Laws

Adopted on 10 June 2008

Law on Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial designs

Chapter 2: Legal Protection of Invention and Utility Model

Article 9. Conditions for Patentability of Invention

Within the meaning of this Law a technical solution in any field, relating to a product (in particular, a device, substance, biotechnological product) or process (process of affecting a material subject matter using material means), shall be protected as an invention. An invention shall be granted legal protection if it is new has an inventive step and is industrially applicable (conditions for patentability of invention).

Article 10. The Exception to Legal Protection

(1) Within the meaning of Article 9 of this Law the following shall not be subject to legal protection:
(a) scientific discoveries;
(b) scientific theories, mathematical methods, provision of common information;
(c) methods of organization and management of economy;
(d) conventional signs, schedules and rules;
(e) processes for performing mental acts;
(f) algorithms for calculating machines;
(g) projects and plans for constructions, buildings and site developing;
(h) solutions concerning the outward appearance of the product having exclusively aesthetic value;
(i) topographies of integrated microcircuits.

(2) Inventions, the exploitation of which contradicts the public interests, morality, philanthropy principles shall not be subject to legal protection.

(3) Within the meaning of this Law, the following shall not constitute patentable inventions:
(a) plant and animal varieties, as well as the natural biological processes of their raising;
(b) processes for cloning of human beings;
(c) use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes;
(d) processes for modifying the genetic identity of human beings;
(e) processes for modifying the genetic identity of animals, as well as animals resulting from such processes.

Article 11. Novelty

(1) An invention shall be considered to be new if it is not a separate part of the state of the art.

(2) The state of the art includes any kind of information on the given field of technical solutions (separate parts) made available all over the world by means of oral or written disclosure, or in any other way, before the priority date of the invention. The data in the source of information, contents of which is available for any person directly, or is notified legally shall be deemed as made available to the public, the solutions made available through open use shall be included in the state of the art, if such a use has been realized in the Republic of Armenia.

(3) The state of the art includes as well the content of inventions and utility models, disclosed in applications with earlier priority filed with the State Authorized Body, provided that the State Authorized Body subsequently publishes those applications or the patents granted on the basis thereof.

Article 12. Public Disclosures of Invention Contents Non-prejudicial to Patent

For the purposes of Article 11 of this Law disclosure of contents of the invention shall not be taken into consideration if it has occurred within 12 months before the filing of the application on invention, and in case of request on priority date, within 12 months before the date of priority by the inventor (applicant) or any person having obtained the information on the contents of the invention directly or indirectly from him (the burden of proof of the foregoing shall be on the applicant).

Article 13. Inventive Step

(l) An invention shall be considered as having an inventive step if, having regard to the state of the art within the meaning of Article 11 (2), it is not obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the given art.

(2) If the state of the art also includes undisclosed applications according to Article 11 (3), these applications shall not be considered in the course of examination of the inventive step.

(3) Where an applicant, after having filed an application, which has not yet been published, files another application for the same invention, the first application shall not be taken into consideration for determination of the inventive step by the second application.

Article 14. Industrial Applicability

An invention shall be considered industrially applicable if it can be made or used in industry, agriculture, public health and other fields.

Article 15. Conditions for patentability of Utility Model

(1) Any new and industrially applicable solution that concerns a production (equipment, material) or a method (condition for patentability of utility model) shall be protected as a utility model in the order established by the Law.

(2) A utility model shall be considered to be new if it does not form separate part of the state of the art.

(3) The state of the art shall be defined to comprise any kind of information on technical solutions made available to the public anywhere in the world before the date of priority of the utility model concerned, as well as realization of these solutions in the Republic of Armenia. As well, the state of the art shall comprise the content of inventions and utility models by disclosed applications with earlier priority filed with the State Authorized Body, provided that the State Authorized Body subsequently publishes those applications or the patents granted on the basis thereof.

(4) The utility models shall not be considered patentable if:
(a) it is a technical solution on biological substance;
(b) it is a technical solution on chemical or pharmaceutical substances or means, as well as methods of human and animal curing;
(c) the subject matters mentioned in Article 10 (2) of this Law.

