EAPO
Six countries have formally recognized the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) as a designated International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA), one year after the office was appointed as an ISA and IPEA.
Beginning on July 1, 2022, the office began doing patent searches in regard to PCT applications and producing draft assessments of an invention’s patentability.
A preliminary patent assessment gives applicants the chance to speak with the examining authority immediately to get a professional opinion on whether or not an invention qualifies for patent protection (e.g the EAPO). Thus, before beginning the national and/or regional processes, applicants can evaluate their chances of obtaining patent protection in PCT member states.
In the event that a preliminary assessment of patentability is not favorable, applicants may alter their applications and claims to improve their prospects of being granted a patent. Additionally, a negative patentability assessment may lead an applicant to decide against continuing with the prosecution of a patent application, saving money that could otherwise be squandered on an unpatentable invention.
Taiwan
On September 1, 2022, the Taiwanese Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) put new rules into effect governing the examination of trademark distinctiveness.
The new version provides additional criteria for the evaluation of distinctiveness as well as sample justifications for numerical and alphanumeric combinations, among many other changes to the present rules. It is envisaged that by doing this, applicants and examiners would have access to more detailed information about the distinctiveness of marks that incorporate numerical features, particularly those that are used across different sectors.
A number of amendments to the existing rules have also been established. As a result, new standards for nation names, geographic pictures, and geographic names used in product origin descriptions will be developed, along with categories for “popular,” “pure informative,” and “commercial design” visuals. The revised rules will include standards for the inaccurate use and/or misrepresentation of items of origin in the area of geographical representation.
The new guidelines also contain criteria for determining the names and pictures of recently departed well-known public personalities as well as phrases and symbols from religions.
The revised guidelines also update the requirements for trademark distinctiveness in reference to slogans, everyday phrases, and innovative and technical terminology, as well as the compositional patterns of foreign alphabets.
Ukraine
The EUIPO has adopted a two-month delay in connection to IP concerns for all parties participating in proceedings before the EUIPO who are domiciled or have a registered office in Ukraine due to the ongoing military activities in that country. All time limitations that were set to expire between September 2, 2022 and November 1, 2022 are extended by two months, according a publication dated August 28, 2022. This extension follows prior decisions made by the Executive Director of EUIPO that allowed applicants and right holders to keep their intellectual property (IP) in this region from expiring due to the situation.