ePHOENIX/MADRAS electronic dossiers system.

All documents related to each particular industrial design application are available to EAPO examiners in ePHOENIX electronic dossier system. Applicants have access to the same set of documents related to their applications in the relevant personal accounts of EAPO-ONLINE tool.

In 2025, the creation of a new electronic dossier module within the EAPO IIS began; pilot operation of the new module is planned for 2026.

SAP Crystal Reports is used to generate statistical data.

When claiming priority for a Eurasian industrial design application on the basis of a previous application available in the WIPO DAS digital library, the applicant may submit to EAPO a WIPO DAS access code for this application instead of providing a certified copy of the application on paper. In addition, EAPO acts in WIPO DAS as a depositing office, placing Eurasian industrial design applications in this digital library based on the applicants' requests.

According to the Part II of the Patent Regulations under the Eurasian Patent Convention, at the examination stage, the compliance with appropriate patentability criterion of each industrial design in the Eurasian application, in respect of which the Eurasian Office has received a notice of opposition on the grounds of novelty or originality, is verified, limited to information contained in the opposition.

When necessary, examiners of the office use subscription-based and free internet information sources about industrial designs and trademarks. The examiners also use, if necessary, information from the open registers of industrial designs and trademarks of the States Party to the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention, available in Russian, as well as information from the WIPO’s Madrid Monitor and the WIPO’s Hague Express Database. The regional database with an image search feature continued to be developed in 2025: the collection used for the image-based AI search of industrial designs reached 607,931 images and the number of requests to the system grew by 12%. The database contains information on industrial design applications and patents from the Eurasian Office and a number of EAPO Member States.

General software used to support business procedures within the Office:

Crystal Reports; IBM DB2; IBM Http server; JIRA; Microsoft Exchange Server; Microsoft SQL Server; Windows Server; Linux OS.

Hardware used to support business processes of the Office:

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.

In 2025, matters of industrial design registration and protection were covered, inter alia, within the framework of the following events:

– 13^th International Legal Forum “Legal Protection of Intellectual Property: Problems of Theory and Practice”, including the round table “The Legal Space of Eurasia: Regulation and Mechanisms of IP Protection” and the session “Resolution of IP Disputes in Eurasia: Trends and Prospects” (14 February, 2025, Moscow, Russian Federation);

– Annual meeting with Eurasian patent attorneys at the Eurasian Patent Office (25 April, 2025);

– Final of the 17^th International Olympiad on Intellectual Property for high-school students (26 April, 2025, Moscow, Russian Federation);

– Astana International Forum (29-30 May, 2025, Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan);

–  2^nd International Conference of the Assembly of Eurasian Patent Attorneys (June 12–13, 2025, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia)

– 5^th International Scientific and Practical Conference “Intellectual Property in the Modern World: Challenges of the Time and Prospects…” (7 October, 2025, Minsk, Republic of Belarus);

– IP Eurasia / IP Kazakhstan 2025 (5 December, 2025, Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan);

– Eurasian Patent System User Day (December, 2025, Moscow, Russian Federation).

Detailed information about the events is available at www.eapo.org, "News and Press Releases" section.

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

In the reporting year, the Eurasian Patent Office implemented the extraction of data on published Eurasian industrial design applications and patents in XML format in accordance with WIPO Standard ST.96, to be used in global and regional data exchange; the data have been issued since October 2025.

Adopting the export of data on Eurasian industrial designs in XML format allowed the Eurasian Patent Office to begin integration with the Global Design Database administered by WIPO. In 2025, the EAPO agreed with the WIPO International Bureau on the data exchange format, arranged the regular provision of newly published information, and transferred the complete collection of back file publications; WIPO specialists created a dedicated server on which, together with representatives of the EAPO, the display of Eurasian data in the WIPO global database is being configured.

In 2025, the EAPO’s accession to the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs was agreed upon with the EAPO Member States; the depositing of the act of accession of the EAPO to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement is scheduled for 2026. In October 2025, the Administrative Council in Ashgabat unanimously decided to initiate integration with the global WIPO Hague System.

In view of the above, the Office has planned for 2026 major automation activities to support the Hague procedure.

At the IP Eurasia / IP Kazakhstan 2025 conference (December 2025), the EAPO presented a new project — the Common Register of Industrial Property Rights — designed to provide, through a single-window system, complete information on industrial property patented and registered across the Eurasian region.

VII. ACTIVITIES RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WIPO STANDARDS CONCERNING INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION

WIPO Standard ST.2:  Standard manner for designating calendar dates by using the Gregorian calendar

Fully implemented

WIPO Standard ST.3:  Recommended standard on two-letter codes for the representation of states, other entities and intergovernmental organizations

Fully implemented

WIPO Standard ST.13:  Recommendation for the numbering of applications for industrial property rights (IPRs)

No plan to implement

WIPO Standard ST.80:  Recommendation concerning bibliographic data relating to industrial designs

Fully implemented

Certain INID codes are used from WIPO Standard ST.9.

WIPO Standard ST.81:  Recommendation concerning the content and layout of industrial design gazettes

Partially implemented

No physical or page-based publication is produced.

WIPO Standard ST.86:  Recommendation for the processing of industrial design information using XML (extensible markup language)

No plan to implement

The EAPO processes industrial design information using WIPO Standard ST.96 (see below) rather than ST.86.

WIPO Standard ST.87:  Recommendation for the exchange of industrial design legal status data

Planning to implement

In 2025 the EAPO established procedures for exchanging design data with IP offices of the Eurasian region; exchange of legal status data in accordance with ST.27/ST.87 remains under development.

WIPO Standard ST.88:  Recommendations for electronic representation of industrial designs

Fully implemented

WIPO Standard ST.90:  Recommendation for processing and communicating intellectual property data using web APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)

Partially implemented

Some improvements are planned for 2026, as well as launch of new APIs.

WIPO Standard ST.91:  Recommendations on digital three-dimensional (3D) models and 3D images

Fully implemented

Supported 3D model formats include STEP, STP, STL, OBJ and U3D.

WIPO Standard ST.92:  Recommendations on the data package format for the electronic exchange of priority documents

On implementation phase

WIPO Standard ST.96:  Recommendation for the processing of intellectual property information using XML (extensible markup language)

Fully implemented

In 2025, a new EAPO IIS module for exporting published Eurasian applications and patents for both inventions and industrial designs in XML format in accordance with WIPO Standard ST.96 was put into operation; industrial design data have been issued since October 2025. The ST.96 data model was developed in close interaction with the XML4IP Task Force of the Committee on WIPO Standards.

WIPO Standard ST.97:  Recommendation for processing of intellectual property data using JSON

On assessment phase

VIII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

None.