The law on patent examination outsourcing came into force
02.08.2021
On August 1, 2021, Federal Law No. 262-FZ “On Amendments to Part Four of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation” came into force. The bill was prepared by the Ministry of Economic Development.
According to the law, a procedure for preliminary information search and preliminary assessment of patentability for applications for inventions and utility models is introduced with the involvement of accredited specialized Russian scientific and educational organizations.
As accredited organizations, Russian organizations operating in specific areas of technology will be involved, in the state of which there are specialists, having competencies in the field of information retrieval and evaluation of the patentability of technical solutions.
In particular, such organizations can be institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences, research institutes, leading universities. Their accreditation will be carried out by Rospatent free of charge.
Accreditation of a scientific and/or educational organization will be carried out based on the scientific competencies that its employees possess.
The scientific competencies of an organization are defined according to the International Patent Classification (IPC) or Joint Patent Classification (CPC) indices.
Applicants will be able to use the preliminary information search service on a voluntary basis. The cost of services will be determined by scientific and educational institutions based on the complexity, volume and term of each information search in the contracts concluded between the applicant and organizations.
Applicants are also provided with a reduction in the size state fees by 50% in the event that in respect of patented inventions and utility models an examination was carried out by scientific or educational organizations accredited by Rospatent. Earlier, the corresponding resolution was signed by the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin. In addition, according to the decree, from August 1, 2021, fees for the issuance of duplicate patents for an invention, utility model, industrial design and duplicate certificates for means of individualization in electronic form have been reduced from the current 1,500 rubles to 800 rubles.
"The law is aimed at increasing the attractiveness and convenience of public services provided Rospatent. It will allow copyright holders to register innovative developments faster and cheaper. Outsourcing of patent examination of complex technical solutions will allow for a deeper examination in the shortest possible time,” said Vladislav Fedulov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development.
“Thanks to the law, more specialists who have practical skills in conducting informational patent search and evaluation of patentability, analysis of patent and other documentation in various fields of science and technology. As a consequence – the quality of patents will improve by attracting industry experts in specific narrow and cutting-edge areas of science and technology,” said Grigory Ivliev, head of Rospatent.
Russian Ministry of Economic Development
Information retrieval procedure, currently stipulated by the Civil Code, is maintained and will be carried out by Rospatent, taking into account the results of the preliminary procedures.
