The 5th session of the intellectual property consultation center for exporters ends
The first question was about the necessity of registering trademark for the repair service of appliances and peripherals of famous computer brands. An individual entrepreneur thought that it would be better to sign a contract with the head offices of the holders of these brands and thus become an authorized representative in their region.
The entrepreneur himself was advised to conclude a contract with the already existing official country representatives for narrow-regional or highly specialized service of computer equipment. As for his own service mark, he was advised to set up his own site, so that his domain name would preferably coincide with his verbal trademark or with the verbal part of his combined trademark.
The second question of the representative of the private unitary enterprise concerned the situation when having the trademark registered back in 2014, with which it marked the manufactured handbags, it faced the claim of the Italian company, claiming that the Belarusian manufacturer of similar products used their trademark. The trademark check showed the absence of similar registrations in the name of the Italian company. The representative of the Belarusian trademark owner asked the Italian company about the validity of the claim, which was ready to appeal to the antimonopoly authority.
As the answer to this question it was mentioned what other possibilities the Italian manufacturers had for registering trademarks in the Republic of Belarus apart from the national system. In addition, a version why the Italian company turned to the Belarusian manufacturer with the claim to stop using the registered trademark was voiced. A number of aspects of the validity or invalidity of such a claim and the recommendation to seek the assistance of a patent attorney was covered.
The third question from an individual entrepreneur, selling in our country high-end clothing made to order from the haute couture fashion houses of Europe and Asia through his popular and reputable website was about the need to register his trademark in order to develop his business in our country and possibly in the neighboring countries.
The entrepreneur was told what a domain name and a trademark are in the hierarchy of signs used to identify a business, and which of them have the most rights and advantages when they collide. It was strongly advised to register the means of individualization as soon as possible in order not to lose his promoted site in a competitive environment.
The fourth question was about the countries of distribution of the Eurasian patent.
The answer was given that the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC) dated September 9, 1994 was signed, which established an international regional system of legal protection of inventions based upon the single Eurasian patent. At present there are 8 countries that are parties to the Eurasian Patent Convention: AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, RU, TM, TJ. The Republic of Moldova after denunciation of the EAPC has signed the Agreement on the Legal Protection of Inventions on the Territory of the Republic of Moldova, thereby recognizing the Eurasian patents on its territory.
Besides, the representative of the regional branch of the BelCCI got the answer concerning the fact that for some countries the Protocol on the protection of industrial designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention of September 9, 1994 had entered into force. The Protocol provides the establishment of the Eurasian system of legal protection of industrial designs, which will allow applicants to obtain a single Eurasian patent for an industrial design to be valid in all member states of the Convention, which have signed and ratified the Protocol or which have joined it.
Now the Protocol has been ratified by the following countries: AM, AZ, KG, KZ, RU, TJ. The Republic of Belarus is currently taking steps to carry out the domestic procedures necessary for its accession to the Protocol.
