How To Simplify Patent Security Clearance For Inventions

This article was originally published on IAM Media.

When an invention is made in Russia, the filing of counterpart patent applications in other countries is temporarily restricted for national security reasons.

For inventions created in Russia, the first patent filing must be made at the Russian Patent and Trademark Office (Rospatent) as a national filing or as a Eurasian or Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application. If the applicant decides to file a PCT application, then Rospatent should be designated as the receiving office and protection in Russia should be sought to comply with the national security provisions.

Rospatent will carry out a security screening to ensure that the application does not contain state secrets. If Rospatent does not notify the applicant in writing that the invention contains a state secret within six months, then the application may be filed abroad.