Institutional Reform of the Intellectual Property Offices in Bolivia, EAPO and the UAE

The intellectual property office of Bolivia has implemented a change to a select number of IP fees, whilst the IP office of the UAE has amended certain trademark regulations, and the EAPO has commenced acceptance of applications under its new industrial design system.

EAPO
The EAPO has announced that it will begin accepting applications under the Protocol to the Eurasian Patent Convention on the Protection of Industrial Designs from June 1, 2021, following a decision regarding the adoption of necessary internal regulations. The Protocol initially entered into force on March 17, 2021 in the territory of Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Armenia, which were later followed by Russia and Kazakhstan, whereby it entered into force on April 11, 2021 and April 12, 2021 respectively. Establishing a system for the protection of industrial designs in the region of Eurasia, the Protocol now allows for the filing of one design application in Russian, accompanied by the payment of a single set of fees directly with the EAPO. Designs filed via the EAPO in this manner will be valid only in the territory of member states in which the Protocol has entered into force on or before the filing date of the design application.

Bolivia
The intellectual property office of Bolivia has implemented new IP fees in relation to the publication of applications for IP protection in the Official Gazette. As such, the fee for the publication of a patent, utility model or industrial design application in the Gazette will constitute 400 BOB in relation to applications submitted from those who are not nationals of Bolivia. Furthermore, the fee for the publication of a trademark application will be 510 BOB, and copyright publications will comprise 120 BOB. These new fees should be paid upon the filing of an application to the Bolivian IP office and will enter into force on May 4, 2021, 40 business days after the announcement by the office on March 9, 2021.

UAE
The Trademark Office of the United Arab Emirates has amended its regulations in relation to the late filing of a Power of Attorney (POA) for trademarks. As of April 11, 2021, the office will now allow for the late filing of a legalised POA in respect of trademark applications filed on or after this date. As such, a trademark applicant is no longer obliged to submit a legalised POA at the time of filing, and instead it can be submitted at any point within the prescribed 30 day grace period. This term is non-extendable, therefore applicants who seek trademark protection in the UAE should be vigilant in the filing of a POA within the 30 days of filing the application. The new grace period is not applicable to the submission of oppositions or appeals to the UAE trademark office and a POA should be filed alongside the application for such actions.

The commencement of acceptance of applications for Eurasian designs is a positive step for the advancement of the intellectual property system in the region, whilst the introduction of a grace period for POA's in relation to trademark applications is hoped to assist applicants in their endeavours to obtain IP rights in the UAE. The introduction of new publication fees for IP applications in Bolivia is in line with the inflation of fees in various other IP offices across the globe, assisting the Bolivian office to fulfill its duty in granting IP rights to applicants.