Patent Trademark news in CIS countries
[main.php] MIKHAILYUK, SOROKOLAT & PARTNERS © 2005-2011 ARCHIVE: news 2010 news 2009 news 2008 news 2007 news 2006 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Madrid Protocol for Uzbekistan August 23, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Madrid Protocol for Turkmenistan August 23, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Madrid Protocol for Ukraine August 23, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Hague Agreement for Kyrgyzstan August 5, 2011 The Kazakh Patent Office has launched an electronic system for filing patent applications August 2, 2011 The Estonian Internet Foundation introduced domain names with diacritical marks August 1, 2011 The Russian Patent Office has launched an electronic system for filing patent applications July 18, 2011 Establishment of the Agency for Intellectual Property of Uzbekistan July 15, 2011 Tajikistan accedes to WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty June 30, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Madrid Protocol for Tajikistan June 30, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Madrid Protocol for Georgia June 15, 2011 The Law of the Republic of Belarus of May 17, 2011 No. 262-3 "On Copyright and Related Rights" June 10, 2011 Since May 16, 2011 the terms of russian cyrillic “.ÐÔ” domain registration have changed May 31, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under the Madrid Protocol and the Hague Agreement for Moldova May 30, 2011 The Federal Law "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation" has recently been signed by the president May 30, 2011 "Mikhailyuk, Sorokolat and Partners" presented its concept of "Classical IP" at the International Trademark Association (INTA) 133rd annual meeting May 20, 2011 Accession by the Republic of Tajikistan to Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks May 2, 2011 The Senate of Kazakhstan has ratified the Patent Law Treaty April 29, 2011 The AGEPI, the State Agency of Intellectual Property in the Republic of Moldova, is developing a number of regulatory documents on copyright and related rights. April 20, 2011 Ukraine has reserved the top-level Cyrillic domain “.óêð” March 29, 2011 WIPO launched a new on-line tool that is aimed at simplifying search over brands March 16, 2011 Availabliltiy of a discount on official fees in Georgia February 28, 2011 Amendments to the Patent Law of Estonia February 25, 2011 Lithuania Launched Patent Applications Database February 25, 2011 Amendments of some legislative acts of Ukraine on regulations of copyright and related rights February 16, 2011 The Decree "On Approval of Regulations on extension of patents for inventions, utility models and industrial designs" came into force in Belarus February 9, 2011 Amendments to the Civil Procedure Law in Latvia January 31, 2011 Recent Developments in IP Legislation in Kazakhstan January 31, 2011 The Russian Patent Office has offered a new service – filing the application for registration of trade and service marks in the electronic form January 10, 2010 August 23, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Madrid Protocol for Uzbekistan In accordance with Rule 35(2)(d) of the Common Regulations under the Madrid Agreement and Protocol, the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has established the following new amounts, in Swiss francs, of the individual fee that is payable when Uzbekistan is designated in an international application, in a designation subsequent to an international registration or in respect of the renewal of an international registration. Application or Subsequent Designation (in Swiss francs): - for 1 class of goods or services – 1,028; - for each additional class – 103. When the mark is a collective mark: - for 1 class of goods or services – 1,543; - for each additional class – 154. Renewal: - for 1 class of goods or services – 514; - for each additional class – 51. When the mark is a collective mark: - for 1 class of goods or services – 1,028; - for each additional class – 103. This change will take effect on September 18, 2011. August 23, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Madrid Protocol for Turkmenistan In accordance with Rule 35(2)(d) of the Common Regulations under the Madrid Agreement and Protocol, the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has established the following new amounts, in Swiss francs, of the individual fee that is payable when Turkmenistan is designated in an international application, in a designation subsequent to an international registration or in respect of the renewal of an international registration. Application or Subsequent Designation (in Swiss francs): - for three classes of goods or services - 171; - for each additional class – 86. Renewal: - for three classes of goods or services – 171; - for each additional class – 86. This change will take effect on September 18, 2011. August 23, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Madrid Protocol for Ukraine In accordance with Rule 35(2)(d) of the Common Regulations under the Madrid Agreement and Protocol, the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has established the following new amounts, in Swiss francs, of the individual fee that is payable when Ukraine is designated in an international application, in a