The Eurasian Economic Union was created in 1994, culminating in
the 2014 Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The current
members of this trading block are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, and the Russian Federation, plus three observer states
(Cuba, Moldova, and Uzbekistan). From the beginning, the EAEU
envisioned creating a unified IP protection and enforcement system.
The first step in this direction was the entering into force, in
1995, of the Eurasian Patent Convention, comprising eight member
states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan). This system is
administered by the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO). The most
recent development on the patent front was the EAPO Pharmaceutical
register, which came into force on March 1, 2021.
