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HOW TO FILE AN APPLICATION?
Trademarks and service marks are signs serving to distinguish the goods manufactured and services offered by one legal entity or natural person from the goods or services of the same type manufactured or offered by another legal entity or natural person.
As trademarks there are registered signs which can be presented graphically: word signs including proper names, digital signs, figurative signs, combinations of colours, three-dimensional signs including the form of goods or their packaging as well as combinations of such signs.
Legal protection of marks in the Republic of Belarus is carried out on the basis of their registration in the National Center of Intellectual Property (hereinafter the Center) or in accordance with international agreements, in particular the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks.
Any natural person or legal entity may register a trademark or service mark. For registration of trademarks and prolongation of its validity term foreign legal entities with permanent headquarters abroad or citizens and apatrides residing outside the Republic of Belarus should act through the patent attorneys of the Republic of Belarus registered in the Center.
A separate application on a special form should be prepared for every trademark (service mark). An application should contain data about an applicant and the list of goods and services for which a trademark or a service mark is registered. An application may contain several classes of goods and services in accordance with the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (the Nice Classification). An application is accompanied by the graphical representation of a mark and the description with indication of a colour or a combination of colours in which the registration is sought.
To an application there is attached a document attesting payment of the patent fee in the prescribed amount.
Unions, associations and other communities of legal entities may register collective marks. A collective mark and the right to use it are not transferable.
Registration of a mark is valid for 10 years from the date of application filing with the Center. The term of the mark registration may be prolonged on the request of a mark owner submitted during the last year of its validity every time for ten years.
The legislation of the Republic of Belarus provides for the exclusive right to use a mark on its territory. Therefore only mark owners can permit other persons to use their marks for definite goods or services.
The application materials should be prepared in accordance with the following normative-legal acts:
It is possible to consult on preparation of an application with patent attorneys of the Republic of Belarus. |
