Intellectual Property

In accordance with section 23 "Intellectual Property" of the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014, the cooperation of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Community in the field of protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights is carried out in the following main directions:

1) support for scientific and innovative development;

2) improvement of the mechanisms of commercialisation and use of intellectual property;

3) creation of a favourable environment for copyright holders and holders of related rights in the Member States;

4) introduction of a registration system for trademarks and service marks of the Eurasian Economic Union and appellations of origin of goods of the Eurasian Economic Union;

5) protection of intellectual property rights, including on the Internet;

6) ensuring effective customs protection of intellectual property rights, including through the maintenance of a common customs registry of intellectual property of the Member States;

7) implementation of coordinated measures to prevent and combat trafficking in counterfeit goods.

2. Is national treatment and most-favoured nation treatment in the field of intellectual property provided for in the Eurasian Economic Union?

Yes, it is.

Nationals of one Member State shall be granted national treatment on the territory of another Member State with regard to the legal treatment of intellectual property. Legislation of a Member State may provide exceptions to the national treatment in respect of judicial and administrative proceedings, including with regard to indication of an address for correspondence and appointment of a representative.

The Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union may provide in their legislation any rules ensuring a higher level of protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights than it is set out in international legal acts applicable to the Member States, as well as in international treaties and acts constituting the law of the Eurasian Economic Union

3. What measures are being taken by the Commission to improve the regulatory legal framework of the Eurasian Economic Union in the sphere of intellectual property? Are the international best practices being taken into account in relation to the issue?

In order to improve the regulatory legal framework of the Eurasian Economic Union in the sphere of intellectual property, the Eurasian Economic Commission monitors amendments in international law, national legislation of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union in this area on an ongoing basis. The Eurasian Economic Commission also directs efforts towards adequate, comprehensive research on the possible negative trends concerning trade in intellectual property, in order to develop measures to overcome them together with Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union.

The Eurasian Economic Commission carries out continuous interaction with the authorised authorities of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as international cooperation in the field of intellectual property, including international organisations, and representatives of third States in order to exchange best practice and open information for use in standard-setting activities.

For example, the Eurasian Economic Commission successfully cooperates with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the  European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO), as well as diplomatic missions and representatives of other organisations. They include the European Union Delegation to Russia, the French Embassy in the Russian Federation, the United States Embassy in the Russian Federation, the Delegation of the Japanese External Trade Development Organisation (JETRO), and others.

Since 2014, the Eurasian Economic Commission has held permanent observer status at WIPO.

Preparations are currently under way for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Eurasian Patent Organisation.

The Eurasian Economic Commission applies the best practices gleaned while implementing international contacts within the framework of work on draft international treaties in the field of intellectual property.

4. Will “parallel imports” be legalised in the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union?

Regional exhaustion of exclusive rights to trademarks are enshrined in the territory of the Union. This is defined by the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014

Freedom of movement of goods within the Eurasian Economic Union assumes that a single principle of exhaustion of rights should be in force in the territories of the Member States.

The question of the feasibility of amending the principle of the exhaustion of the exclusive rights to trademarks and the possibility of legalising "parallel imports" have been discussed for quite a long time.

In June 2014, the Working Group on the development of proposals for further implementation of the principle of exhaustion of exclusive rights to intellectual property headed by Member of the Board - Minister in charge of Economics and Financial Policy, Timur Suleimenov was created by the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

The group comprises representatives of the authorised authorities and business of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as a wide range of specialists of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Based on the findings of the Working Group, various options for the development of the situation were reviewed and on April 13, 2016 the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council was ordered to draw up the draft Protocol to supplement the Treaty of Union with rules that grant the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council with the authority to set exclusions from the application of the principle of exhaustion of the exclusive right to a trademark for certain types of goods.

Should such a document for individual types of goods be adopted, "parallel imports" will be permitted.

The Eurasian Economic Commission, together with the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union, is currently preparing a draft Protocol on amending the Treaty the Eurasian Economic Union.

5. How can a trademark be protected throughout the Eurasian Economic Union, in order to prevent the import of counterfeit goods?

In order to prevent the import of counterfeit goods, it is necessary to register a trademark in national customs register of intellectual property assets.

