The growing interest in intellectual property and information technology has affected the spheres
of life in various ways, notably through changes in legislation, both international and domestic.
The Republic of Armenia is no exception. Moreover, the adoption of the RA Law ‘On Patents’
in 2021 made the Republic of Armenia the second state after the USA to secure the possibility to
patent information technologies.
That is why it is proposed to consider the specificity of information technology patent in the
context of the mentioned law.
Basic concepts
The notion of information technologies is reflected in par. 1 of pt. of Article 3 of the Law of the
Republic of Armenia ‘On state support in the field of information technologies’ and is
interpreted as follows: ‘computer, in particular software, service or management information
systems, as well as multidimensional information, including all kinds of technology of creation,
conversion, storage, protection, processing, transmission and protection of data, images
(movable, immovable).
The concept of a patent is enshrined in par. 8 of pt. 1 of Article 2 of the Law of the Republic of
Armenia ‘On Patents’ and is presented as a document certifying the fact of granting legal
protection to the invention and, consequently, exclusive right to invention.
The invention can preserve a technical solution in any field relating to a product (in particular,
a device, a material, a biotechnological product) or to a method (a process for performing
operations on a material object with the aid of material means) including the use of the
product or method. Furthermore, inventions relating to computer algorithms and software
inventions, as varieties of information technology, are protected if they relate to the method and
meet the requirements (conditions) for patentability, which are novelty, industrial applicability
and the presence of an inventive level.
These categories should be considered in more detail:
o Novelty:
The invention is new if it is not a separate unit of technical level.
The technical level includes any information concerning the solution (of individual parts) of a
given field of equipment (individual parts) up to the date of the first invention of the invention,
orally or in writing in the world or in any other way. Information accessible by any permitted
means is considered public. Open access solutions are included in the technical level if such use
has taken place in the Republic of Armenia.
o Industrial applicability
The invention is industrially applicable if it can be used in industry, agriculture, healthcare and
other fields.
o Inventive level
The invention has an inventive level if it is not known to follow the technical standard for a
specialist in the field.
Summarising all previously said, it became possible to patent information technologies in
the Republic of Armenia if the information technology meets the following requirements:
o relates to the method;
o has the patentability, in other words, is new, industrially applicable and has an
inventive level.
Author:
Anna Khalatyan
Junior lawyer
anna.khalatyan@lawsuit.am
