The tenth session of the Intellectual Property Advisory Office for Exporters is held on 11 July 2024.
A representative of a Belarusian exporter of paints asked the advisory office whether the enterprise could register the word mark ‘FARBA’ as a trade mark.
The answer was based on the norms of the Law of the Republic of Belarus ‘On Trade Marks and Service Marks’ (hereinafter - the Law). In accordance with subparagraph 1.4. of paragraph 1 of Article 4 of the Law ‘it is not allowed to register as trademarks designations dominated by signs and (or) indications used to designate the type, quality, quantity, property, purpose, value of goods, as well as the time, place and method of their production or sale’.
This provision of the Law restricts the manufacturer from registering words that explicitly indicate the type of goods.
In particular, the word ‘FARBA’ in Polish, Serbian, Croatian and probably other languages means ‘paint’. In addition, the Cyrillic transliteration ‘Farba’ of this word is translated from Belarusian, Bosnian, Serbian, Ukrainian languages into Russian also as ‘paint’.
Thus, in view of the presence of these so-called absolute grounds for refusal to register trade marks, it is not possible to register the word trademark ‘farba’ or ‘paint’ for the goods ‘paints, dyes’.
At the same time, the Law allows the word ‘farba’ for the goods ‘paints, dyes’ to be registered as a trade mark, provided that it has actually acquired distinctiveness as a result of use on the date of filing the trade mark application. No confirmation of this has been provided by the person, who consulted.
In addition, the word ‘farba’, which does not occupy a dominant position in the designation, may be registered as a trade mark as part of a word combination or compound word in respect of the goods to which such word refers.
For reference: After the consultation session, a check of the database of registered trademarks of the Republic of Belarus revealed the combined trademark ‘FARBACOAT’ in a characteristic graphic manner, registered in respect of such goods of class 02 of the International Classification of Goods and Services as ‘paints; varnishes; dyes; mastics [natural resins]; coatings [paints]; thinners for varnishes and paints; enamels [varnishes]; primers; aluminium paints; compositions for protection against rust; compositions for interior decoration’.
The information revealed confirmed the said provision of Article 4 of the Law.
