On January 23, 2025, the first consultation session of the Intellectual Property Advisory Center for Exporters held this year
A manufacturer of decorative tables made of wood, metal, plastic, and gypsum, incorporating epoxy resin—who is also the applicant for a trademark application filed for goods in Class 20 (furniture) of the Nice Classification (NCL) — received an examination request requiring clarification of certain goods that were unclear to the examiner. The applicant inquired about the level of detail required when describing goods in a trademark application and in response to an examination request.
The consultant’s response was based on the applicable trademark legislation of the Republic of Belarus.
Pursuant to Clause 48 of the "Regulations on the Procedure for the Registration of a Trademark and a Service Mark," approved by Resolution No. 1719 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated December 28, 2009, the goods for which trademark registration is sought must be specified in Column 6 of the application. These goods must be grouped by class according to the version of the Nice Classification in force at the date of application filing and designated using precise terms (preferably those from the Nice Classification). The Nice Classification is applied in Belarus and most other countries under the "Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks," dated June 15, 1957 (revised in Stockholm on July 14, 1967, in Geneva on May 13, 1977, and amended on September 28, 1979).
The classification consists of:
a) a list of classes, supplemented with explanatory notes where necessary;
b) an alphabetical list of goods and services (hereinafter referred to as the "Alphabetical List"), indicating the class to which each good or service belongs.
Additionally, the classification includes:
a) the classification published in 1971 by the International Bureau for the Protection of Intellectual Property of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO);
b) amendments and supplements;
c) subsequent modifications.
WIPO has developed the Goods and Services Manager, which applicants may use for the classification of goods covered by a trademark application. The National Center for Intellectual Property (NCIP) unconditionally accepts terms from the Goods and Services Manager marked with the symbol N12 (terms included in the currently applicable 12th edition of the Nice Classification).
As for other terms within the Manager, examination authorities generally issue requests for clarification, as was the case here. An applicant wishing to retain a specific term from the Goods and Services Manager must respond to the examination request by providing evidence confirming the use of such a term in commercial circulation. Such evidence may include references to reference books, textbooks, methodological or practical guides, state standards (GOSTs), industry standards (OSTs), technical specifications (TUs), and other official sources of information. Moreover, it is strongly recommended to submit not only such references but also images of the goods in their actual form.
When responding to an examination request, the applicant must not expand the list of goods and services by adding new items that were not initially declared in the application. The applicant may only refine and specify previously declared goods and services.
