Article 1390. The Expert Examination of a Utility Model Application

1. An expert examination shall be carried out in respect of a utility model application received by the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters to verify the availability of the documents mentioned in Item 2 of Article 1376 of the present Code, their compliance with established requirements and the observance of the unity of the utility model (Item 1 of Article 1376), and also it shall be established if the declared solution is a technical solution protectable as a utility model. The compliance of the utility model declared with the conditions of patentability set out in Item 1 of Article 1351 of the present Code shall not be verified in the course of the expert examination. The expert examination of a utility model application is subject to the provisions established by Items 2, 4 and 5 of Article 1384, Items 2 and 3 of Article 1387, Articles 1388 and 1389 of the present Code respectively.

2. The applicant and third persons are entitled to petition for an information retrieval in respect of the utility model declared intended for assessing the state of the art in comparison with which the patentability of the utility model can be assessed. The procedure and term for carrying out the information retrieval and the provision of information on the results thereof shall be established by the federal executive governmental body charged with normative legal regulation in the area of intellectual property.

3. If the utility model claim proposed by the applicant comprises features that were lacking as of the date of filing of the application in the description of the utility model and features that were lacking in the utility model claim (if the utility model application as of the date of filing thereof contained such claim) the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters shall send a request to the applicant to remove these features from the claim.

4. If as the result of the expert examination of the utility model application it is established that the application is filed for a technical solution protected as a utility model, and the documents of the application meet the established requirements, the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters shall take a decision on issuing a patent with an indication of the date of filing of the utility model application and the priority established. If as a result of the expert examination it is established that the utility model application is filed for a solution not protected as a utility model the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters shall take a decision on refusing to issue a patent for the utility model.

5. If as a result of the examination of a utility model application by the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters it is established that the information contained therein is deemed a state secret the documents of the application shall be classified as secret in the procedure established by the legislation on state secrets. In this case the applicant shall be informed that the utility model application may be withdrawn or transformed into a secret invention application. The examination of the application shall be suspended until a relevant application is received from the applicant or until the application is classified as non-secret.

Article 1391. The Expert Examination of an Industrial Design Application

1. An industrial design application received by the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters shall be subjected to a formal expert examination to verify the availability of the documents mentioned in Item 2 of Article 1377 of the present Code and their compliance with established requirements. If the result of the formal expert examination is positive an expert examination of the industrial design application on the merits thereof shall be carried out as including the verification of the declared industrial design's compliance with the conditions of patentability established by Article 1352 of the present Code.

2. In the course of the formal expert examination of the industrial design application and the expert of the application on the merits thereof the provisions of Items 2-5 of Article 1384, Item 5 of Article 1386, Item 3 of Article 1387, Articles 1388 and 1389 of the present Code shall be respectively applicable.

Article 1392. The Temporary Legal Protection of an Invention

1. An invention for which an application has been filed with the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters shall enjoy temporary legal protection starting from the date of publication of information on the application (Item 1 of Article 1385) until the date of publication of information on the issuance of a patent (Article 1394), within the scope of the invention claim published but not exceeding the scope defined in the claim contained in the decision of the said federal body on the issuance of the patent for the invention.

2. The temporary legal protection shall be deemed non-existent if the invention application has been withdrawn or deemed withdrawn or if in respect of the invention application a decision has been taken to refuse to issue a patent and the possibility of appealing against this decision envisaged by the present Code has been exhausted.

3. The person that uses a declared invention during the period specified in Item 1 of the present article shall pay monetary compensation to the patent holder after a patent is received. The amount of the compensation shall be set by agreement of the parties or, in the case of a dispute, by the court.