Registration of trademarks in the EAEU countries

In the context of globalization countries create alliances for the purpose of integration and the formation of common rules of interaction. In particular, this article will focus on the Eurasian Economic Union. The EAEU is an international organization for regional economic integration with international legal personality and established by the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union of May 29, 2014. Currently, the EAEU includes five countries: the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation.

The EAEU ensures the freedom of movement of goods, services, capital and labor, as well as the implementation of a coordinated, agreed or unified economic policy for the purpose of comprehensive modernization, cooperation and increasing the competitiveness of national economies in the interests of improving the living standards of the member states.

The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) is a permanent regulatory body of the Eurasian Economic Union. The commission began functioning in February 2012. The main purpose of the Eurasian Economic Commission is to ensure conditions for the functioning and development of the EAEU, and to develop proposals for the further development of integration.

The creation of the EAEU allowed the countries of the CIS to form a structure and rules that will help interact with each other and ensure the stimulation of trade activity and improved economic performance. Belarus and Kazakhstan have a common land border with Russia, therefore, trade turnover between these countries is quite high. Thus, the volume of mutual trade between Belarus and the Russian Federation in 2023 increased by 6% compared to 2022 and amounted to about $53 billion. Trade turnover with Russia, Kazakhstan’s second largest trading partner, amounted to $26 billion in 2023. Despite the fact that Russia does not have a common land border with Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, the volume of mutual trade between these countries shows an increase when comparing 2022 and 2023. Thus, the trade turnover between Armenia and Russia amounted to $7 billion 306 million, increasing by 43.3% compared to 2022. The largest share of Kyrgyzstan's mutual trade in 2023 was with Russia - 67.3% of the total volume of $15.7 billion. Thus, economic indicators of mutual trade confirm that currently the EAEU countries are actively cooperating with each other in trade and increasing these indicators.

The result of international trade is the appearance of goods on the market and the satisfaction of customer needs. Products are marked with trademarks for the purpose of individualization for the consumer. Among the countries that are of interest to applicants from Russia from the point of view of registering trademarks, currently the most popular are the countries of the EAEU and other former Soviet republics. How can you register a trademark in the countries of the EAEU? Let’s consider the registration of a trademark in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan by an applicant from Russia.

Methods of trademark registration in the EAEU countries

Regardless of the registration method you choose, we recommend conducting a trademark search in each country to assess your chances of registration before filing your application. The search will allow you to identify possible risks and predict the progress of the registration procedure and likely additional costs. Based on the search results, the applicant will decide on the advisability of filing an application in a particular country.

The first method is to submit an international application under the Madrid system on the basis of a Russian registration or application. From the point of view of financial costs and ease of managing international registration, this option is convenient: there is no need to involve local attorneys at the stage of filing an application, and you will have to carry out actions with a sign, for example, making changes, renewing, in only one sign.

However, there are a number of features when filing an international application. Thus, an international application must contain information about the applicant, the requested designation and the list of goods/services in accordance with the basic registration/application in Russia. The list of goods/services may be shortened compared to the list in the Russian registration, but it cannot be expanded and additional items cannot be specified. In addition, international registration for 5 years is dependent on the basic registration. In the event that a trademark in Russia ceases to be valid or the Russian application is withdrawn within the 5-year period, the international registration will cease to be valid.

The processing time for an international application in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is 12-18 months from the date of assignment of the international registration number. Based on the results of the examination, the Office of each country makes a decision on granting legal protection or a preliminary refusal. The time limit for responding to a provisional refusal is limited; local patent attorneys must be involved to prepare and submit it to the national Office. After filing and reviewing the response to the provisional refusal, the national Office makes a final decision, which may be positive or negative, either in whole or in part. If a positive decision is made, separate certificates confirming the registration of the mark in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will not be issued.

The second method is to submit separate national applications to each country. In this case, the involvement of local patent attorneys will be required, due to which the financial costs will certainly increase compared to the international registration procedure. However, this registration option may be applicable if the applicant does not have a basic registration/application in Russia or plans to use the trademark in different graphic designs (designs) or for different goods in each specific country and, accordingly, cannot file one international application. The time frame for registering a trademark under the national procedure is also approximately 12-18 months. The stages of the national procedure are similar to the international one, however, if the decision is positive, national Offices issue certificates of registration in electronic or paper forms.

