Patent registration in Armenia. Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country located in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia. Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage. Armenia is a developing country and ranks 81st on the Human Development Index (2018). Its economy is primarily based on industrial output and mineral extraction. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Armenia.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Armenia
The necessary documents for patent registration in Armenia include the following:
- The request to grant a patent (The patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s and inventor’s names, addresses, and citizenships, etc.;
- A description of the invention (even if it complies with formal requirements only).
- A filing number and date of a priority application or a PCT application;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
Notes about patent registration in Armenia
For conventional applications, it is necessary to provide a certified copy of a priority document if priority is claimed. The necessary document may be delivered to the Armenian Patent Office within 3 months from filing an application.
The Power of Attorney should be submitted to the Armenian Patent Office within 2 months from the filling of the patent application in Armenia.
The novelty grace period for a patent in Armenia is 12 months from the disclosure of the information on invention before filing an application or a priority date thereof if priority is claimed.
The term for entering the Armenian national phase of a PCT application is 31 months from the priority date. The term for filing a conventional patent application in Armenia is 12 months from the priority date.
Besides from traditional method of obtaining a patent in Armenia, the applicant/inventor may also seek patent protection in Armenia through the Eurasian patent system.
The patent registration procedure in Armenia
Normally, within 3 months from the filing date, the examiners at the IP Office of Armenia will conduct a thorough formal examination on the application to check if the application for patent registration in Armenia complies with the regulations of the law and it is patentable.
After the formal examination, the applicant may ask to be granted a preliminary patent on his/her own liability on the basis of the formal examination as the substantive examination is not stipulated in Armenia.
However, with this method, the patent validity is restricted to only 10 years from the filing date, not 20 years.
Accordingly, within 9 years from the filing date, the applicant needs to submit substantive examination results carried out by a patent organization having the status of an international preliminary examination body or another authorized agency to obtain a full patent protection period of 20 years.
Nonetheless, it should be noted that this period is for normal invention.
It is possible to apply for an extension of this term for additional 5 years if the patent is pharmaceutical patents and patents for agrochemicals. In case the protection period for the patent is expanded, the Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) will be published.
You can see a list of Armenia IP Firms here