Patent

Yes. A copy of a POA is required for filing an application. Without a POA copy, the application will not be accepted by Laos Department of Intellectual Property.

Pharmaceutical products are not patentable in Laos. This is because under the Decision of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of 6 November 2015 Laos, being a ‘least developed country’, is not obliged to enforce rights with regard to pharmaceutical products at least until 1 January 2033.

Please note that the Laos Patent Office does not have a substantive examination process in place with regard to patent applications. Instead, Applicants are encouraged to submit granted claims of corresponding applications in other jurisdictions with a well-developed patent system such as the European Patent Office (EPO), Japan Patent Office (JPO), United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO). However, please note that submission of said granted claims do not automatically lead to a grant of a patent in Laos, but simply serves to assist the Examiner/Registrar in the prosecution process.

At present, Laos has only officially implemented the acceleration process of granted claims from JPO. The same for other jurisdictions are yet to be established. Nevertheless, in case the Applicant does not have a Japanese corresponding application, it is possible to submit granted claims of other jurisdictions (i.e. EPO, USPTO, KIPO and SIPO), to assist the Examiner/Registrar in the grant of the Laos patent.

Yes. Utility models are included within the scope of national phase applications with respect to PCT applications in Laos.

See Laos Patent System for further information.

Yes. One may protect computerized inventions with a utility model in Laos.

See our Laos Patent System for further information.