On March 24, 2022, the fifth consultation session of the Intellectual property Advisory Office for exporters is completed.
The question of a representative of the internal affairs bodies from one of Minsk districts concerned the possibility to find out the existence of rights to sell goods under the rightholder's trademark.
The answer showed several ways to find out the existence of rights to sell goods by a Belarusian entity under the trademark of a foreign manufacturer.
The first is to clarify the existence of the trademark right itself on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. The website of the National Center of Intellectual Property publishes information about trademarks registered under the national procedure in our country by both Belarusian and foreign copyright holders. In addition, the website of the World Intellectual Property Organization provides information about trademarks registered in our country according to the international procedure under the Madrid System of International Trademark Registration.
Only the existence of the right to a trademark in the Republic of Belarus gives grounds for granting the right to use it by selling goods under such a trademark.
The second way is to study the relevant documentation available to the seller of the goods: copies of contracts, shipping documentation of the seller available at the place of sale of the goods. In addition to the waybill, there may be a bill of lading, an invoice. The bill of lading specifies such shipping documents as certificates, packing lists, trademark certificates, etc. It is possible to find out directly whether the business entity has agency or other relations (dealer, distributor, license or other similar agreements) between the copyright holder or manufacturer and the seller of the goods or products.
In accordance with Article 6.13 of the Procedural and Executive Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses, an official representative of the body conducting the administrative process has the right to require the seller of goods to submit items, documents, including information relevant to the case.
The third way is to track the customs registers of intellectual property objects of the Republic of Belarus and the EAEU, posted on the website of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Belarus and the EEC.
The fourth way is to track the availability of contracts granting the right to use the trademark through the website of the National Center of Intellectual Property. It publishes the official bulletin "Trademarks and Service Marks. Geographical indications". The bulletin contains information about trademark license agreements and franchise agreements.
There is another possibility in terms of obtaining information about license agreements, franchise agreements or contracts for the assignment of trademark rights, that is a request for a statement of a trademark from the State Register of License Agreements, Assignment Agreements and Pledge Agreements for Intellectual Property Rights of the Republic of Belarus, as well as from the State Register, franchising agreements of the Republic of Belarus. The amount of the patent fee for such a statement is 5 basic units.
