§ 7. The Details of the Legal Protection
and Use of Secret Inventions

Article 1401. Filing and Considering a Patent Application for a Secret Invention

1. The filing of a patent application for a secret invention (a secret invention application), the consideration and the handling of such application shall take place in the observance of the legislation on state secret.

2. Applications for secret inventions for which the secrecy classifications "special importance" or "top secret" have been established, and also the secret inventions deemed means of weaponry and military machinery and methods and means in the area of intelligence, counter-intelligence and operative search activities and for which the secrecy classification "secret" has been established shall be filed depending on the their topical belonging with the federal executive governmental bodies, the State Atomic Power Corporation Rosatom authorised by the Government of the Russian Federation (authorised bodies). Applications for other secret inventions shall be filed with the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters.

3. If it has been established when the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters considered an invention application that the information contained therein is classified as a state secret such application shall be classified as secret in the procedure established by the legislation on state secrets, and it shall be deemed a secret invention application. It is prohibited to classify as secret an application filed by a foreign citizen or a foreign legal entity.

4. When a secret invention application is being examined the provisions of Articles 1384, 1386-1389 of the present Code shall be applicable respectively. In this case no information shall be published concerning the application.

5. While establishing the novelty of a secret invention the state of the art (Item 2 of Article 1350) shall also include -- if having an earlier priority -- the secret inventions patented in the Russian Federation and the secret inventions for which certificates of authorship have been issued in the USSR, unless the degree of secrecy established for these inventions exceeds that of the invention whose novelty is being assessed.

6. An objection against a decision taken on a secret invention application by the authorised body shall be considered in the procedure established by it. A decision taken on such objection may be challenged in the court. 7. The secret invention applications are not subject to the provisions of Article 1379 of the present Code on the transformation of an invention application into a utility model application.

Article 1402. The State Registration of a Secret Invention and the Issuance of a Patent for It. Propagating Information on a Secret Invention

1. The state registration of a secret invention in the State Register of Inventions of the Russian Federation and the issuance of a patent for the secret invention shall be carried out by the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters, or if the decision on the issuance of a patent for the secret invention has taken by an authorised body, by that body. The authorised body that has registered a secret invention and issued a patent for a secret invention shall notify accordingly the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters. The authorised body that has registered a secret invention and has issued a patent for it shall make introduce amendments relating to the correction of obvious and technical errors in the patent for the secret invention and/or the State Register of Inventions of the Russian Federation.

2. No information shall be published on applications and patents for secret inventions and also on the amendments relating thereto made to the State Register of Inventions of the Russian Federation. Information about such patents shall be passed in accordance with the legislation on state secrets.