Laws
The Law of the Republic of Armenia on Geographical Indications
Chapter 3: The process of registering geographical indication, designation of origin and guaranteed traditional product
Article 17. Application for registration
1. The application for registration (hereinafter “application”) of the geographical indication or designation of origin or guaranteed traditional product shall be submitted by the group that complies with the provisions of paragraph 2 in Article 12 of this Law.
2. The application shall be submitted to the state authorized body in Armenian language. The documents to be attached to the application shall also be in Armenian. Where the documents to be attached to the application are submitted in another language, their Armenian translations shall be submitted within two months after the submission of the application.
3. The application form, procedures and methods of its submission, including electronically, shall be defined by the Government.
Article 18. Requirements for the application
1. The application for registration of the geographical indication or designation of origin shall contain:
1) technical requirements envisaged by paragraph 2 of Article 11 of this Law, which should be verified and approved by competent state body;
2) single document, which contains principal elements of technical requirements, the name, for which the registration is sought, description of product and, where necessary, special rules applied to the packaging or labeling of the product, brief description of the boundaries of mentioned geographical zone, the description of relation between the product and, in accordance with clauses 2 of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 8 of this Law, geographical environment or geographical origin, including, where necessary, special elements of the description of the product or its production method, that come to establish that relation.
2. For wines applications for protection of names as designations of origin or geographical indications shall include a single document containing:
(1) the name to be protected;
(2) the main elements of technical characteristics;
(3) the principal analytical and organoleptic characteristics of the wine and in the case of designation of origin, as well as an evaluation of its organoleptic characteristics;
(4) where applicable, the specific oenological practices used to make the wine(s) as well as the relevant pecularities on making the wine(s);
(5) the demarcation of the geographical area concerned;
(6) the maximum yields per hectare;
(7) an indication of the wine grape variety or varieties the wine(s) is obtained from;
(8) the details bearing out the link referred to in Article 8 paragraph 6 (1) or, as the case may be, in Article 8 paragraph 7 (1).
3. For spirit drinks the single document for registration of geographical indication shall include:
(1) the name and category of the spirit drink including the geographical indication;
(2) the main elements of technical characteristics;
(3) a description of the spirit drink including the principal physical, chemical and/or organoleptic characteristics of the product as well as the specific characteristics of the spirit drink as compared to the relevant category;
(4) the definition of the geographical area concerned;
(5) a description of the method for obtaining the spirit drink and, if appropriate, the authentic and unvarying local methods;
(6) the details bearing out the link with the geographical environment or the geographical origin;
(7) any requirements laid down by the country concerned and/or national and/or regional legislation;
(8) any supplement to the geographical indication and/or any specific labelling rule, according to the relevant technical file.
4. The application of guaranteed traditional product shall contain:
1) the name and location (address) of the applicant;
2) technical requirements envisaged by paragraph 3 of Article 11, which should be verified and approved by the competent state body;
3) the names, location (addresses) and precise functions of the bodies competent to carry out the supervision of technical requirements;
4) documents, proving the specific and traditional nature of the product.
5. Apart from the elements mentioned in clauses 1 and 3 of paragraph 1 of this Article, the application referring to the geographical zone outside the territory of the Republic of Armenia shall be accompanied with the document certifying the registration of that particular name in the country of origin.
6. The payment receipt of the state duty defined under the Law for publishing the application shall be attached to the application.
7. The application submitted by the representative shall have a letter of authorization attached.
Article 19. Representation
1. Legal and physical entities having a place of residence or location in the Republic of Armenia or functioning industrial or commericial institution, shall run their affairs of obtaining and protecting rights in compliance with this Law with the state authorized body either independently or through their representative. The competency of the representative shall be ratified by the letter of authorization drawn up in a simple written form issued by them.
2. Foreign physical and legal persons not having permanent place of residency or functioning industrial or commercial institution, shall run their affairs of obtaining and protecting rights in compliance with this Law with the state authorized body either through patent or trademark accredited person or other representative, unless otherwise specified under international treaties of the Republic of Armenia.
