Manager (Patents and Trademarks), Attorney

Manager (Law Practice)

A representative of a Belarusian software company from Grodno region applied with a question about the differences between the deposit of a computer program with UE “Belpatentservice” of the BelCCI and its registration with the National Intellectual Property Center.

First of all, the answer covered the general aspects of these procedures.

Services on voluntary registration of a computer program (hereinafter - CP) or database (hereinafter - DB) in the NCIP and their deposit in the UE “Belpatentservice” of the BelCCI are rendered within the framework of income-generating activities of both entities.

Registration in NCIP and their deposit in UE “Belpatentservice” BelCCI is voluntary and is not a condition or a basis for the emergence of the exclusive right to the CP or DB.

Information about the objects voluntarily registered in NCIP or deposited in UE “Belpatentservice” of the BelCCI may be used in court as an evidentiary basis in respect of the disputed KP and/or DB. The procedures are carried out at the request of the right holder or author for the purpose of additional confirmation of the following facts:

·        the existence of the CP and/or database as of a certain date;

·        indication of a person as the right holder of the object and/or author as of a certain date;

·        indication by the applicant of information about the CP or DB, which is contained in the application for registration or deposit and the documents and materials attached to it.

Both NCIP and the UE “Belpatentservice” of the BelCCI shall carry out the following general actions:

·        Accept for storage a digital copy of the CP and/or DB with the necessary documents and materials in order to preserve the submitted information in an unchanged state.

·        Enter information about CP and/or DB into the Register of computer programs of NCIP or the List of deposited computer programs.

·        Place information about CP and/or DB, including information about right holders and/or author (co-authors), on their sites in the global computer network Internet.

·        Provide the applicant with a non-legal information document on voluntary registration and deposit of a computer program and/or database.

·        Charge a fee for the service of registration or deposit of CP and/or database.

As for the differences, they are as follows:

·        Whereas the UE “Belpatentservice” of the BelCCI issues an information document in the form of a credential, the NCIP issues it in the form of a certificate. Thus, applicants just psychologically perceive the NCIP document as a confirmation of state registration, although in fact it is not so. This is confirmed by the conclusion by NCIP with the applicant of a contract of reimbursable services for voluntary registration and deposit of copyright or related rights objects. In this case, the fee is not charged, as in the case of state registration, but the NCIP service is paid.

·        The UE “Belpatentservice” of the BelCCI issues a document for the entire copyright term, while NCIP issues a document for a specific period.

·        The UE “Belpatentservice” of the BelCCI places information about the objects deposited during the past year, including computer programs and databases, in the BelCCI newsletter “MERCURY”.

Thus, the choice of using one or another deposit system is up to the creator of the software product.