designation subsequent to an international registration or in respect of the renewal of an international registration. Application or Subsequent Designation (in Swiss francs): - for three classes of goods or services - 429; - for each additional class – 86. Renewal: - independent of the number of classes – 429; This change will take effect on September 18, 2011. August 5, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Hague Agreement for Kyrgyzstan The new individual fee prescribed by the Hague Agreement for international industrial design applications designating Kyrgyzstan entered into force on August 1, 2011. As of August 1, 2011 there are the following costs associated with international industrial design applications designating Kyrgyzstan: - for one design CHF 129 (instead of earlier stipulated CHF 156); - for each additional design CHF 64 (instead of earlier stipulated CHF 78). There are the following costs associated with the industrial design renewals designating Kyrgyzstan: - for one design CHF 64 (instead of earlier stipulated CHF 78); - for each additional design CHF 6 (instead of earlier stipulated CHF 8). August 2, 2011 The Kazakh Patent Office has launched an electronic system for filing applications The Kazakh Patent Office has introduced the online application filing system. For authorization it is necessary to complete THE REGISTRATION QUESTIONNAIRE . Upon successful completion of registration and logging on the web site of Kazakh Patent Office www.kazpatent.kz visitors have free access to the pages of "Electronic Payments", "State Register of protected documents of the Republic of Kazakhstan" and "E-filing of applications". August 1, 2011 The Estonian Internet Foundation introduced domain names with diacritical marks The Estonian Internet Foundation has recently introduced domain names with diacritical marks. The actual registration of .ee domain names containing letters with diacritical marks was opened to all interested persons on a first-come, first-served basis from 13 June 2011. It is now possible to register domains containing six ‘new’ letters with diacritical marks: õ, ä, ö, ü, and , which means that the .ee domain will be covered with the full range of the Estonian alphabet. Registration of domain names containing letters with diacritical marks is voluntary. Domain names containing letters with diacritical marks are registered for the same fee as common domain names. The fee is set for end consumers by the Registrar. July 18, 2011 The Russian Patent Office has launched an electronic system for filing patent applications As has been reported earlier, at the beginning of this year the Russian Patent Office has offered a new service – filing the application for registration of trade and service marks in the electronic form. Recently the Russian Patent Office has also launched a system for filing patent applications in the electronic form. Our company, Mikhailyuk, Sorokolat & Partners, which has already been successfully utilizing the software for electronic filing of trade and service mark applications, now also exploits the new system for electronic filing of patent applications. Among the benefits of these electronic filing systems are a speedy and a reliable way of filing applications, as well as reduced expenses due to minimization of paper consumption, mail and courier services etc. July 15, 2011 Establishment of the Agency for Intellectual Property of Uzbekistan Uzbekistan's president Islam Karimov signed the decree and the Cabinet of Ministers signed the corresponding detailed enactment establishing the Agency for Intellectual Property of Uzbekistan. This newly formed Agency is established on the basis of the State Patent Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Uzbek Republican Agency for Copyright. The Resolution defines the main tasks and activities of the Agency, establishes its organizational structure and the structure of the central office. One of the goals of the newly formed Agency is to ensure the implementation of the single state policy on protection of intellectual property. For this purpose the Agency created two divisions - the State Unitary Enterprise "Intelligence expert" and the training center for training and professional development of specialists in the area of intellectual property. June 30, 2011 Tajikistan accedes to WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty The Republic of Tajikistan has acceded to the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty on May 24, 2011. The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) is an international treaty signed by the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization, adopted in Geneva on December 20, 1996. WPPT was initiated with an objective to develop and maintain the protection of the rights of performers and producers of phonograms in a manner as effective and uniform as possible. The said Treaty will enter into force, with respect to the Republic of Tajikistan, on August 24, 2011. June 30, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Madrid Protocol for Tajikistan Referring to Article 8(7) of the Protocol the Government of Tajikistan has requested an individual fees, which are payable when Tajikistan is designated in an international application or in a designation subsequent to an international registration or in respect of the