Sakpatenti introduced the Final Version of the Draft Amendment to the Statute of the Chamber of Appeals to the Patent Attorneys

For the purpose of formulation and systemic refining the norms related to hearing of appeals and regulation anew of various procedural issues, the work is drawing to a close at Sakpatenti on the draft amendments to the Statute of the Chamber of Appeals of the Office.

To finalize the viewpoints concerning the draft, to share the vision of the Office, in general, and the process of development of its strategy, Sakpatenti Chairman held a meeting with the patent attorneys. At the meeting the issues related to the reformation of the institution of patent attorneys were discussed. It is noteworthy that attestation of patent attorneys has not taken place since 2011.

At the meeting, the initiative of Sakpatenti and the Government of Georgia concerning a 50% reduction in the fees for trademark applications in case of their electronic filing was highlighted. This initiative is aimed to support applicants, both natural persons and legal entities, which consequently will have a favourable effect on the activities of the patent attorneys.

During the meeting the final version of the draft amendments to the Statute of Sakpatenti Chamber of Appeals was introduced to the patent attorneys. In the draft, viewpoints of the patent attorneys were taken into consideration partially. The draft amendments to the Statute, aroused by the necessities identified in the process of hearing appeals, shall be approved by the end of the current year.

Important issues of the draft amendments to the Statute of the Chamber of Appeals include definition of the terms and conditions for deeming information containing a commercial secret as a commercial secret, regulation of the terms and conditions for suspension of proceedings on the appeals of third parties, if Sakpatenti decision regarding granting protection to international trademarks in Georgia is appealed. In addition, according to the draft, it is planned to formulate anew the norms regulating suspension of appeals, time limits and recuse.

Patent attorney is a natural person, working in the field of intellectual property and is registered in the Register of Patent Attorneys of the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia Sakpatenti, according to the legislation of Georgia.