USPTO stops fast-track patent examinations from Rospatent
The US Patent and Trademark Office has announced that it will no longer grant requests from Russia’s IP office to participate in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH).
From today, March 11, the USPTO will not accept the fast-track patent examination applications from Rospatent in protest over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
All pending requests granted “special status” under the fast track service prior to March 11, 2022, will have their status revoked and will no longer be treated as GPPH applications at the USPTO.
The GPPH was introduced to speed up the examination process for applications filed at the USPTO.
The service broadly refers to a situation where if one or more claims of a patent submitted to a local IP office is found to be patentable, a request can be made to accelerate the examination of those claims at another IP office in a separate jurisdiction.
In a short statement, the USPTO also reiterated that it had terminated its engagement with Rospatent, the Eurasian Patent Organisation, and the national IP office of Belarus.
“Like so many, we are deeply saddened by the events unfolding in Ukraine. We hope for the restoration of peace and human dignity,” said the USPTO.
Ukraine fallout
This is the latest in a slew of announcements from international IP offices cutting ties with their Russian counterparts.
On Wednesday, March 2, the UK Intellectual Property Office said that it would be immediately ceasing business with Russian agents through “robust” sanctions.
Also imposing sanctions on Russian counterparts last week was the European Patent Office, which announced that it had halted its cooperation with Rospatent and the Eurasian Patent Organisation.
In response to these actions, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia said that it is considering suspending IP rights that protect certain goods and services that currently cannot be protected due to sanctions.
It noted that patents and trademarks could be suspended in order to facilitate the free use of technologies that were “deprived” from Russian citizens following the wave of sanctions from international businesses.
For more on this, read Russia’s IP threat: what might happen next?
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