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Laws

The law of the Republic of Armenia on trademarks

• Chapter 1 - General provisions
• Chapter 2 - Legal protection of trademarks
• Chapter 3 - Duration of protection of a trademark
• Chapter 4 - Termination of rights to a trademark
• Chapter 5 - Assignment of rights to a trademark
• Chapter 6 - Well known trademarks
• Chapter 7 - Collective marks and certification marks
• Chapter 8 - Registration of a trademark
• Chapter 9 - The process of registration of a trademark
• Chapter 10 - International registration of trademarks
• Chapter 11 - Transitional provisions and entry into force of this law

Chapter 4: Termination of rights to a trademark

Article 20. Renunciation of a Trademark

1. A trademark may be renounced by the proprietor in respect of all or a part of the goods and/or services for which it is registered.

2. The renunciation of a trademark shall be carried out by submitting a written request to the State Authorised Body by the proprietor of the trademark or a person authorised by him/her. The rights to a trademark shall be terminated on the date of entering the information on the renunciation of the trademark in the state register.

3. In case of registration of a licence contract, the renunciation shall only be entered in the State Register if the proprietor of the trademark proves that he/she has notified the licensee of his/her intention to renunciation.

Article 21. Revocation of the Registration of a Trademark

1. The registration of a trademark shall be revoked on the basis of a claim filed with the court or of a counterclaim in proceedings on protection of rights, where:

(1) within an uninterrupted period of five years after the date of the registration of the trademark or, in case of filing the claim (counter claim) at a later date, the trademark was not used or not put into genuine use in the Republic of Armenia by the proprietor or the person having right to use the trademark according to this Law with respect to the goods and/or services for which that trademark is registered taking into consideration the provisions of Article 17 of this Law;

(2) in consequence of activity or inactivity of the proprietor, the trademark has become the name of generic use for the goods or services in respect of which it is registered;

(3) use of the trademark by the proprietor or with his consent in respect of goods or services may confuse the consumer, particularly concerning the nature of such goods and/or services, quality or geographical origin for which it is registered.

2. Where the grounds for revocation of registration of the trademark exist in respect of only some of the goods and/or services for which the trademark is registered, the registration of the trademark shall be declared to be revoked partially in respect of those goods or services only.

3. The provisions established by paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis to trademarks protected in the Republic of Armenia by virtue of an international registration.

4. In accordance with paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Article, on the basis of the decision of the court the proprietor wholly or partially loses his/her rights in respect of the trademark on the date of entry into force of the decision by the court.

Article 22. Absolute Grounds for Invalidity of Trademark Registration

1. The registration of a trademark shall be declared invalid on the basis of a claim or a counterclaim filed with the court in proceedings on protection of the rights, where the trademark has been registered in breach of the provisions of Article 9 of this Law.

2. The registration of a trademark not in compliance with clauses 2, 3 or 4 of paragraph 1 of the Article 9 of this Law may not be declared invalid if, after the registration, in the process of its use, it has acquired a distinctive feature in respect of the goods and/or services for which it is registered.

3. Where the grounds for invalidation pertain to the part of goods and/or services, for which the trademark is registered then the registration may be recognized invalid for that part of goods and/or services only.

Article 23. Relative Grounds for Invalidity of Trademark Registration

1. The registration of a trademark may be declared invalid on the basis of a claim or a counterclaim filed with the court in proceedings on protection of the rights, where:

(1) there is an earlier trademark as referred to in Article 10 (2) of this Law and the conditions provided in clauses 1-3 of paragraph 1 of the same Article are present;

(2) there is an earlier right as referred to clauses 4-8 of paragraph 1 of Article 10 of this Law and the conditions provided in that subparagraph are present;

(3) the grounds stated by any of the clauses of paragraph 4 of this Law are present.

2. The use of a trademark may be prohibited on the basis of another earlier right, in particular with a right in respect to a name or an image, copyright, to a protected geographical indication or appellation of origin, as well as with a right in respect of a protected invention, utility model or industrial design.

3. A trademark may not be declared invalid where the proprietor of a right, pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, or his successor in title or, where appropriate, the State Authorised Body consents to the registration of the trademark before the declaration of invalidity of the trademark or before the filing of the counterclaim.

4. Where the proprietor of a right pursuant to in paragraph 1 of this Article has filed an earlier claim or a counterclaim for protection of rights for invalidity of the trademark may not mention any other right except the mentioned ones for its justification.

5. If the grounds for invalidity relating only to the specific goods and/or services, for which the trademark is registered, the trademark shall be declared invalid in accordance with those goods and/or services only.

6. The proprietor of an earlier trade mark with the petition of the proprietor of the trademark who has filed a claim with a court in accordance with clause 1 of paragraph 1 of this Article, opposing his earlier trademark shall present evidences that for a period of five uninterrupted years preceding the date of publication of official information on the registration of the trademark the earlier trademark has been in genuine use in the Republic of Armenia with respect to those goods and/or services for which the trademark was registered and that the opposition refers to those goods and/or services or that not putting the trademark into genuine use was conditioned with insuperable, unforeseen circumstances beyond his control that at the date of publication of the official information on the registration of the trademark the earlier trademark had been registered at least for five years. The claim shall be refused if such evidences are not present. Where the earlier trademark was used only with respect to the part of goods and/or services, for which the mark was registered then during the proceedings the earlier trademark may be opposed only to that part of goods and/or services.

Article 24. Limitation of Rights in Consequence of Acquiescence

1. Where the proprietor of an earlier trademark or the proprietor of any other earlier right, has acquiesced, for a period of five successive years, in the use of a later trademark, while being aware of such use, shall no longer be entitled, on the basis of paragraph 1 of the Article 23 of this Law to file a claim or a counterclaim with a court for invalidation of the trademark or prohibition of the use of the later trademark in respect of the goods and/or services for which the later trademark has been used, unless registration of the later trade mark was applied for in bad faith.

2. In the cases referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the proprietor of a later trademark shall not be entitled to oppose the use of the earlier right.

Article 25. Consequences of Revocation and Invalidity of Trademark Registration

1. Where, in cases provided by this Law, a trademark registration has been revoked in whole or partially, the validity of registration of the trademark shall be terminated in whole or partially as from the date of filing with the court of the relevant claim or counterclaim for the protection of rights. The court may, at the request of one of the parties, fix an earlier date on which one of the grounds for revocation occurred.

2. Where a trademark has been declared invalid in whole or partially, it shall be deemed that from the date of filing the application, the trademark did not register in applicable extent pursuant to the provisions of this Law.

3. In cases of compensating the damage caused by negligence or unfair activity on the part of the proprietor of the trademark, as well as in cases of enforcement of the provisions on unjust enrichment, the revocation or invalidity of a trademark registration shall not affect:

(1) any decision on infringement which has become final and been enforced prior to the decision on revocation or invalidity of the registration of the trademark;

(2) any contract concluded prior to the decision on revocation or invalidity of the registration of the trademark, thus much as it has been executed before the applicable decision – making. However, on the basis of concepts of justice, may be claimed the compensation in a reasonable extent, on grounds of justified circumstances, which have been paid according to the contract.