USPTO Issues Updated Statement Regarding Rospatent, the Eurasian Patent Organization, and the National IP Office of Belarus

On March 22, 2022, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued an updated statement, based on guidance from the U.S. Department of State, confirming that it terminated engagement with the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent), with the Eurasian Patent Organization, and with the national intellectual property office of Belarus.

The USPTO also reiterated that it has stopped granting new Global Patent Prosecution Highway (Global PPH or GPPH) requests that are based on work performed by Rospatent, and that it will terminate previously granted Global PPH requests that are based on work performed by Rospatent as the Office of Earlier Examination (OEE). Such applications previously granted special status will revert to “the regular processing and examination queue” and “will no longer be treated as GPPH applications at the USPTO.” 

The updated statement also directs any questions regarding interactions with Rospatent to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Finally, the updated statement warns applicants filing under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) that selecting Rospatent as the International Searching Authority (ISA) or International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) “may prevent successful processing of international applications under the PCT, including the transmittal of required fees through financial institutions.”

The USPTO’s updated statement was announced on March 22 by email to stakeholders and on its website, at:  https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/uspto-statement-engagement-russia-and-eurasian-patent-organization and at:  https://www.uspto.gov/patents/basics/international-protection/patent-cooperation-treaty

We will provide more information as it becomes available.