INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN ARMENIA
Opposition Term |
02 Months |
Registration Term |
10 Years |
First Renewal Term |
10 Years |
Subsequent Renewal Term |
10 Years |
Law of the Republic of Armenia of April 29, 2010, on Trademarks - is the primary law governing the mechanism of trademark registration and protection in Armenia.
For getting a trademark registered in Armenia, an application has to be filed with the Agency of Intellectual Property of RA, which administers the entire trademark registration process.
Armenia belongs to the group of countries that follow the ‘first-to-file’ concept of trademark rights. It means that trademark rights in Armenia belong to the person who registers the trademark first and not to those who start using the trademark in the country before others. Moreover, the Trademark Law 2010 introduced the notion of well-known trademarks and it will take some time before this category of trademark rights in Armenia is properly recognized.
Armenia follows the 11th edition of Nice Classification. Multi-class trademark applications are acceptable.
The third parties can file opposition actions against a trademark application within two (02) months following its publication date in the official gazette.
Trademarks in Armenia are valid for ten (10) years from the date of filing and may be renewed for further periods of ten (10) years each unlimited number of times. Requests for trademark renewal should be filed during the last year of the current trademark validity term.
Renewal requests may also be filed within a grace period of six (06) months following the expiry of the trademark validity term, provided that a corresponding surcharge is paid.
The term for cancellation of a registered trademark based on non-use is five (05) years from the date of registration.
Armenia is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
Law on Patents (of October 26, 1999) deals with the mechanism of patent protection in Armenia.
For seeking patent protection in Armenia, an application has to be filed with the Armenian Patent Office, which administers the entire process of patent grant.
In Armenia, an invention that satisfies the conditions of originality, novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability, subjects to patentability. Process patent and product patent are the two types of patents that can be protected.
The types of patent applications that can be filed include Non-Convention Application and Convention Application.
An application together with attachments should be submitted for universal disclosure for a period of four (04) months following the date of official publication of information on the application for an invention. Any person may, in the course of universal disclosure of an application for an invention, may oppose the same. This is how an opposition can be made after the preliminary examination of the patent.
The validity term of a patent in Armenia is twenty (20) years from the filing date. For pharmaceutical patents and patents for agrochemicals, it is possible to apply for an extension of this term for additional five (05) years.
The annual fees are due for each full year of the patent validity. The first annual fee should be paid before the commencement of the second year of the patent validity or together with the prescribed fee for grant of a patent. The annual fees for every next year should be paid before the end of the current year of validity. There is a grace period of six (06) months for the late payment of the annuity fees with a penalty.
Utility model protection is available under the Armenian legislation. It must be new, unobvious, and industrially applicable. Methods may be protected as utility models. The validity term of a utility model in Armenia is ten (10) years from the filing date.
Law on Inventions, Utility Models, and Industrial designs, 2008 - governs and deals with the mechanism of registration of industrial designs in Armenia.
For getting an industrial design registered in Armenia, an application has to be filed with the State Authorized Body of the Armenian Republic, which administers the entire process of registration.
The types of industrial design applications that can be filed in Armenia include Non-Convention Application and Convention Application.
Utility model protection isn't provided under industrial design protection in the nation.
Opposition against an industrial design application can't be raised in Armenia.
The maximum validity term of an industrial design patent in Armenia is twenty-five (25) years from the filing date, i.e., five (05) terms for five (05) years each. An industrial design is protected for five (05) years and this term may be renewed for one or more periods of five (05) years each up to a total protection term of twenty-five (25) years from the date of filing. The renewal fees should be paid before the end of the current fifth year of validity, starting from the first five (05) years of the validity of registration.
The time frame for payment of the renewal fee before the due date is six (06) months.
There is a grace period of six (06) months for late payment of renewal fees with penalty.
Armenia is a signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights, Adopted by the National Assembly on 8th December 1999, is the basic legislation governing copyright protection in Armenia.
Copyright in a creative work arises by the fact of creation of the work and does not depend on the official acknowledgement of that right, registration of the work, and observance of any other formalities.
The author’s economic rights run for the whole life of the author and for seventy (70) years after his death.
The economic rights in a work created by co-authorship run for the life of the co-authors and for seventy (70) years after the death of the last surviving author.
In case of anonymous or pseudonymous works, the economic rights of the author emanate from the date the work is lawfully made available to the public and run for seventy (70) years.
The term of protection of audio-visual works expires seventy (70) years after the death of the last person to survive among the principal director, the author of the screenplay, the author of the dialogue, the composer of music, specifically created for the audio-visual works, and the cameraman.