Article 20. Date of filing of an application
1. The date of receipt by the state authorised body of the documents listed below shall be considered the date of filing of the application:
The date of filing of an application for registration of geographical indication, designation of origin or guaranteed traditional product shall be considered the date of receipt of the application by the state authorized body, provided it includes all elements envisaged by paragraph 1 (taking into consideration the requirements stated in paragraphs 2 and 3), or in respective cases, paragraph 4, as well as paragraph 6 of Article 18 of this Law.
Article 21. Withdrawal of and amendements in application
1. Prior to the date of making the decision on registration or refusing of registration of the geographical indication or designation of origin or guaranteed traditional product, the applicant may apply to the state authorized body:
1) for withdrawal of the application;
2) for amendements, suppliments or correction in the application documents, provided these actions do not significantly affect the name sought to be registered and do not extend the list of goods.
2. Suppliments, amendements and/or corrections which significantly change the name to be registered or extend the list of goods, shall not be considered. These may become an object of new application.
3. Once the application is published in the “Industrial Property” Official Bulletin, the information on its withdrawal or other amendements introduced shall also be published.
4. The actions envisaged by paragraph 1 of this Article shall be carried out provided that state fees defined by Law are paid.
5. The application form, procedure for submission and its examination shall be defined under the Government.
Article 22. Examination of application
1. The state authorized body shall make an examination under the received application to verify the compliance of the application with the provisions of Article 18 of this Law and the requirements for the protection of this Law. The duration of making an examination shall not exceed the period of six months.
2. The process of making an examination in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article shall include examination of compliance with conditions for filing an examination and substantive examination.
3. The state authorized body may make an inquiry to the applicant on submitting additional documents during the examination. The time period that lies between the date of sending the notification and the date of receipt of its answer by the state authorized body shall not be considered when calculating the term defined by paragraph 1 of this Article.
4. The materials required in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article shall be submitted within the period of two months from the date of receiving the notification.
5. If the applicant does not submit the required materials within the period defined by paragraph 4 of this Article or does not submit an application on extending the defined period, then the application shall be considered to be withdrawn and the applicant is being notified about it. The application on extension of the period shall be attached with the payment receipt of state fee in the order established by Law. The conditions for extending the period shall be determined under the Government.
Article 23. Examination in compliance with the conditions for filing an application
1. The state authorized body shall, within the period of one month after the receipt of the application, carry out an examination to verify the compliance of the application with the requirements defined by Article 20 of this Law with the purpose of defining the date of filing the application.
2. If, in the result of the examination of application in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, it turns out, that:
1) the application complies with the requirements of defining the date of filing, then the state authorized body shall define the date of filing the application in compliance with Article 20 of this Law;
2) the application does not comply with the requirements of defining the date of filing, then the state authorized body shall notify the applicant on identified discrepancies and invite him to eliminate those within three months time after the receipt of notification.
3. If the applicant, in accordance with clause 2 of paragraph 2 of this Article:
1) eliminates the identified discrepancies, then the state authorized body shall define the date of application as that of eliminating the discrepancies;
2) does not eliminate the identified discrepanicies, then the application is considered to be not filed, and the applicant is notified about within ten days.
4. Where the state authorized body defines the date of filing the application, the data of application shall be entered into the respective database of applications for geographical indications, or of applications for designation of origin or of applications for guaranteed traditional product.
5. The state authorized body shall, after entering the data of application into the respective database, carry out an examination on the following grounds:
1) compliance of the application with the requirements specified by Article 12 of this Law;
2) compliance of the application with the technical requirements specified by Article 11 of this Law;
3) compliance of the documents attached to the application with the requirements specified by this Law and the Government;
4) existance of the payment receipt for the state fee as defined by Law.
6. If, in the result of the examination in accordance with paragraph 5 of this Article, it turns out that the application:
1) complies with the conditions envisaged by paragraph 5 of this Article, then the state authorized body shall make the decision on carrying out a substantive examination and notify the applicant within the period of ten days stating the date of filing the application;
2) does not comply with the conditions envisaged by paragraph 5 of this Article, then the state authorized body shall notify the applicant on identified discrepancies and invite to eliminate those within the period of three months.