To simplify the procedures related to the protection of intellectual property rights throughout the Eurasian Economic Union, the Eurasian Economic Commission, together with Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union carries out the formation of a regulatory legal framework in order to ensure the functioning of the Single customs registry of intellectual property. A draft international treaty between the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union that will regulate this issue is currently undergoing the internal procedures necessary for signing it.

6. In view of the lack of customs control in mutual trade between the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union, intellectual property rights violations are increasingly of a transboundary nature. What is being done to counteract this?

On September 8, 2015 the Governments of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union met in Grodno and signed an Agreement on coordination of activities on the protection of intellectual property rights, aimed at coordinating the activities of the authorised authorities of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union to prevent, detect, deter and investigate violations of the rights of intellectual property assets.

The development of the Treaty includes the preparation of a Regulation that will establish the rules of communication between the authorised authorities of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union and the execution of requests necessary to prevent violations of a transboundary nature.

7. How are the approaches to regulating the collective management of copyright and related rights unified in the Eurasian Economic Union?

In order to unify the management of copyright and related rights on a collective basis, the Eurasian Economic Commission together with the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union prepared a draft Agreement on the procedure of management of copyright and related rights on a collective basis.

The draft agreement provides for the single regulation in terms of collective management, in particular the establishment of the limiting dimensions and the legal regime of the deductions made by the relevant organisations (OKUP) of the collected remuneration, accountability and public reporting of OKUP, compulsory audit mechanism for the collection, distribution and payment of the remuneration of right holders.

The draft agreement also provides for the establishment of national legislation of responsibility for non-payment of remuneration for the use of items subject to copyright and/or related rights by users or OKUP and their use without the authorization of the right holder and other violations of the requirements and obligations.

8 What is the difference between a trademark and a trademark of the Eurasian Economic Union?

A trademark is granted legal protection on the territory of a single State based on state registration in the national patent office.

For example, a trademark may be granted legal protection on the territory of the Russian Federation by state registration in the Federal service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent).

The trademark of the Eurasian Economic Union is granted legal protection simultaneously in all Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia) by submitting one application to any of the national patent offices of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union.

9. What rights does a right holder of a trademark of the Eurasian Economic Union have?

The right holder of the trademark of the Eurasian Economic Union has the exclusive right to use the trademark of the Eurasian Economic Union in accordance with the legislation of the Member States, and is entitled to dispose of this exclusive right, and to prevent other persons from using the trademark of the Union or a designation similar to it to the point of confusion in relation to homogeneous goods and/or services.

10. What results of intellectual activity can be registered as an invention according to the legislation of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union in the sphere of intellectual property?

According to the legislation of the Member States, technical solutions in any field related to the product (device, substance), method (process of implementation of the action over the material object using material resources), as well as the application of known products, or methods of designating a new product for a particular purpose can be protected as an invention.

11. What is the validity of the exclusive rights to objects of patent law in accordance with the laws of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union?

According to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union dated May 29, 2014, the validity of the exclusive right to an invention is no less than 20 years, and for utility models and industrial designs - not less than 5 years.

In accordance with the legislation of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union, the validity of the exclusive rights to an invention is 20 years.

The period of validity of the exclusive rights to a utility model in the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation is 10 years, in the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic it is 5 years.

The period of validity of the exclusive rights to industrial designs in the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Belarus is 15 years, in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic it is 10 years, and in the Russian Federation it is 5 years.

12. Is there an Intellectual Property Strategy in the Eurasian Economic Union? If so, what regulations does it contain?

The Eurasian Economic Commission together with the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union with the involvement of scientific experts in the field of strategic planning is currently working to develop a draft strategy for the conservation, protection and use of intellectual property in the Eurasian Economic Union.

The draft strategy contains provisions aimed at creating an integrated system of intellectual property in the Eurasian Economic Union in order to strengthen scientific, inventive, innovation and creative activities as well as improve the competitiveness of the economies of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Soon, the draft will be presented to the public in order to obtain relevant proposals from interested persons.

13. What results are planned to be achieved when executing the Intellectual Property Strategy in the Eurasian Economic Union?

It is expected that the main results of the implementation of the Strategy will be the formation of the Eurasian intellectual property market (that is successfully developing) that ensures the effective development of the innovation component of the economies of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the provision of the required level of their competitiveness.

Implementation of the Strategy would greatly expand the integration interaction of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union, and will create conditions for unhindered circulation of intellectual property assets on the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union.