Laws
Civil Code (Section10)
Chapter 69: Means of Individualization of Participants in Civil Commerce, of Goods, and of Services
§ 1. Firm Name
Article 1167. Right to a Firm Name
1.A legal person has the exclusive right to use its firm name on goods, their packing, in advertising, signs, catalogs, bills, printed publications, official letterheads, and other documentation connected with its activity and also in demonstration of goods at exhibits and fairs.
2.The firm name of a legal person is determined upon the approval of its charter and is subject to registration by the procedure established by statute.
Article 1168. The Use of the Firm Name of a Legal Person in a Trademark
The firm name of a legal person may be used in a trademark belonging to it.
Article 1169. Effectiveness of the Right to a Firm Name
1.On the territory of the Republic of Armenia there is in effect an exclusive right to a firm name registered in the Republic of Armenia as the designation of a legal person.
For a name registered or generally recognized in a foreign state, an exclusive right is in effect on the territory of the Republic of Armenia in the cases provided by statute.
2.The effectiveness of the right to a firm name is terminated only upon the liquidation of the legal person or with a change in its firm name.
Article 1170. Passage of the Right to a Firm Name
Passage of the right to the firm name of a legal person is allowed only in case of its reorganization.
§ 2. Trademark
Article 1171. Conditions of Legal Protection of a Trademark
1.A trademark (or service mark) is a registered verbal, pictorial, spacial, or other designation serving to distinguish the goods or services of one person from the same kind of goods and services of other persons.
2.Legal protection of a trademark is given on the basis of its registration.
3.The right to a trademark is evidenced by a certificate.
4.Designations whose registration as a trademark is not allowed, the procedure for registration of trademarks, for their annulment and declaration as invalid, and also cases in which legal protection of unregistered trademarks may be allowed shall be determined by the statute of the Republic of Armenia “On Trademarks, Service Marks, and Designations of Places of Origin of Goods.”
Article. 1172. The Right to Use a Trademark
1.The possessor of the right to a trademark has the exclusive right to use and dispose of the mark belonging to it.
2.The use of a trademark is any introduction of it into commerce: the making, application, import, storage, proposal for sale, or sale of the trademark or of goods designated by this mark, its use in signs, advertising, printed production, or other business documentation.
Article 1173. Legal Protection of a Trademark on the Territory of the Republic of Armenia
A trademark registered by the patent office of the Republic of Armenia or by an international organization by virtue of an international treaty of the Republic of Armenia is granted legal protection on the territory of the Republic of Armenia.
Article 1174. Time Period of Effectiveness of the Registration of a Trademark
The time period of effectiveness of the registration of a trademark shall be established by the statute of the Republic of Armenia “On Trademarks, Service Marks, and Designations of Places of Origin of Goods.”
Article 1175. Passage of the Right to a Trademark
1.The right to a trademark with respect to all the classes of goods and services indicated in the certificate or part of them may be transferred by the rightholder to another person by contract.
2.The passage of the right to a trademark, including its transfer by contract or by way of legal succession must be registered at the patent office.
Article 1176. Permission to Use a Trademark
1.The right to use a trademark may be given by the holder of the right to the trademark to another person with respect to all classes of goods and services indicated in the certificate or part of them under a licensing contract (Article 1106).
2.A licensing contract permitting the licensee to use a trademark must contain a condition to the effect that the quality of the goods or services of the licensee will be not lower than the quality of goods or services of the licensor and that the licensor has the right to exercise supervision of the fulfillment of this condition.
3.Upon termination of the effect of registration of the right to a trademark the effect of the licensing contract is terminated.
4.The passage of the right to a trademark to another person does not entail the termination of the licensing contract.
Article 1177. Form of Contracts on the Transfer of the Right to a Trademark or on the Giving of a License and the Registration of the Transfer of Rights
1.A contract on the transfer of the right to a trademark or on the giving of a license must be concluded in written form and the transfer of rights must be registered in the patent office.
2.Nonobservance of the written form or the requirement of registration entails the invalidity of the contract.
Article 1178. Liability for Infringing the Right to a Trademark
1.A person who is unlawfully using a trademark must cease the infringement and compensate the holder of the trademark for the losses borne by it (Article 17).
2.A person who is unlawfully using a trademark has the duty to destroy reproductions of the trademark that have been prepared, to remove from the goods or their packaging an illegally used trademark or a designation similar to it to the point of confusion.
3.In case of the impossibility of fulfilling the requirements established by Paragraph 2 of the present Article, the respective goods are subject to destruction.
§ 3. Designation of the Place of Origin of Goods
Article 1179. Condition for the Legal Protection of the Designation of the Place of Origin of the Goods
1.The designation of the place of origin (indication of origin) of goods is the name of the country, populated point, locality, or other geographic object used for the signification of goods, whose special qualities exclusively or mainly are determined by the natural conditions or other factors characteristic for this region or a combination of natural conditions and these factors.
The designation of the place of origin of goods may be the historical name of a geographic object.
2.Legal protection of the designation of the place or origin of the goods shall be provided on the basis of its registration. Registration of the designation of a place of origin shall be conducted by the patent office.
On the basis of registration a certificate of the right to use the designation of a place of origin shall be issued.
3.The procedure and conditions for issuance of certificates, recognizing as invalid and terminating the effectiveness of registration and certificates shall be determined by the statute of the Republic of Armenia “On Trademarks, Service Marks, and Designations of Places of Origin of Goods.”
Article 1180. The Right to Use Designations of Place of Origin of Goods
A person who has the right to use the designation of a place of origin of goods has the right to place this designation on the goods, packaging, advertising, catalogs, bills, and to use it in another manner in connection with the introduction of the given goods into civil commerce.
Article 1181. Area of Effectiveness of the Legal Protection of the Designation of the Place of Origin of Goods
1.In the Republic of Armenia legal protection shall be provided for the designation of places of origin of goods located on the territory of the Republic of Armenia.
2.Legal protection of the designation of a place of origin of goods that are located in another state shall be provided in the Republic of Armenia in cases provided by statute.
Article 1182. Time Period of Effectiveness of a Certificate of the Right to Use the
Designation of a Place or Origin of Goods
The time period of effectiveness of a certificate of the right to use the designation of the place or origin of goods shall be established by the statute of the Republic of Armenia “On Trademarks, Service Marks, and Designations of the Place of Origin of Goods.”
Article 1183. Liability for Unlawful Use of the Designation of the Place or Origin of Goods
1.A person having the right to use the designation of a place of origin of goods and also an organizations for the protection of the rights of consumers may demand, from a person who has illegally used the designation, the termination of its use, the removal from the goods, their packaging, letterheads, and similar documentation of an illegally used designation similar to it to the point of confusion, the destruction of depictions prepared of the designation and—if this is impossible—the taking and destruction of the goods and/or packaging.
2.A person having the right to use the designation of a place of origin of goods has the right to demand from an infringer of this right the compensation for losses borne (Article 17).
