COVID-19: Russian Lockdown, Rospatent and EAPO activities

In a further attempt to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian president decreed another extension (until May 11) to the stretch of non-working days previously declared from March 30 to April 30.

In actuality, only three of the days from May 1 to May 11 were supposed to be working days in 2020 (namely, May 6, 7, and 8). All the other days from May 1 to May 11 are statutory holidays.

The president declared that a plan to ease the restrictions starting May 12 is being developed. The plan will differ across regions and will depend on epidemic conditions.

Currently, the Russian Patent and Trademark Office (Rospatent) and the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) are partly open in a remote mode, accepting incoming documents filed through their custom electronic systems. Payments of official fees are also accepted in the usual manner. The date a document was received via the portal is recorded as the date the document was accepted. However, both the EAPO and Rospatent confirmed that all due dates falling in said period would be automatically extended to the next official working day (which was supposed to be May 6).

Up to now, there is no confirmation from Rospatent Patent Office as to whether it will continue limited remote operations May 6–8 or if the due dates will be further extended, but there is a strong possibility that the current situation will be prolonged until May 11. The EAPO officially confirmed that the regime of remote work would be prolonged to said three days and all due dates would be extended to May 12.

We will keep this page updated as new information becomes available.