All of the 15 independent States, former republics of the ex-Soviet Union, have established their own Patent Offices and Patent Legislation and are members of the Paris Convention and PCT. However, in an effort to regain some of the advantages of the former sole Soviet patent (and the difficulties in most countries in carrying out the substantive examination), a new patent convention has been created. The Eurasian Patent Convention * (text established in Moscow on September 9, 1994) entered into force on August 12, 1995, after ratification by four countries.

The following nine States have so far ratified the Convention: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova (denunciation of the Convention with effect from April 26, 2012), Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan.

Moldova denounced the Convention from April 26, 2012. Said denunciation does not affect granted Eurasian patents or applications filed before April 26, 2012 containing the designation of the Republic of Moldova for a Eurasian patent; these patents and applications continue to have full effect. All annuities for Eurasian patents which are valid in the Republic of Moldova are paid to the Eurasian Patent Office as before.

The Convention allows the filing of one patent application in the Russian language with an automatic designation of all member States. After the grant of a Eurasian Patent, the patentee shall indicate in which member States he desires to maintain the patent. Fees are then due with respect to each member State.

As of January 1, 1996, it is possible to designate the Eurasian regional phase in a PCT application, (as for the EP-regional phase), the designation including all countries for which the Convention is in force at that point in time. The Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) also accepts direct applications. The Office is located in Moscow where a complete examination is carried out, including grant and issuance of a single patent document. After-grant aspects (validity, infringement, etc.) are handled by the national authorities.

As of July 1, 2022, the EAPO acts as the International Searching Authority. The claims may be adjusted through the EAPO. Using the EAPO as a searching authority gives an opportunity to reduce the cost of the single procedural fee for filing Eurasian applications patent fees by 40%.

*Text of the Eurasian Patent Convention, see: Convention part of Manual, under “Regional Conventions”, Eurasian Patent Convention.