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Laws

Adopted on 10 June 2008

Law on Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial designs

• Chapter 1 - General Provisions
• Chapter 2 - Legal Protection of Invention and Utility Model
• Chapter 3 - Legal Protection of Industrial Design
• Chapter 4 - Filing the Application with the Authorized Body
• Chapter 5 - Filing the Application and Formal Requirements to it
• Chapter 6 - Special Reqirments to Applications on Invention and Utility Models
• Chapter 7 - Special Reqirments for Industrial Designs
• Chapter 8 - Maintenance of Rights and State Registers
• Chapter 9 - Compulsory Licenses
• Chapter 10 - Representation
• Chapter 11 - Final and Transitional Provisions

Chapter 3: Legal Protection of Industrial Design

Article 22. Conditions for Protection of Industrial Design

(1) Any solution defining the outward appearance of an article, which is novel and original shall enjoy protection as an industrial design under this Law (conditions for protection of industrial design).

(2) Within the meaning of this Law "Design" means the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the contours, colors, shapes, texture as well as materials of the product itself and (or) its ornamentation.

(3) Within the meaning of this Law " item " means any industrial or handicraft item, including, inter alia, parts intended to be assembled into a compound product, packaging, get-up, graphic symbols and typographic typefaces, excluding computer programs. Within the meaning of this Law "complex (compound) product" means a product, which is composed of multiple components, which can be replaced permissible disassembly and reassembly of the product.

(4) A part of a complex (compound) product may be protectable industrial design if it
(a) remains visible during normal use of the product;
(b) meets the requirements of protectability of an industrial design as to novelty and originality.
(5) Within the meaning of item (1) of paragraph (4) of this Article "normal use" shall mean the use by the end user, excluding maintenance, exploitation, servicing and repair work.

Article 23. Novelty and Originality

(1) An industrial design shall be considered new if no identical design has been made available to the public before the date of filing of the application with the State Authorized Body or, if priority is claimed, the date of priority. Industrial designs shall be deemed to be identical if their features coincide or differ only in inessential details.
(2) A design shall be considered original if the overall impression it produces on the informed consumer differs from the overall impression produced on such a consumer by any design which has been made available to the public before the date of filing of the application or, if priority is claimed, the date of priority.
(3) In assessing originality, the degree of freedom of the designer in developing the design shall be taken into consideration.

Article 24. Disclosure of Industrial Design

(1) For the purposes of Article 23 of this Law, a design shall be deemed to have been made available to the public if it has been published or disclosed by exhibition or sale before the date of filing of the application with the State Authorized Body, or if priority is claimed, the date of priority.

(2) For the purposes of Article 23 of this Law, disclosure of the content of the industrial design shall not be taken into consideration if it has occurred within twelve month preceding the date of filing of the application or, if priority is claimed, the date of priority by the designer (applicant), or a third person having directly or indirectly obtained information on the content of the industrial design (the burden of proof being upon the applicant).

(3) Paragraph (2) of this Article shall also apply if the industrial design has been made available to the public as a consequence of an abuse in relation to the designer or his successor in title.

Article 25. Refusal of Registration of an Industrial Design

(1) An industrial design shall not be registered as such if:
(a) it is not an industrial design within the meaning of Article 22 (2) of this Law;
(b) it does not meet the requirements of Article 22(1) or (4), or Article 23 of this Law or is in conflict with a design having effect in the Republic of Armenia on the basis of a priority date;
(c) it is in conflict with the requirements of Article 6ter of the Paris Convention on the ground that it has been submitted without the authorization of the Competent Authorized Body;
(d) it includes or imitates symbols, emblems, coat of arms other than those covered by Article 6ter of the Paris Convention and which are of particular public interest, unless the authorization of the Competent Authorized Body to its registration has been given;
(e) its use is contrary to public interests, humanitarian and morality principles.

(2) An industrial design dictated solely by its technical function shall not be registered as an industrial design. If the technical function is directly connected with features of appearance of product, then it cannot be protected as industrial design.

(3) A design, which must necessarily be reproduced in its exact form and dimensions in order to permit the product to which the design is embodied or applied to be mechanically connected to or placed in, around or against another product so that either product may perform its function, shall not be registered as an industrial design.

(4) A new and original industrial design may be protected if it subsist in a design serving the purpose of allowing multiple assembly or connection of mutually interchangeable products within a modular system except the cases provided by paragraph (3) of this Article

Article 26. Exclusive Right in Industrial Design and the Registration Certificate

(1) The registration of an industrial design shall confer on its owner the exclusive right to use it and to prevent third parties to use it without his consent. Within the meaning of this Law the aforementioned use shall cover, in particular, the making, offering for sale, putting on the market, importing, or using of a product to which the design may refer to, as well as stocking such a product for those purposes.

(2) The scope of legal protection of an industrial design shall be defined by the overall impression produced on the informed consumer. In assessing the scope of protection of an industrial design, the degree of freedom of the designer in developing the design shall be taken into consideration.

(3) The rights referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall not extend:
(a) to the importation of spare parts and accessories for the purpose of repairing a vehicle of a foreign country, being accidentally or temporarily in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, if it is intended exclusively for the need of such vehicles, and if the vehicle belongs to citizens and (or) legal persons of countries providing similar rights to the citizens and legal entities of the Republic of Armenia, and in this case acts referred to in Article 17 of this Law, with the exception of subparagraph (c) shall apply mutatis mutandis;
(b) to acts of reproduction for the purposes of making citations or of teaching, provided that such acts are compatible with fair trade practice and with mention of the source, as well as do not unduly prejudice the normal exploitation of the industrial design.

(4) Any third person may assert the right based on prior use in respect of an industrial design. In this case, provisions of Article 18 of this Law shall apply mutatis mutandis.

(5) For registered industrial design a certificate on registration of the industrial design is granted (hereinafter “industrial design certificate”). Industrial design certificate is granted to the person the industrial design is registered for (hereinafter “industrial design owner”).

(6) Industrial design certificate certifies the fact of registration of the industrial design, priority, as well as the exclusive right in it.

Article 27. Limitations of Rights Conferred by Industrial Design Registration

(1) An industrial design owner or a person who has the exclusive license has no right to prohibit putting the product, containing protected industrial design or a product that embodies it, into civil circulation in the Republic of Armenia, if this product was legally put into civil circulation through sale by the owner of the industrial design or with his consent.

(2) Import of a product into the territory of the Republic of Armenia, containing industrial design or embodying it shall not be deemed as infringement of the exclusive right in industrial design if it was legally put into civil circulation through sale in the territory of another country by the right holder or with his consent.

Article 28. Other Forms of Protection of Industrial Design

(1) Provisions of this Law concerning industrial designs shall not limit provisions of other Laws relating to unregistered designs, trademarks or other distinctive signs, inventions, utility models, typefaces, liability or unfair competition.

(2) An industrial design may not be registered in the order established by this Law and may be eligible for copyright protection as from the date on which the design was created or fixed in any form as a copyright subject matter.

Article 29. Validity Term of a Certificate on Industrial Design

(1) An industrial design may be protected for five years as from the date of filing of the application with a possibility of renewal.

(2) Under Article 67of this Law, the right holder of an industrial design may renew the term of its protection for one or more periods of five years each, up to a total term of 25 years from the date of filing of the application.

(3) According to paragraph (2) of this Article the validity term of the certificate on a protected complex (compound) industrial design may be renewed both in whole, in partially, only for some of its components.