Patents of Invention

– Patent, Utility Model and Industrial Designs Law of December 16, 2002, with amendments as of December 18, 2017.

Membership in International Conventions

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as of April 26, 1970.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), as of May 31, 1992.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, as of April 14, 1993.
– The Patent Cooperation Treaty, as of April 14, 1993.
– Eurasian Patent Convention, as of August 12, 1995.
– Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification, as of December 31, 1997.
– Budapest Treaty on the Deposit of Microorganisms, as of October 19, 2001.
– Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, Section XXIII, as of October 9, 2013, effective from January 1, 2015.
– Patent Law Treaty, as of October 21, 2016.

Filing

Applicant: individuals or legal entities.

Foreigners: must elect a patent agent in Belarus and enjoy the same rights as nationals.

Patentability: a patent is granted for an invention which is new, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable.

Novelty: an invention is new if it is not known by the prior art, or from earlier Belarusian applications.

Novelty grace period: twelve months before the filing or priority date, if disclosure is made by the inventor or his successor in interest.

Scope of protection: patents can be granted for devices, processes, substances, strains of microorganisms, cultures of vegetal and animal cells, and for the use of a known device, process, substance or strain for a new purpose.

Chemical and pharmaceutical products as well as diagnostic and therapy methods for human and animal treatment are patentable.

Exceptions to protection: scientific theories, methods of economic organization and management, schedules and rules, as well as algorithms and computer programs as such. Solutions contrary to humanitarian principles or morality are not recognized as inventions.

Unity of the invention: the application for an invention must cover one invention only, or a group of inventions forming a single inventive concept.

Priorities: according to the Paris Convention, can be claimed until two months after filing.

Exhibition priority: none. 

Territory covered: the Republic of Belarus.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney, simply signed;
2. Assignment of rights to patent, if the inventor is not the applicant;
3. Specification and abstract (may be filed in Belarusian, Russian or any other language whereby a certified Belarusian or Russian translation should be filed within a two-month term);
4. Drawings, if any;
5. Priority certificate, if any (to be filed within three months from the filing date).

Electronic filing: available.

PCT applications: time limit for entering national phase: 31 months from the priority date for both Chapter I and Chapter II. For further procedures, an international filing date is considered as a national filing date. If designated/elected for a Eurasian regional phase, applicable time limit: 31 months (Chapters I and II).

For a change of name or address:
1. A copy of the extract from the Trade Register or any other document showing the change of name/address;
2. An original power of attorney in the new name/address, simply signed.

Examination Procedure

Examination: a formal examination and a delayed full examination.

The formal examination is carried out one month after the filing of the application particulars in Belarusian or Russian language. The application is published eighteen months after the filing date without full examination.

Full examination, including novelty and inventive level, is carried out on the applicant’s or a third person’s request, presented within three years of the filing date with payment of an examination fee.

Amendment of application: additional materials extending or changing the subject matter are not accepted.

Granting

After payment of the examination fee, the results of the examination are communicated to the applicant within twelve months. If the Patent Office does not receive any objection within six months, the decision to grant is issued and the abstract of the invention published in the Official Gazette of the Patent Office. The recognition of an invention is certified by a patent document (in paper format) after payment of the granting fee, which covers two years annuities.

Beginning and duration of protection: twenty years from the filing date of the patent application.

Extension: for a maximum of five years; provided for a patent related to drugs, pesticides or agricultural chemicals. 

Paediatric extension: not provided for. 

Annuities: have to be paid for maintaining the patent validity, starting with the third year.

Annuity grace period: six months, with a 50% fine. Note: the patent validity term which expired due to non-payment of a due annuity, but the protection term has not yet expired, can be restored upon the owner’s request.

Modification of Protection after Granting

Transformation into a utility model: possible.

Opposition to the Patent Office’s granting decision is possible within six months after publication of the abstract in the Official Gazette.

Invalidation: is provided for, based on unlawful grant of a patent or wrong indications of the data in the application or in the granting decision.

Licenses: must be registered with the Patent Office.

Compulsory licenses: may be accorded in case of non-working during three years after the date of grant, with compensation. Further, since 2023, granting a compulsory license by an administrative procedure for the public interest is available. The decision on its provision will be made by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus. The person, to whom a compulsory license is granted, is obliged to pay remuneration to the patent holder. Such license can be issued to ensure national security.

Infringement: are dealt with by the Supreme Patent Chamber Court.