The Government of the Russian Federation supported the Russian Ministry of Economic Development ' s bill to amend the Civil Code to change the deadline for applications to the Rospatent for registration of inventions.

Now, in the case of disclosure of the nature of the invention (e.g. in the scientific article), the applicant (inventor) has six months to apply for registration in Rospatent, using the right of priority, the so-called innovative benefit. This applies to any form of disclosure, including at exhibitions.

But often the inventors lack the time to prepare the necessary documents. In addition, in challenging technical solutions (one of the conditions of patentability) in connection with the discovery of their nature, Russian patent holders are in a more vulnerable position than foreign nationals whose legislation provides for 12 months ' grace periods.

“To address this problem, the Ministry of Economic Development has drafted a bill which amends the Civil Code and sets a 12-month priority for inventions. This would provide an enabling environment for the protection of their rights by Russian claimants, inventors and developers, to the extent permitted by international law, " commented on the Deputy Minister for Economic Development of Russia, Maxim Kolesnikov.

" The verification of the innovation is based on all information that has become publicly available. This includes the information disclosed by the complainant himself. The time limit for filing a patent application after the invention is made is necessary to keep it new, i.e. to give the inventor the opportunity to patent it. Once the bill is passed, it will increase from 6 to 12 months. The introduction of this amendment to existing legislation will support domestic patent holders in patent disputes " noted in Rospatente.

The relevance of the draft law is also due to the fact that Russian developers often publish scientific articles on their technical decisions, and then, within six months, they are in a hurry to apply for inventions, and they are not always able to do so.