Belarusian parliamentarians adopted the draft law “On Ratification of the Trademark Treaty”

The Belarusian parliamentarians considered and approved the draft Law of the Republic of Belarus "On the Ratification of the Treaty on Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin of Goods of the Eurasian Economic Union." The bill was developed in order to carry out domestic procedures necessary for the republic to ratify the Trademark Treaty, signed in Moscow on February 3, 2020.

According to the Chairman of the State Committee on Science and Technology of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Shumilin, the document is aimed at regulating relations arising in connection with the registration, legal protection and use of trademarks and appellations of origin of goods of the EAEU. They, in particular, provide for: filing one application for a trademark of the Union in any of the national patent offices of the member states and one application for an appellation of origin of goods of the Union in any of the national patent offices of the member states; the applicant's interaction with one office of filing on a one-stop basis; obtaining a single title of protection (certificate for the trademark of the Union, certificate of the right to use the appellation of origin of goods of the Union), valid in the territories of all member states; maintaining the Unified Register of Trademarks and Service Marks of the Union and the Unified Register of Appellations of Origin of Goods of the Union.

According to the Treaty, the same (uniform) rates of patent fees are approved for all member states, which will significantly reduce the cost of the procedure for obtaining legal protection of trademarks and appellations of origin of goods simultaneously throughout the Union in comparison with the total cost of five national procedures, as well as significantly increase its attractiveness, including for foreign applicants. In addition, the draft law, in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement, defines the state institution "National Center for Intellectual Property" as the organization of the Republic of Belarus responsible for the implementation of the Agreement.

“Ratification of the Treaty by the Republic of Belarus will simplify and speed up the procedure for obtaining legal protection for trademarks and appellations of origin of goods, which is valid simultaneously on the territory of all member states of the Union, as well as reduce the costs of applicants and right holders and provide free and protected movement of their goods and services on the Union market,” stressed Alexander Shumilin.

Based on the SCST materials.