Eurasian Economic Union Members Sign EAEU Trademark Agreement

The Agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin was signed on February 3, 2020 by all EAEU members states — Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. The Agreement will enter into force once all member states bring their registration procedures and official fees in line with the Agreement and deposit their instruments of ratification to the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), expected by the end of 2020. The Agreement was first signed by the EEC in December 2018.

This significantly moves forward the process of establishing a unified EAEU IP system, under which right holders will be able to obtain legal protection simultaneously in all EAEU member states by submitting one application to any of the national offices, i.e. they will be able to choose a “receiving office”. Each trademark application will undergo preliminary (formal) and substantive examination, with the entire registration procedure estimated to take approximately one year. The EAEU trademark will be kept in a single register administered by the EEC.

Apart from offering a more efficient way to obtain full protection in all member states, the unified system is also expected to offer a more affordable procedure, because the applicant will pay a single filing fee at the receiving office only. However, examination fees will still need to be paid to all national offices separately. The applicant will also be able to reduce the translation costs, because an application may be filed in Russian or in any officially recognised local language together with a Russian translation (in the event of any discrepancy, the Russian version will prevail).

By: Julia Zhevid and Tatyana Kulikova

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