7. If the applicant does not eliminate the discrepancies in the result of being notified in accordance with clause 2, paragraph 6 of this Article, or if he does not apply for extending the term, then the state authorized body shall make a decision on considering the application as withdrawn and inform the applicant about it within the period of ten days.
Article 24. Publication of application
Where the state authorized body makes a decision in compliance with clause 1 of paragraph 6 of Article 23, then it shall publish the data on application for geographical indication, designation of origin or guaranteed traditional product in the “Industrial Property” Official Bulletin within one month. The list of data eligible to be published shall be defined by the Government.
Article 25. Objections
1. Any interested person, state bodies and organizations, among them those belonging to other countries shall be entitled to present objection against the registration within the period of six months after the publication of the application for registering the geographical indication, designation of origin or guaranteed traditional product.
2. The objection shall be presented to the state authorized body in writing and be justified. The objection shall be presented along with the payment receipt of state fee established by Law. The objection shall be considered not to be presented if it is not accompanied by the payment receipt of the established state fee.
3. The person presenting an objection may submit additional arguments and justifications within the period of one month following the date of submitting the objection.
4. The objections presented to the state authorized body within the specified time-period under paragraph 1 of this Article shall undergo examination.
5. The objections presented against the registration of geographical indication or designation of origin may be sustained only when these come to prove that the name applied for:
1) does not comply with the requirements of respectively paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 8 of this Law; or
2) contradicts clause 2 of paragraph 4, paragraphs 5 or 6 of Article 10; or
3) will prejudice the geographical indication or designation of origin registered earlier, which are partly or wholly homonymous to whose tradamarks or products that have been in legal commercial circulation for minimum five years before the publication of the application; or
4) is generic in the context of this Law.
6. The objections presented against the registration of guaranteed traditional product can be sustained only where these come to prove that:
1) the requirements of Article 9 of this Law are not complied with;
2) in cases envisaged by paragraph 2 of Article 40 of this Law, the name applied for a similar product is already known and is being used legitimately and in significant economic scales.
Article 26. Substantive examination
1. During the examination of the application for registration of geographical indications, designation of origin or guaranteed traditional product the state authorized body shall verify:
1) the existance of grounds for refusal as prescribed by Article 10 of this Law;
2) the objections presented against the registration.
2. The state authorized body shall make the decision on registration or refusal of application for registration of the geographical indication, designation of origin or guaranteed traditional product based on the results of the examination. The applicant shall be notified about the decision within the period of ten days.
3. The examination of the application shall be carried out when the state fee established by Law has been paid.
Article 27. Consideration of objection
1. Where the objection presented in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 25 is being considered, then the state authorized body shall notify the applicant about it. The applicant may, within the period of two months after the receipt of the notification, set out his own opinion, which is followed by the proposal from the state authorized body on resolving the dispute in peaceful manner.
2. If the objecting party and the applicant group have arrived at an agreement, then this agreement shall be presented to the state authorized body. If in the result of agreement no or insignificant changes are made to the information published in accordance with Article 24 of this Law, then the state authorized body shall act in compliance with Article 29 of this Law. In the opposite case, the state authorized body shall carry out new examination in accordance with Article 22 of this Law.
3. If the parties do not arrive at an agreement, then the state authorized body shall, in accordance with paragraphs 4-7 of this Article, consider the presented objections and make a decision taking into account local customs and traditions and existing danger of confusion.
4. The state authorized body shall consider the chances of sustaining the objection and the arguments of parties. The criteria, envisaged by clauses 2-4 of paragraph 5, or in respective cases, paragraph 6, of Article 25 of this Law, shall be considered with regards to the territory of the Republic of Armenia, and in case of existance of intellectual property rights, with regards to those rights protected in the territory of the Republic of Armenia.