renewal of an international registration under the Madrid Protocol. The Director General of the WIPO, after consultation with the Office of Tajikistan, has established the following new amounts of the individual fees: Application or Subsequent Designation (in Swiss francs): – for one class of goods or services – 230; – for each additional class – 14. Renewal (in Swiss francs): – for one class of goods or services – 230; – for each additional class – 14. The declaration concerning the new individual fees made by Tajikistan enters into force on June 30, 2011. June 15, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under Madrid Protocol for Georgia The Government of Georgia has made a declaration to the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) changing the amounts of the individual fees payable when Georgia is designated in an international application or in a designation subsequent to an international registration or in respect of the renewal of an international registration under the Madrid Protocol. The Director General of the WIPO has, after consultation with the Office of Georgia, has established the following new amounts of the individual fees: Application or Subsequent Designation (in Swiss francs): – for one class of goods or services – 265; – for each additional class – 93. Renewal (in Swiss francs): – for one class of goods or services – 265; – for each additional class – 93. The new individual fees under the Madrid Protocol for international applications designating Georgia entered into force on June 1, 2011. June 10, 2011 The Law of the Republic of Belarus of May 17, 2011 No. 262-3 "On Copyright and Related Rights" As part of the state policy on intellectual property protection in the Republic of Belarus there was adopted the Law of the Republic of Belarus of May 17, 2011 No. 262-3 "On Copyright and Related Rights". The law was adopted with the aim of legal regulation of social relations in the field of development and use of objects of copyright and related rights, increase of effectiveness of protection of the rights and legitimate interests of authors, performers and other entities that have copyrights on the results of creative activity. Major innovations reflected in the Law relate to the following issues: • expanding and detailing the cases of free use of copyright and related rights, including consideration of the development of modern information technologies; • expanding the scope of exclusive rights to works and objects of related rights in all possible ways of their usage; • the possibility of return of exclusive right to work from the employer to the author if the employer does not begin to use the work within five years; • the possibility of concluding the gratuitous contract on the transfer of rights to use, as well as the assignment of exclusive rights to works and objects of related rights. Taking into consideration the necessity for active involvement of intellectual property rights into civil circulation and for regulation of relations in the transfer of property rights the Law includes provisions on the author's contract, assignment agreements, license agreements, contracts of order. Some innovations that found reflection in the Law relate to audiovisual works, computer programs, the legal status of certain categories of artists (directors of plays), and other issues. Considerable attention within the Law is paid to the legal regulation of activity on collective management of property rights to works and objects of related rights in cases where their practical implementation on an individual basis is difficult. In general, the adoption of the Law is intended to improve the effectiveness of functioning of the system of copyright and related rights in the Republic of Belarus and seeks to promote the formation of auspicious environment for intellectual development of a person, stimulation of creative activity of national authors, meeting the needs of society access to the world of science, literature, art. May 31, 2011 Since May 16, 2011 the terms of russian cyrillic “.ÐÔ” domain registration have changed As of May 16, 2011 the owners of domain name “.ÐÔ” have the opportunity to voluntarily waive the right of ownership of the domain by submitting the corresponding written notice to the company RU-CENTER. In addition, as part of the changes, the company RU-CENTER reserves the right to abrogate the right of ownership of the domain name “.ÐÔ” in case it violates the rights of owners of trademarks or trade names. Subsequent to the changes of terms for domain registration, the amendments to the annex to the Service Agreement are introduced. May 30, 2011 Amendments in individual fees under the Madrid Protocol and the Hague Agreement for Moldova The Madrid Protocol regulates the international registration of marks and the Hague Agreement regulates the international registration of industrial designs. Both are administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Director General of the WIPO has established new amounts of the individual fees that are payable when the Republic of Moldova is designated in an international application, in a designation subsequent to international registration or in respect of the renewal of an international registration under the Madrid Protocol. New fees under the Madrid Protocol entered into force on May 28, 2011. Also