Turkmenistan will become the final Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) member state to join the Eurasian industrial design protection system, following the deposit of its instrument of accession to the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention. The Protocol will enter into force in Turkmenistan on 4 January 2025.

The Eurasian design system, which has been operational since 1 June 2021, allows applicants to obtain simultaneous protection in the EAPO member states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and, with effect from 4 January 2025, Turkmenistan. Applicants can file a single Eurasian design application, covering up to 100 industrial designs in the same class under the International Classification for Industrial Designs, in order to secure protection across all member states.

Numerous of the USPTO’s fees for patent matters are set to increase on 19 January 2025, including the fees for filing a patent application, Requests for Continued Examination, appeals and the issuance of patents. It is therefore worth considering filing any items with fee increases prior to 19 January 2025 so as to benefit from the current lower fees.

On 15 September 2025, the Qatari Patent Office has reinstated the requirement to pay annuities on pending applications.  As a result, applicants are required to ensure that all outstanding annuity fees are paid on each anniversary of the effective filing date of their patent applications (which, for PCT national phase applications, is deemed to be the international filing date), from the 2^nd annuity onwards, regardless of whether a grant decision has been issued. 

Uruguay will deposit its instrument of accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty on 7 October 2024, and the agreement will enter into force 3 months later, on 7 January 2025.  This accession to the PCT represents a culmination of the country’s efforts to support locally generated inventions, foster investment, create new business opportunities, and elevate Uruguay’s position in the international patent arena.  

A resolution was published in Argentina on 26 August 2024 which requires that, within 60 calendar days from notification in the Patent Bulletin, applicants with pending patent applications in Argentina must make an express statement as to whether or not the priority claimed has been granted in the country of origin.

The Qatari authorities have recently updated their policy on the requirement to pay annuities in respect of patent applications. The newly issued policy dictates that the 4th and subsequent patent annuities cannot be paid until the grant decision is issued, with no option to do so before that time. Accumulated back annuities are payable along with the grant fee, and then subsequent annuities are payable annually on each anniversary of the filing date.

Laos has recently joined Morocco, the Republic of Moldova, Tunisia, Cambodia and Georgia as a “validation state” of the European Patent Office. This development will provide EP patent right holders with a streamlined market access into Laos and will also allow companies, research institutes and inventors in Laos to access the benefits of the European patent system.