Eurasian Patent Office Increases Official Fees and Limits the Term for Extending Deadlines

Effective 1 February 2026, the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) will increase official fees applicable to invention and industrial design patent applications and patents and will introduce noteworthy amendments to its Patent Regulations.

For inventions, most fees will rise by 7% to 25%; for designs (which were not increased last year), the average increase will range from 30% to 50%. (Eurasian official fees are set in rubles, and given that the ruble has strengthened considerably against all major currencies since the last fee increase, the effective rise will be even more pronounced for foreign applicants.)

Uncharacteristically, the fees for extending the deadline for responding to an official action have doubled. This amendment came together with introducing the maximal period of extensions to the term for filing the response to official actions for invention applications.

Before the change, an applicant could request deadline extensions for filing a response without limitation. At the same time, the official fee increases on a monthly basis. Starting 1 February 2026, the maximal period of extension is set at 24 months. The terms extended for a longer period before 1 February 2026 will remain in force.

Once the new rules take effect, the official fee for the first year of extensions will amount to RUB 268,000 and for the second year, the applicant will pay RUB 918,000 (about USD 12,000).

The current changes do not affect maintenance fees.

The other amendments to the Patent Regulations entering into force on 1 February 2026 include the following:

Inventions:

• The list of non-patentable subject matters is expanded to include the following:
  • Methods of human cloning and human clones;
  • Methods of modifying the genetic integrity of human germline cells;
  • Use of human embryos for industrial and commercial purposes;
• Patent publications are excluded from the category of prior disclosures that do not prejudice patentability.
• The extension of the term of a Eurasian patent is addressed more explicitly.
• The Eurasian Patent Office has been granted the right to request from the applicant the results of patent searches performed by other international and national offices in respect of applications in the same patent family.

Designs:

• In addition to rejection decisions, grant decisions can now be appealed.
• The period for challenging a Eurasian patent before the EAPO is now the entire term of the patent’s validity instead of three years.
• A new chapter concerning International Applications under the Geneva Act (1999) of the Hague Agreement has been added to the Patent Regulations on industrial designs. The new chapter will not enter into force on 1 February 2026, but will take effect upon completion of all formalities required under the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement.