Managing Partner / Patent Attorney of the Russian Federation / Eurasian Patent Attorney
Sergey Zuykov commented on the termination of cooperation between the European Patent Office and the national patent offices of Russia and Belarus
On March 1, the European Patent Office ceased cooperation with the national patent offices of Russia and Belarus: “An immediate decision has been taken to freeze our co-operation activities with the national patent offices of the Federation of Russia and of Belarus, as well as to put on hold our co-operation activities with the Eurasian Patent Organisation. Looking ahead, we will assess and debate other possible measures and consequences with our 38 Member States, extension states and observers in preparation of the next Administrative Council meeting on 22 March.”
In a commentary for URA.RU, the managing partner of Zuykov and partners, Patent Attorney of Russian Federation and Eurasian Patent Attorney Sergey Zuykov noted that the refusal of the European Office to work with the Russian Federation does not cause direct damage, but in the future it can do harm. “There is no direct cooperation between the European Patent Office and Rospatent, the Bureau of Belarus, the Eurasian Patent Office. There is no direct damage as such. But the European Patent Office is next after the largest WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). That means the EPO defines a certain policy. And how this will affect further relations, in particular, between Rospatent and WIPO, worries me much more than the relationship between the Russian Federation and the European Office,” Zuykov expressed concern. The expert emphasized that the WIPO is significant for Russia.