(5) The provisions of this Law on inventions, utility models shall be considered mutatis mutandis, unless otherwise provided by this Law.

Article 16. Exclusive Rights Conferred by Patent

(1) Patent on invention or utility model gives the exclusive right to patent owner to use the patented subject matter at his own discretion, if it does not infringe other patent owner’s rights as well as to forbid third parties:
(a) where the subject matter of patent is a product, to prevent third parties without the owner's consent from the acts of making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing for these purposes that product;
(b) where the subject matter of a patent is a process, to prevent third parties not having the owner's consent from the act of using the process, and from the acts of using, importing, offering for sale, selling or putting into civil circulation the product developed directly by that process.

(2) The validity term of patent on process of developing the product should be applied as well to a product directly developed by that process. The product is considered to be developed by patented process if it is not proved that it is developed through another process. In this case the responsibility for the burden of proof is upon the responsible person, if the product developed by the patented process is new.

(3) The scope of protection conferred by a patent shall be determined by the terms of the claims. The description and drawings on invention, utility model shall be used to interpret the claims.

Article 17. Acts not Recognized as Infringements on the Exclusive right Conferred by Patent

The use of patented invention, utility model shall not constitute an infringement of the exclusive rights of the patent owner under Article 16 of this Law if used:

(1) for personal needs with no purpose to make profit;
(2) as a subject of scientific research or scientific experiment;
(3) for single preparation of medicaments in pharmacies based on physicians’ prescriptions;
(4) on any vehicle belonging to another State and being accidentally or temporarily on the territory of the Republic of Armenia, if it is determined exclusively by the needs of the vehicle and the latter belongs to citizens and (or) legal persons of a State providing the same rights to citizens and legal persons of the Republic of Armenia.

Article 18. Right on Prior Use

(1) Any person who, before the priority date of an invention, utility model, has used an identical solution created independently of the inventor and has used it bona fide in the territory of the Republic of Armenia or who has made the necessary preparatory works for it, shall retain the right to further non-compensated use, provided that the scope of such a use is not extended (right on prior use).

(2) The right on prior use shall be permitted to be transferred to another natural or legal persons only together with the production unit in which the use of the identical solution has taken place or the necessary preparations for such a use have been made.

Article 19. Limitations of Rights Conferred by Patent

(1) The patent owner or the owner of exclusive license has no right to prevent to put into civil circulation in the Republic of Armenia a patented invention or utility model or product, developed by patented process, if this product or article has been legally put on the market in the Republic of Armenia by the patent owner or with his consent.

(2) Import of a patented product including an industrial property subject matter or developed by a patented process into the territory of the Republic of Armenia shall not be deemed as infringement of exclusive rights of the patent owner if it has been legally put on the market in a foreign country by the patent owner or with his consent.

Article 20. Term of Validity a Patent on Invention

(1) The term of validity of a patent on invention shall be twenty years as from the date of filing of the application.

(2) Immediately on expiry, the term of validity of a patent may be extended once but no more than five years in the case of a state of war, natural disasters or similar unpredictable events.

(3) Pharmaceutical preparations, processes or components, which have prophylactic and medicinal impact on humans and animals, plants, chemical or biological substances, the processes of their development, as well as the necessary components for manufacturing these preparations, substances or components and the processes of their development considered to be a subject matter of patented invention may be granted supplementary legal protection during the period between the date of filing the application on invention and the date of obtaining the authorization from the relevant Authorized Body for putting the subject matter on the market of Republic of Armenia, but not for more than five years.

(4) The request on supplementary legal protection, to which the authorization of the Competent Body mentioned in paragraph (3) of this Article is attached, shall be submitted to the State Authorized Body within 6 months from the day the authorization is given, or 6 months before the day of granting patent, if the mentioned authorization is given earlier than the patent was granted.

Article 21. Term of Validity of Patent on Utility Model

The term of validity of a patent on utility model shall be ten years as from the day of filing of the application.