Laws
This Law shall govern relations concerning the registration, legal protection and use of trademarks, service marks and appellations of origin.
Law on Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin (in force until July 1, 2010)
Chapter 3: Collective Mark
Article 20. Collective Mark(1) A trademark of any economic association, intended to designate goods possessing combined qualitative or other general characteristics, and manufactured and/or produced thereby shall be regarded as a collective mark.
(2) A collective mark and the entitlement to its use shall not be assigned.
Registration of a Collective Mark
21. (1) The regulations for a collective mark shall be attached to an application for registration of such a mark and shall contain the name of an economic association, the name of a legal person authorized to register the collective mark in their own name, a list of legal persons entitled to use this mark, the purpose of registration, the names of the goods designated by the collective mark, and their combined qualitative or other general characteristics, conditions of use of the collective mark, procedure for monitoring its use, and responsibility for infringing the regulations of the collective mark.
(2) In addition to the information provided for by Article 14 of this Law, details of the legal persons entitled to use a collective mark shall also be entered in the Register and the Certificate. These details, together with extracts from the regulations on the goods possessing common qualitative or other general characteristics, for which the collective mark is registered, shall be published in the Authorized Body’s Official Journal.
(3) The owner of a collective mark shall inform the Authorized Body of any amendments made to the collective mark regulations.
(4) In cases where a collective mark is used on goods which do not have common qualitative or other general characteristics, the validity of registration may be terminated prematurely either in full or in part, on a court decision based on a request by any person.
(5) A collective mark or application therefore in accordance with the procedure established by the Authorized Body may correspondingly be converted into a trademark or an application for such a mark of a legal person or individual manufacturer, and vice versa.
Chapter 3.1 Legal Protection of Well-Known Marks
Article 21.1 Well-known Trademark
1. A trademark may be recognized well-known in the Republic of Armenia based on the application of a natural person or legal entity, which is granted protection based on registration in the order prescribed by this law, by virtue of the Republic of Armenia international agreements, as well as a trademark used but not protected in the Republic of Armenia.
2. A trademark of a particular person mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be recognized well-known for certain goods if as a result of broad use of those goods it has, as of the indicated date, recognized well-known within a certain circle of public, as a distinguishing (identification) feature of the mentioned goods.
3. A trademark may not be recognized well known if it has become well- known for similar goods after the priority date of similar or confusingly similar marks protected in the Republic of Armenia.
Article 21.2 Legal Protection of Well-known Trademark
1. According to paragraph 1 Article 21.1 of this Law an application on recognizing a mark well know shall be considered by the Board of Appel. The form of the request, the attached documents and requirements thereto as well as the order of the request consideration shall be defined by the Authorized Body.
2. (Paragraph 2 is cancelled).
3. The well-known trademark shall be included into the list of trademarks recognized well known in the Republic of Armenia (hereinafter “list”) by the Authorized Body. The list shall include the trademark recognized as well-known, the name of its owner, and the place of residence or location, the date of being recognized as well-known, as well as the goods for which that mark is recognized well-known.
4. The well-known trademark certificate shall be granted by the Authorized Body within one month after including the well known mark in the list. The form of the certificate and the list of information to be mentioned therein shall be defined by the Authorized Body.
5. The legal protection to a well-known trademark shall be granted without time limit.
6. The Authorized Body shall within three months after the date of including the information provided in paragraph 3 of this Article in the list publish it in its Official Bulletin.
Article 21.3 Volume of Legal Protection of Well-known Trademark
1. The trademark recognized as well-know is granted legal protection as that granted to trademarks under this Law.
2. The protection granted to the well-known trademark is not limited by time.
3. The protection granted to the well-known trademark shall as well extend to the goods which are not similar to goods mentioned in Article 21.1 (2), if the use of a trademark or a mark confusingly similar to the well-known mark by a third person supposes relation between those goods and the goods belonging to the owner of the well-known trademark, taking into account the fact that such a use may prejudice the interests of the owner of the well-known trademark.
4. Pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article the owner of the well-known trademark has the right to submit a claim to the court to withdraw partly or in whole the validity of the trademark identical or confusingly similar to his mark, if his mark has a priority date of being recognized as well-known. In such case the permanent use of that trademark to produced goods or provided services during three years prior to the claim shall serve as a bases for refusal of the claim.
5. Pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article the owner of the well-known trademark has the right to prohibit third persons, in the order established by this Law, the use of a trademark identical or confusingly similar to his mark and the use of the trademark registered by priority date mentioned in paragraph 4 of this Article if that mark was used no more than three years as well as the use of a non-registered trademark.