new individual fees for registration of international designs under the Hague Agreement with respect to Moldova will enter into force on June 1, 2011. May 30, 2011 The Federal Law "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation" has recently been signed by the president The Law is aimed at liberalization of the criminal legislation in the Russian Federation. Certain amendments are dealing with intellectual property infringement. Namely, amendments have been introduced into Article 180 that stipulates punishment for the following actions: 1. illegal use of a trademark, a service mark, an appellation of origin or similar designations for similar goods, if such action is committed repeatedly or causes major damages; 2. illegal use of a warning marking with respect to a trademark or an appellation of origin not registered in the Russian Federation, if such action is committed repeatedly or causes major damages. Prior to the amendments, the only sanction for the above-mentioned offences, if they were commited by a group of people acting in collusion or by an organized crime group, was imprisonment for up to six years with additional penalties. Under the new provisions, such actions, as an alternative for imprisonment, may be punished by a fine in the amount of from 500 000 rubles (equivalent to ~17710 USD or ~12500 EUR) to 1000 000 rubles (equivalent to ~35420 USD or ~25000 EUR) or in the amount of infringer’s salary or other income for the period of from three to five years. May 20, 2011 The 133rd INTA meeting took place in San Francisco, USA in May 14-18. The team of professionals of our company was glad to meet our clients and colleagues and to discuss issues of mutual interest and share opinions concerning practices development and integration. As usual the friendly atmosphere of INTA meeting was favourable for fruitful and beneficial interaction. By tradition our company took part at the INTA exhibition introducing a new slogan "Classical IP", that embodies the idea of "classical" values of our company practice. It was a pleasure for us to receive all the visitors of our booth and we hope to meet them again at next IP related events. May 2, 2011 Accession by the Republic of Tajikistan to Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) notifies about accession of the Republic of Tajikistan on March 31, 2011 to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, adopted on June 27, 1989 – i.e. Madrid Protocol. The instrument of accession was accompanied by the following declarations: - in accordance with Article 5(2)(d) and pursuant to Article 5(2)(b) of the Madrid Protocol, the time limit to exercise the right to notify a refusal of protection referred to in Article 5(2)(a) thereof is extended from 12 to 18 months; - in accordance with Article 8(7)(a) of the Madrid Protocol in connection with each international registration in which the Republic of Tajikistan is mentioned and in connection with the renewal of any such international registration, for Tajikistan should be applied an individual fee instead of a share in the revenue produced by the supplementary and complementary fees. The Madrid Protocol will enter into force with respect to the Republic of Tajikistan on June 30, 2011. April 29, 2011 The Senate of Kazakhstan has ratified the Patent Law Treaty The law "On ratification of the Patent Law Treaty" has been passed by the Senate (upper house of parliament) of Kazakhstan. The Patent Law Treaty was adopted on June 1, 2000 in Geneva at the Conference of the World Intellectual Property Organization with the participation of more than 140 countries. The Treaty entered into force on January 1, 2006. Accession to the Treaty will give the right to provide benefits of unification and simplification of requirements for filing application documents. In addition, by eliminating the complicated patenting procedures, the Patent Office of Kazakhstan will be able to execute its functions more effectively and reduce its costs. The document is aimed at harmonization and simplification of the procedural rules for patenting executed by the patent offices of member states. The document also provides simplified requirements for applications for a patent and the procedures of obtaining and maintaining a patent. The provisions of the Treaty are applied to national and regional patent applications for inventions and additional patents that are filed in the Patent Office or for the Patent Office of the contracting party. Articles 5 and 6 of the Treaty stipulate the requirements for the application structure for obtaining a patent. The Treaty may be revised on a conference of contracting parties. The decision on convocation of any such conference is made by the Assembly, in which each member state is represented by one delegate. The President has signed the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On ratification of the Patent Law Treaty". The text of the Law is in press. April 20, 2011 The AGEPI, the State Agency of Intellectual Property in the Republic of Moldova, is developing a number of regulatory documents on copyright and related rights. In order to implement the provisions of Law No. 139 dated July 2, 2010 on Copyright and Related Rights, which entered into force on January 1, 2011 the AGEPI is developing subordinate legislation, namely: regulations on registration of