The national phase in Russia starts only if the applicant performs certain acts either before the expiration of a certain time limit or earlier if accompanied by the express request. The applicant should not expect any notification from the Russian Patent Office (Rospatent) inviting him to perform those acts. It is his own responsibility to perform them in due time.
The following acts should be performed:
- payment of the official filing fee,
- submitting a special request and a translation of an application into Russian language.
If a decision to enter the Russian national phase is made in a few days before the expiration of the time limit for entering, filing a special request in Russian language or a translation of the PCT request into Russian will be enough to enter. The Russian translation of an application and even an official filing fee in this case may be submitted after expiration of a time limit for entering without necessity of payment any additional fees. The deadlines for these acts are the following: the filing fee must be paid not later than two months from the date of issuing of corresponding notification by Rospatent; the Russian translation of an application must be filed not later than three months from the date of issuing of a corresponding request for Formal examination by Rospatent.
If the applicant wishes to obtain a utility model registration in Russia instead of an invention on the basis of an international application, the applicant should file a special request for entering the national phase as a utility model. Please be aware that in accordance with Russian Patent Law a utility model application shall relate to a single utility model. If your international application contains a group of utility models, you will have to split it up when entering the national phase in Russia, and file a separate application for each utility model.
Another way to cover Russia on PCT national phase is entering the PCT national phase before the Eurasian Patent Office. The term for entry of the national phase before the Eurasian Patent Office is the same as for Rospatent. Eurasian patent provides protection in 8 states: Azerbaijan Republic, Republic of Armenia, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Russia. In case of the Eurasian regional phase you can file only a patent application for an invention.