5. On the basis of inquiry by the applicant, the proprietor of the trademark registered earlier that served as a basis for objection, shall provide evidence that before the publication of application, the earlier trademark has been used for 5 years in the territory of the Republic of Armenia for those goods and services it is registered for and on which the objection is based, or, that there are justified grounds for not using, provided, that the trademark is registered for at least 5 years as of that very date. Where such evidence is not provided, then the objection shall be refused.
6. The consideration of the objection may, on the basis of one of the parties, be suspended for a period not exceeding six months.
7. Where the objection is sustained in the result of consideration, then the state authorized body shall refuse the application, in the opposite case, the state authorized body shall refuse the objection and notify the parties.
Article 28. Rejection of application
1. The state authorized body shall make a decision on rejecting the application, where:
1) in the result of examination carried out in accordance with Articles 23 and 26 of this Law it turns out, that the name applied for cannot be registered as a geographical indication or designation of origin in accordance with the provisions of this Law, or that the product applied for does not comply with the conditions envisaged by this Law for registering guaranteed traditional product;
2) presented objection has been sustained in accordance with Article 27 of this Law.
2. If the geographical indication or designation of origin presented for registration contain one or more generic name, and if their inclusion in the name may mislead as to the scope of protection of that name, then the state authorized body shall require from the applicant, as a condition for registration, to declare that he does not request exclusive right over those elements. That declaration shall be published with the registration data at the same time.
3. Where the application has been rejected in accordance with the the process defined by Law, on the basis that the name applied for as geographical indication or designation of origin is a generic name, then the state authorized body shall publish that particular decision in the “Industrial Property” Official Bulletin.
4. The decision on rejection shall not be adopted unless the applicant has been given the opportunity to express his opinion on withdrawal of or amending the application, or the grounds of rejection.
Article 29. Registration of geographical indication, designation of origin and guaranteed traditional product and grant of right on use
1. If in the result of examination of the application, in accordance with Articles 23 and 26 of this Law, it turns out that all conditions for registering the geographical indication, designation of origin or guaranteed traditional product are met, and that no objection was presented againt the registration or the presented objections were rejected, then the state authorized body shall make the decision respectively:
1) on registration of the geographical indication in the State Register for geographical indications and grant the applicant the right to use the geographical indication;
2) on registration of the designation of origin in the State Register for designation of origins and grant the applicant the right to use the designation of origin;
3) on registration of the guaranteed traditional product in the State Register for guaranteed traditional product.
2. The state authorized body shall within ten days after the date of making the decision stated in paragraph 1 of this Article, notify the applicant inviting him to pay the established state fee and to present the payment receipt within three minths after receiving the notification. The state authorized body shall within one month after the day of receving the mentioned payment receipt handover the applicant a certificate on the right to use the geographical indication or designation of origin. The format and list of contained information shall be established by the Government.
3. If the applicant or his representative does not receive the certificate of right to use, then the state authorized body shall deliver it by post within the period of ten days.
4. The data on registration of geographical indication or designation of origin or guaranteed traditional product, as well as the data on the persons being granted the right to use the geographical indication or designation of origin shall be published in the “Industrial Property” Official Bulletin.
5. The right to use the geographical indication or designation of origin may, on the basis of an application, be provided to any physical or legal person that comply with the conditions of paragraph 6 of Article 12 of this Law.
6. The right holder may, in case of loss or the worthlessness of the certicicate of right to use the geographical indication or designation of origin, apply to the state authorized body with a request to obtain a copy attaching payment receipt of the state fee to the request. The state authorized body shall issue the copy of the certificate within ten days.
Article 30. State registers
1. The state authorized body shall run a State Register for protected geographical indications, protected designation of origin and protected guaranteed traditional products.
2. All data envisaged by his Law and the Government shall be entered in the State Registers. Any record or change in the State Register shall be published in the “Industrial Property” Official Bulletin.
3. State Registers shall be accessible to the public.
4. The state authorized body shall, opon request by any person and on the condition of paying the state fee established by Law, provide excerpts from State Registers in accordance with the procedure defined by the Government.