objects of copyright and related rights, the regulations on the commission for mediation and regulations on the collective management of copyright and related rights. The rates of remuneration of authors and copyright holders are also expected to be revised. Currently there exists the minimum tariff of remuneration approved by the Government Resolution No. 641 of July 12, 2001. Development of the Regulations on the application of new legislation on copyright and related rights rises the following items that require revision: - infringement of copyright and related rights over computer networks (based on Article 66 of Law No. 139 of July 12, 2001); - procedure for determining and paying compensation fees; - establishment of tariffs for the use of works retransmitted by cable; - establishment of tariffs for the use of works by broadcasters; - measures to comply with copyright and related rights by broadcasters; - TV piracy, etc. Also AGEPI has posted on its web site the Regulation on the collective management of copyright and related rights for public comments at: http://www.agepi.md/md/consultari_publice/da/ March 29, 2011 Ukraine has reserved the top-level Cyrillic domain “.óêð” Ukraine has successfully passed the second stage in the process of obtaining a non-Latin country code top-level domain .óêð (ukr) and is now awaiting the final step in the process – the domain delegation. According to the rules of ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the registration of top-level domain names consisting of non-Latin alphabet letters includes three stages. At the first stage, a country prepares all the necessary documents, determines the domain operator (in Ukraine it is the Ukrainian Network Information Center, established by the Cabinet of Ministers and headed by Yuriy Goncharuk) and submits the request to ICANN. At the second stage, the domain name is verified to meet a specific set of linguistic and technical requirements stipulated by the ICANN’s IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) ccTLD Fast Track String Evaluation. The third stage is launching the domain name. At present in Ukraine there are Cyrillic domains of IDN (Internationalized Domain Names) system. They consist of words written in letters of national alphabet, but the right part of the domain address should be written in Latin – com.ua or kiev.ua. March 16, 2011 WIPO launched a new on-line tool that is aimed at simplifying search over brands On March 4, 2011 WIPO launched a new on-line tool that is aimed at simplifying search over 640,000 records relating to internationally protected trademarks, appellations of origin and armorial bearings, flags and other state emblems as well as the names, abbreviations and emblems of intergovernmental organizations. The Global Brand Database offers free of charge, simultaneous brand-related searches across multiple collections. At present, the Global Brand Database search interface allows users to access three WIPO databases – international trademarks registered under the Madrid system for the international registration of marks; appellations of origin registered under the Lisbon system for the international registration of appellations of origin; and armorial bearings, flags and other state emblems as well as the names, abbreviations and emblems of intergovernmental organizations protected under Article 6ter of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property – by means of one simple, user-friendly screen. The Global Brand Database is designed on the basis of existing search resources related to brands by providing a single gateway for searching multiple sources. A novelty is the addition of an advanced function that allows searching for fuzzy and phonetic terms. The tool will be integrated into WIPO GOLD, which provides quick and easy on-line access to a broad collection of searchable IP data and tools relating to, for example, technology, brands, designs, statistics, WIPO standards, and international classification systems. Global Brand Database is availbale at http://www.wipo.int/branddb/en/index.jsp February 28, 2011 Availabliltiy of a discount on official fees in Georgia The Georgian Patent Office has distributed the discount on official fees in the amount of 70% on the international applications and patents filed and owned by applicants who are inventors and designers. The discount shall be applied for all fees for patenting of an invention, utility model and design. Moreover, the discount shall be applied even for already granted patents and for pending applications filed after July 3, 2010. Official fees for applications filed before July 3, 2010 shall be paid in full amount, however after the patent is granted annuities may be paid in the amount of 30% of the amount of corresponding annual fee. February 25, 2011 Amendments to the Patent Law of Estonia On February 10, 2011 a draft law on introducing amendments to the Patent Law of Estonia was submitted to the parliament for ratification. The key change in the amendments to the Patent Law is that the Estonian Patent Office will start conducting prior art searches to determine the novelty of patents for which utility model registration is sought. This service will be free of charge and it will not affect the duration of the registration procedure. Another new feature in the amendments is a new