Recognition of well-known trademarks in Belarus

Trademarks for goods and services registered in the territory of Belarus or protected under the Madrid Agreement on the international registration of trademarks, as well as non-registered trademarks which have acquired general notoriety among a substantial segment of the general population as a result of their active use, can be recognized as well-known trademarks.

The authorized agency for recognition of a trademark as well-known is the Board of Appeal, a special body within the Belarus National Centre of Intellectual property.

The procedure for recognition of a mark as well-known is regulated by the “Rules of recognition procedure of a trademark as well-known in Belarus”.

The sign can also be recognized as a well-known mark under the decision of the court, while appealing the decision issued by the Board of Appeal.

Application for recognition of a trademark as well-known

The basis for recognition of a trademark to be well-known is an Application from an interested natural or juridical person filed with the Board of Appeal at the Belarus National Centre of Intellectual property.

The Board of Appeal has to issue its decision within six (6) months from the application date.

The Application shall contain the date from which, in the applicant’s opinion, his/her mark became well-known in the territory of Belarus.

Evidences certifying a trademark as well-known

• Reports on customer surveys.
• Results of marketing researches demonstrating the share of the company on the market.
• Documents confirming duration, intensity, and the region of use of the trademark in the territory of Belarus.
• Certified documents confirming the conduction of advertising with regards to the corresponding trademark.
• Certified documents, confirming participation in exhibitions, sponsored programs etc., inter alia documents confirming costs for the conduction of the cited actions;
• Certified copies of certificates confirming the registration of a trademark (or the applications for such registrations).
• Documents confirming the acknowledgement of the trademark as well-known in foreign states.
• Any other information on which basis a conclusion that a trademark is well-known in Belarus could be made available.

Decision on the recognition of the trademark as well-known

A trademark is recognized as well known in Belarus if the corresponding evidences represented in the documents submitted by the applicant in support of its application are recognized by the Board of Appeal as sufficient for confirmation of the well-knownness of a trademark. Accordingly, the trademark declined to be recognized as well-known in case of insufficiency of such evidences.

If evidences provided by the applicant sufficiently prove the well-knownness of the trademark in at least one of the corresponding sectors of society of Belarus, such a trademark is to be recognized as well-known in the territory of Belarus.

As mentioned above, the corresponding sectors of society can consist of:

• Real and potential customers of the products or services for which the trademark is used and applied;
• People participating in the distribution of such goods and services for which the trademark is applied.
• Business circles dealing with the goods and services for which the trademark is applied

In case of a refusal of the Application, the Board of Appeal has to issue the decision indicating the grounds of such refusal. This decision can be appealed by the interested parties according to the law on appeal of decisions of the Board of Appeal.

The Certificate for a well-known trademark shall be issued by the state agency “National Centre of Intellectual Property” within one (1) month from the date of entering the trademark into the register.

Recordal in the State Register of well-known trademarks in Belarus

Information on the trademark recognized as well-known, shall be recorded in the State register of well-known trademarks in Belarus. This Register is held by the Agency “National Centre of Intellectual Property”.