The European Patent Office and The Federal Service for Intellectual Property on November 17th launched a joint project aiming to make the two bodies’ patent systems more compatible.

The main objective of the project, which will run over the next 12 months, is to examine current Russian patent legislation and make recommendations on how to align it more closely with European legislation as well as to develop patent guidelines that can be used by patent examiners at the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (Rospatent). The project will also seek to streamline Russia’s patent application, registration and processing procedure to approximate them to the EU approach, and facilitate the teaching of intellectual property economics in Russia.

Moreover, experts will address the Russian system of granting supplementary protection for pharmaceuticals in the light of current European administrative and judicial practice.

More information can be found at www.epo.org.