Second Round of Discussions on Procedural Issues of EAPO Application for Appointment as ISA/IPEA

The second meeting of coordinators of regional groups of the WIPO Member States on procedural issues of the Eurasian Patent Office’s application for appointment as an International Searching Authority (ISA) and an International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) took place on July 22, 2020 via videoconference.

The further discussion was caused by evolution of the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and the decision of WIPO Member States to postpone all principal meetings of WIPO Committees and bodies, which the WIPO Secretariat had proposed to hold remotely from June to September 2020.

Coordinators of regional groups, EAPO representatives, certain WIPO Member States and the Secretariat discussed procedural options for the ISA/IPEA appointment under the current circumstances, legal aspects of this procedure, as well as the certain cases and practice for appointment of international authorities.

Avoiding to prolong the appointment process, consensus was reached on the convening of the 31st session of the PCT Committee for Technical Cooperation with inclusion consideration of the EAPO application in the agenda. The session will be held in a “hybrid” format in yearly October this year, with the further consideration of outcomes at the forthcoming extraordinary meeting of the PCT Union Assembly in the first quarter of 2021.