New Rules for Calculating the Term for Lapsed Patents Reinstatement

The Supreme Court’s Ruling No. 300-KG18-3083 dated May 17, 2018 led to a significant change to the RUPTO’s practice regulating the term provided for reinstatement of lapsed patents. Now, the 3-year term for the reinstatement of rights to a patent is calculated from the date of expiration of the additional 6-month term for payment of the annuity (rather than from the regular annuity payment date).

According to the Decision of the Court for Intellectual Property Rights (IP Court) on the case No. SIP-140/2017 dated September 26, 2017 (as further confirmed by the Resolution of the IP Court Presidium dated 21.12.2017 and the above mentioned Supreme Court Ruling), Article 5.bis of the Paris Convention on Industrial Property should be construed differently as compared to the interpretation previously existing in the RUPTO's practice. The IP Court further elaborated that any ambiguity in Russian law on how to calculate relevant period of time should be interpreted in favor of the person applying to the state authorities for the reinstatement of their rights to the lapsed patent.