On the ratification of the Agreement on Cooperation between the CIS Member States on the Prevention and Suppression of the Use of False Trademarks and Geographical Indications

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The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 19, 2023 No. 11-VIII SAM

To ratify the Agreement on Cooperation between the CIS member States on the Prevention and Suppression of the Use of False Trademarks and Geographical Indications, signed in Minsk on May 28, 2021.

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

K. TOKAEV

AGREEMENT on Cooperation between the CIS member States on the Prevention and Suppression of the Use of False Trademarks and Geographical Indications

Officially certified text

The Governments of the States Parties to this Agreement, hereinafter referred to as the Parties,

Based on the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Legal Protection and Protection of Intellectual Property and the establishment of the Interstate Council for the Legal Protection and Protection of Intellectual Property dated November 19, 2010, taking into account the provisions of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property dated March 20, 1883 and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights dated April 15, 1994,

guided by generally recognized principles and norms of international law,

Attaching great importance to the expansion of trade and economic ties between the Parties,

Recognizing the need to implement joint measures to protect consumers and producers from the sale of goods that are improperly labeled with designations that are identical or confusingly similar to protected trademarks and geographical indications,

in order to coordinate actions to prevent and suppress the use of such misleading designations, as well as other acts of unfair competition

have agreed on the following:

Article 1

For the purposes of this Agreement, the following definitions are used:

A commodity is an object that satisfies a social need, produced for sale and exchange, i.e. having a value that is established in the process of its exchange for other goods.;

trademark is a designation protected in accordance with the legislation of the States parties to this Agreement and international treaties to which they are parties, and serves to individualize the goods of some participants in civil turnover from the goods of other participants in civil turnover.;

geographical indication is a designation to which the rights have arisen in accordance with the legislation of the States Parties to this Agreement and which identifies the goods as originating from the territories of the States Parties to this Agreement, a region or locality in these territories, if the quality, reputation or other characteristics of the goods are largely determined by its geographical origin.

The Parties recognize that geographical indications may be protected as names of the places of origin of goods in accordance with the legislation of the States Parties to this Agreement.;

A false trademark is a designation, the application of which to a product violates the rights of the copyright holders of the relevant trademarks and (or) is capable of misleading consumers regarding the quality, origin or other characteristics of the product.;

A false geographical indication is a designation, the application of which to the product violates the rights of the copyright holders of the relevant geographical indications and (or) is capable of misleading consumers regarding the quality, origin or other characteristics of the product.

Article 2

The purpose of this Agreement is to create conditions allowing the Parties to cooperate on the prevention, detection and suppression of the production and sale of goods bearing false trademarks and geographical indications, as well as the movement of such goods across the state borders of the member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Article 3

In order to ensure the implementation of this Agreement, the parties, guided by the legislation of the States Parties to this Agreement,:

jointly plan and implement measures to prevent, identify, suppress and prevent the production and sale of goods bearing false trademarks and geographical indications, including their export or import, as well as other offenses related to the protection of trademarks and geographical indications;

exchange of information on request:

on regulatory legal acts regulating issues falling under the scope of this Agreement;

the facts of production and sale, attempts to export or import goods bearing false trademarks and geographical indications identified by the competent authorities of the States Parties to this Agreement;

trademarks and geographical indications applied to goods imported into the territories of the States Parties to this Agreement;

promote joint scientific research in the field of industrial property;

They hold seminars and conferences;

they cooperate in the field of training and advanced training of personnel in the field of intellectual property;

exchange of relevant methodological and specialized literature.

Article 4

The Parties, in accordance with the legislation of the States Parties to this Agreement, shall take coordinated measures to prevent and suppress the production and sale of goods bearing false trademarks and geographical indications on the basis of joint actions and voluntarily assumed obligations.

Article 5

The States Parties to this Agreement, which are members of the World Trade Organization, confirm their obligations set out in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights of April 15, 1994, regarding the prevention and suppression of the use of false trademarks and geographical indications.

The States Parties to this Agreement that are not members of the World Trade Organization will strive to follow the principles and norms laid down in the said Agreement.

Article 6

With regard to trademarks and geographical indications, the Parties shall provide for legal remedies to prevent:

1) the use of any means in the designation or presentation of goods that indicate or cause an association that this product originates from a geographical area other than the present place of origin, in such a way that it can mislead the consumer about the place of origin and the properties of the goods;

2) any use that constitutes an act of unfair competition within the meaning of article 10 bis of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of March 20, 1883.

Article 7

The Parties, in accordance with the legislation of their States, may refuse to register a trademark or register the disposal of the exclusive right to a trademark, or may invalidate the registration of a trademark or the registration of the disposal of the exclusive right to a trademark consisting of or containing the name of a geographical feature, in the case of the use of such a name in a trademark for goods not originating from the specified territory of a State - a party to this Agreement that misleads consumers about the true place of origin of such goods.

Article 8

The legal remedies referred to in article 7 of this agreement also apply to geographical indications, which, although literally true of the territory, region or locality from which the goods originate, give consumers an erroneous idea of the territorial origin of the goods.

