FAQ

As part of the validation procedure, some states require partial or full translation, as well as a power of attorney. The requirements vary vastly, for different states the following requirements apply:

No translation requirements: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Tunisia, UK.

Claims translation only: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cambodia, Denmark, Croatia, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden.

Full text translation: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey.

 A Power of Attorney is required in all validation states, except for Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the UK.

Many applicants are informed that some states provide patent protection for utility models, but petty patent is not always the same.

Only devices are protected as utility models in most jurisdictions, but not only devices are protected as petty patents. All technical solutions that meet novelty and industrial applicability criteria may be protected as petty patents or utility innovations.

Petty patent and utility innovation are protected in some ASEAN states such as Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia.

The term for Direct EP validation expires 3 months after the date of publication and mention of the grant of the patent. Late validation, restoration or re-establishment of rights is not available.

Regarding Unitary patent:

The deadline for requesting a Unitary Patent is one month after the grant, and re-establishment of rights at the EPO is available. The deadline to apply for re-establishment is two months from expiry of the one-month term.

Even if the deadline for claiming priority was unintentionally missed, there is still a chance to enter the national phases in some countries.

The WIPO website informs that many states do not allow the restoration of priority when entering national phases https://www.wipo.int/pct/en/texts/restoration.html

However, some patent offices allow priority rights restoration even if they are marked as “No restoration” or “Due care”.

In Algeria, the applicant can file a petition to restore priority, providing explanations for missing the priority deadline along with the evidence confirming due care. The Algerian PRO may require additional documentary evidence, and the decision also depends on the expert.

The EPO also provides an opportunity to apply for the restoration of the right to claim priority, even if the deadline for filing a PCT application has been unintentionally missed. However, evidence of due diligence is required, because the EPO applies due care criteria.

Similar rules are applied by the Thai patent office, where the applicant has the opportunity to apply for priority rights restoration even if the PCT application was filed with priority rights restoration under unintentional criteria. Like the EPO, the Thai Office requires evidence of due diligence.

A Eurasian patent is granted by the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO). Criteria of patentability under Eurasian legislation correspond to PCT Regulations, European Patent Convention (EPC) and to legislation of the world developed countries.

After the grant, the Eurasian patent provides protection for an invention in member states of the Eurasian Patent Convention (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan).

The Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) provides such paid services as: accelerated formal examination, accelerated substantive examination and accelerated publication and issuance of the Eurasian patent.

In addition, the EAPO is a participant in the Patent Prosecution Highway Programme (EA-PPH program), which provides applicants with the opportunity to more quickly and efficiently consider applications for patents for inventions by using the results of patent search and examination previously conducted in other patent offices participating in the EA-PPH program.

Thus, accelerating the proceedings using the proposed methods allows you to obtain the Eurasian patent within 6-12 months.

According to the Eurasian Patent Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and its Regulations shall be applied in the Eurasian Patent System and, in the case of conflict between them, the former shall prevail.

Moreover, the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) shall be a receiving Office, and also a designated and an elected Office, under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. In addition, the EAPO has the status of International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authority under the Treaty.

Three core requirements must be met: the invention must be novel (new), non-obvious (not an obvious variation of existing ideas), and useful. A prior art search is the essential first step — it reveals whether similar inventions already exist in patents, publications, or public disclosures. We conduct professional prior art searches and provide an honest assessment before you invest in a full application.

These three forms of intellectual property protect different things. A patent protects an invention or innovation. A trademark protects brand identifiers — names, logos, slogans — that distinguish your goods or services in the marketplace. A copyright protects original creative works: text, images, music, software code. Many businesses need all three, and we help you map the right protection to each asset.

The European Patent Office has been actively refining its approach to AI-assisted inventions. Under the EPC, an inventor must be a natural person — AI systems cannot be named as inventors. However, patents for AI-related technical solutions remain fully available when the claims are properly structured around a specific technical problem. If your product incorporates AI, early consultation on claim strategy is essential before filing.

Unlike the U.S. system, the European Patent Convention does not provide a general grace period for pre-filing disclosures. If an invention is publicly disclosed — in a paper, at a conference, or even on a website — before the patent application is filed, novelty is destroyed under EPO standards. This is one of the most common and costly mistakes inventors make. File before you disclose.

A granted European patent can be challenged by any third party within nine months of grant through the EPO opposition procedure. Conversely, if a competitor holds a patent that threatens your freedom to operate, opposition is a powerful and cost-effective tool. Our team represents clients in both defending and challenging patents at the EPO Opposition Division and Board of Appeal.

Yes. A PCT application can designate both EPO (covering EPC member states) and EAPO (covering Eurasian member states) as regional authorities. This gives you a coordinated international filing strategy from a single priority date. During the international phase, you receive an International Search Report that helps assess patentability before committing to regional prosecution costs.

The EPO accepts applications in English, French, or German — these are the three official languages of the EPO. If filed in another language, a translation into one of the three must be submitted within two months. The EAPO accepts applications in Russian; applications filed in other languages must be accompanied by a Russian translation. We prepare and file applications in all required languages.