The State Duma introduced the possibility of obtaining patents in electronic form

On July 8, 2020, the State Duma adopted a bill in third reading, which will allow copyright holders to obtain patents in electronic form, and will also make it possible to attach three-dimensional models to materials when registering intellectual property.

The amendments were prepared as part of the federal project “Normative regulation of the digital environment” of the national program “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation” in order to improve the system of state registration of intellectual property, including reducing the time for examination and improving its quality.

According to the amendments to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, security documents, with the exception of a patent for a secret invention, will be issued in electronic form while retaining the possibility for the applicant to receive them at will on paper.

In addition, applicants will be able to attach their three-dimensional models to applications for state registration of intellectual property. It concerns inventions, utility models, industrial designs and trademarks.

The three-dimensional models presented by the applicant in the application materials will be used only when Rospatent conducts an examination of the declared results of intellectual activity. The publication of three-dimensional models is not provided.

Active implementation of digital services and electronic document management is supported by the Ministry of Economy of the Republic. Training seminars and consultations on obtaining grant support and preparing security documents are held for innovators and inventors.

In order to develop intellectual property in the republic, with support of the Ministry of Economy and the State Unitary Enterprise RT Tatarstan CSTI, a digital platform TatPatent has been created (https://patentrt.ru/), which combines a number of important areas - from design and patent offices to creation services applications for competitions and grants, as well as assistance in registration of intellectual property. Today, on the basis of TatPatent, the possibility of online filing of documents for interaction with the patent office on the basis of CSTI and preparation of examination for the registration of a patent has been implemented.