Article 9

In order to simplify the application of the legal remedies provided for in this Agreement, the Parties may negotiate the establishment of a multilateral system for registration and legal protection of geographical indications and appellations of origin, as well as a mechanism for exchanging information on their protection in the territories of the States Parties to this Agreement.

Article 10

The Parties shall ensure that the legislation of the States Parties to this Agreement includes provisions on procedures for the observance of trademark and geographical indication rights, providing effective measures against any violation of the rights stipulated in this Agreement, including urgent measures to prevent such violations and means that constitute an administrative and legal sanction in case of violations. These procedures should ensure that legitimate trade is protected from abuse and that barriers are not created.

Article 11

Procedures to ensure that trademark and geographical indication rights are respected should be equal and fair for all.

Article 12

The Parties shall cooperate in the implementation of the provisions of this Agreement through their authorized (competent) authorities in accordance with the legislation and international obligations of the States Parties to this Agreement.

The Parties shall determine the list of their authorized (competent) authorities and inform the depositary thereof when submitting a notification on the implementation of the internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement. Each of the Parties shall notify the depositary in writing through diplomatic channels within one month of changes in the list of authorized (competent) bodies.

Article 13

Coordination of cooperation between the Parties on the implementation of the provisions of this Agreement is entrusted to the body of sectoral cooperation of the Commonwealth of Independent States - the Interstate Council on Legal Protection and Protection of Intellectual Property.

Article 14

The financing of the measures taken by the Parties to implement this Agreement is carried out within the funds provided annually in the budgets of the States Parties to this Agreement to the relevant ministries and departments for the performance of their functions.

Article 15

This Agreement may be amended by mutual agreement of the Parties, which are an integral part of it, which are formalized by the relevant protocol.

Article 16

Disputes between the Parties arising from the application and interpretation of this Agreement shall be resolved through consultations and negotiations between the Parties concerned or through another procedure agreed upon by the Parties.

Article 17

This Agreement shall enter into force 30 days after the date of receipt by the depositary of the third written notification that the Signatories have completed the internal procedures necessary for its entry into force.

For the Parties that have completed the internal procedures later, this Agreement shall enter into force 30 days after the date of receipt by the depositary of the relevant documents.

Article 18

After its entry into force, this Agreement is open for accession by any CIS member State by submitting an instrument of accession to the depositary.

For the acceding State, this Agreement shall enter into force 30 days after the date of receipt by the depositary of the instrument of accession.

Article 19

This Agreement is concluded for an unlimited period. Each of the Parties has the right to withdraw from this Agreement by sending a written notification of its intention to the depositary no later than six months before the withdrawal and settling the obligations that have arisen during the validity of the Agreement.

Article 20

For the States Parties to this Agreement, the Agreement on Measures to Prevent and Suppress the Use of False Trademarks and Geographical Indications of June 4, 1999, shall expire on the date of entry into force of this Agreement for them.

Done in Minsk on May 28, 2021, in an original water copy in Russian. The original copy is kept in the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which will send a certified copy to each signatory State of this Agreement.

For the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan (with reservation)

For the Government of the Russian Federation

For the Government of the Republic of Armenia

(with a special opinion)

For the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan

For the Government of the Republic of Belarus

For the Government of Turkmenistan

For the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan

For the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan

For the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic

For the Government of Ukraine

For the Government of the Republic of Moldova

____________________________

RESERVATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN to the Agreement dated May 28, 2021 on cooperation of the CIS member States on the prevention and suppression of the use of false trademarks and Geographical indications

The provisions of the Agreement will not be applied by the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Republic of Armenia until the consequences of the conflict are completely eliminated and relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan are normalized.

The Prime Minister

The Republic of Azerbaijan

Ali Asadov

SPECIAL OPINION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA on the Decision of the Council of Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States dated May 28, 2021 on the Agreement on Cooperation of the CIS member States on the prevention and Suppression of the use of False trademarks and Geographical Indications

In connection with the submission by the Republic of Azerbaijan of a Reservation to the Decision of the CIS Council of Heads of Government dated May 28, 2021 on the Agreement on Cooperation between the CIS Member States on the Prevention and Suppression of the Use of False Trademarks and Geographical Indications, the Armenian side considers it necessary to note the following.

The provisions of the Agreement will not be applied by the Republic of Armenia to the Republic of Azerbaijan until the consequences of the military aggression of the Republic of Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh are completely eliminated and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved politically and diplomatically in accordance with the norms and principles of international law in the interests of achieving the goals set out in the UN Charter.

Acting Deputy Prime Minister

Republic of Armenia

M. G. GRIGORYAN

I hereby certify that the attached text is an authentic copy of the Agreement on Cooperation between the CIS member States on the Prevention and Suppression of the Use of False Trademarks and Geographical Indications, signed at the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which took place on May 28, 2021 in Minsk. The original copy of the above-mentioned Agreement is kept in the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

First Deputy Chairman

The Executive Committee -

CIS Executive Secretary

L. V. Anfimov

President

Republic of Kazakhstan

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