In the near future, the introduction of a third method is expected - regional registration of a trademark in the EAEU system by filing a single application. The Treaty on Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin of Goods of the Eurasian Economic Union was ratified by Russia on November 20, 2020, and entered into force on April 26, 2021. On September 9, 2022, the 12th meeting of the Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property under the EEC was held, at which priority issues of integration through the EAEU were again considered, including the launch of a regional system for the protection of trademarks and appellations of origin of goods. This system has not yet been put into operation and it is not possible to use it, since currently the participating countries are developing technological documents necessary to launch the relevant general processes of the Union, and a system of duties is being formed for the procedure for registering a regional trademark.

What is registered in the EAEU countries?

According to statistical data provided by the World Intellectual Property Organization for 2022, the structure of the scope of registration of trademarks of the EAEU countries was as follows.

• In Armenia, among the most popular goods and services were: advertising and business management; alcoholic drinks; coffee, tea and food products; food and beverage services; meat, fish and poultry (in descending order of popularity). The total number of applications submitted indicating Armenia in 2022 is 13,358 applications, of which 57.4% of the total were submitted by non-residents. The main non-resident applicants were applicants from the Russian Federation, the USA, Switzerland, China, and the United Kingdom. In turn, the leading foreign destinations for applicants from Armenia were Iran, the Russian Federation, the USA, Georgia, and Kazakhstan.
• In Belarus, among the most popular goods and services were: advertising and business management; research tools; meat, fish and poultry; coffee, tea and food products; non-medical cosmetics (in descending order of popularity). The total number of applications submitted indicating Belarus in 2022 is 16,618 applications, of which 78.4% of the total were submitted by non-residents. The main non-resident applicants were applicants from the Russian Federation, Germany, China, the USA, and the United Kingdom. In turn, the leading foreign destinations for applicants from Belarus were the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, China, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine.
• In Kazakhstan, among the most popular goods and services were: advertising and business management; education; coffee, tea and food products; alcoholic drinks; food and beverage services (in descending order of popularity). The total number of applications submitted indicating Kazakhstan in 2022 is 30,437 applications, of which 51.2% of the total were submitted by non-residents. The main non-resident applicants were applicants from the Russian Federation, China, the USA, Germany, and Switzerland. In turn, the leading foreign destinations for applicants from Kazakhstan were the Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and China.
• In Kyrgyzstan, among the most popular goods and services were: advertising and business management; pharmaceutical products; clothing, shoes, hats; coffee, tea and food products; financial services (in descending order of popularity). The total number of applications submitted indicating Kyrgyzstan in 2022 is 8,203 applications, of which 91.1% of the total were submitted by non-residents. The main non-resident applicants were applicants from the Russian Federation, China, the USA, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. In turn, the leading foreign destinations for applicants from Kyrgyzstan were the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, China, and the USA.
• In the Russian Federation, among the most popular goods and services were: advertising and business management; clothing, shoes, hats; research tools; education; scientific and technological services (in descending order of popularity). The total number of applications submitted indicating Russia in 2022 is 421,140 applications, of which 10.8% of the total were submitted by non-residents. The main non-resident applicants were applicants from China, Germany, the USA, Switzerland, and Italy. In turn, the leading foreign destinations for applicants from Russia were Kazakhstan, Belarus, China, Uzbekistan, and Armenia. And the leading applicants under the Madrid system for 2020-2022 were PJSC Gazprom Neft, JSC Zhirovoi Kombinat, part of the Rusagro group of companies, JSC KONTI-RUS, CJSC Myasnaya Galereya, part of the group of companies "ABI Product".

Thus, effective interaction between the EAEU countries is confirmed by the statistics provided. It is obvious that the application activity of non-resident countries ensures investment in the economy of the country where it is planned to open a business. Therefore, the launch of a regional trademark registration system in the EAEU is eagerly awaited by both applicants and patent attorneys. We hope that from the economic and technical aspects this system will be more profitable and convenient, which will lead to closer interaction between the EAEU countries in the field of trademark registration.