Working visit to the United States Patent and Trademark Office

On May 14, 2018, Ms. Karlygash Esembayeva, Director of the Intellectual Property Rights Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Mr. Yerbol Ospanov, Director of the National Institute of Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, visited the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to have a meeting with Mr. Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO.

At the meeting, both of them reconfirmed their commitment to further recognizing the importance of the intellectual property system in terms of its role in encouraging innovations. They also confirmed the importance of a Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Cooperation between the National Institute of Intellectual Property and USPTO concluded on December 2016, which designed to enhance both the mutual understanding and cooperative relationship between the two Offices.

In addition, the delegation from Kazakhstan met with Mr. Robert Bahr, Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, Mr. Christian Hannon, Patent Attorney, Office of Policy and International Affairs, and Mr. Thomas Beach, Chief Data Strategist & Portfolio Manager, Office of the Chief Information Officer. At the meeting, they discussed recent developments and trends in software patenting and using artificial intelligence in order to improve efficiency of thepatent examination.

The Kazakh delegation acquainted the U.S. side with the legal basis of intellectual property protection in the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the current activities of the National Institute of Intellectual Property in digitizing its services.

Going forward, the Kazakhstan patent office is committed to further strengthening its cooperative relationship with the USPTO.