type of license called “simple public license”. The owner of a utility model who does not intend to use his invention may release a notification in the Official Gazette stating that his utility model may be used within Estonia by anyone who pays the corresponding license fee. February 25, 2011 Lithuania Launched Patent Applications Database Since 2011 the Lithuanian State Patent Bureau has launched a patent database on its website, in Lithuanian and English. This database shall comprise the descriptions of patent applications published in the 2011 Official Bulletin No.1 and in the subsequent issues. The database will also contain the descriptions of all patents issued in accordance with the Patent Law of the Republic of Lithuania. Lithuanian online patent database can be found on the website of the State Patent Bureau http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=lt&n=140 . February 16, 2011 Amendments of some legislative acts of Ukraine on regulations of copyright and related rights On February 1, 2011 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading the bill No. 6523 on amendments of some legislative acts of Ukraine on regulations of copyright and related rights, in particular in the field of collective management of property rights. The bill provides a number of innovations, including: • extension of protection term of rights of performers and phonogram producers; • responsibility for non-payment of license fee – royalties – for use of works and phonograms, particularly in the field of broadcasting, cable retransmission, trade and catering, hotel and restaurant business; • introduction of the "principle of representativeness" (the presence in management the relative majority of rights) as a criterion for determining the authorized organization that will collect and distribute royalties; • introduction of a more equitable distribution scheme of remuneration among authors, performers, producers of phonograms; • growth of criminal and administrative responsibility for violators of copyright and (or) related rights; • implementing an effective campaign against Internet piracy. The bill No. 6523 received support of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Moreover several provisions of the bill were proposed by the most influential international organization in this sphere – the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA). Ukrainian writers, performers and producers are acting in favor of the bill No. 6523 which will bring Ukraine closer to the international standards in the field of intellectual property protection. Improvement of the legislation and qualitative changes in the field of copyright and related rights are to stimulate development of the Ukrainian music industry where authors and artists will be able protect their works from illegal use and create high-quality musical product. February 9, 2011 The Decree "On Approval of Regulations on extension of patents for inventions, utility models and industrial designs" came into force in Belarus On February 3, 2011 the Decree ¹ 1824 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of December 15, 2010 "On Approval of Regulations on extension of patents for inventions, utility models and industrial designs" came into force. The decree stipulates approval of the procedure of extending the validity term of invention patents, utility models, industrial designs, which is designed in accordance with the existing enforcement practices related to the extension of the validity of the above-indicated patents and is aimed at improving thereof. The decree also set requirements that are applied for the request for renewal of patent for invention, utility model or design, a list of data the above-indicated requests for renewal should contain, the order of proceedings when they are considered in the Patent Office and issuance of decision by the Patent Office on the results of the consideration. In accordance with Item 2 of the decree the State Committee on Science and Technology is authorized to develop and approve the request forms for the extension of the patent, utility model and design. January 31, 2011 Amendments to the Civil Procedure Law in Latvia On January 1, 2011 the amendments to the Civil Procedure Law came into effect in Latvia, increasing the amount of the official fees for filing a court action in IP infringement and protection matters. The official fee for filing such action has increased three times and now amounts 150 lats (earlier 50 lats). Accordingly, the fee for filing an appeal against the judgment of the first court instance has also increased from 25 lats to 75 lats, as well as the amount of fee for filing a writ of appeal has changed from 50 lats to 200 lats. Besides, as of January 1, 2011 the amendments to the Criminal Law and the Administrative Violations Code relating to the responsibility for infringing intellectual property rights have entered into force. In conclusion, it is expected that as of January 1, 2012, a new Law on Industrial Property is to come into force in Latvia. January 31, 2011 Recent Developments in IP Legislation in Kazakhstan On December 30, 2010, the drafts of two IP laws have been introduced to the Kazakh parliament for consideration: • The first one is the Law on Ratification of the Patent Law Treaty (PLT). The Patent Law Treaty (PLT) is a patent law multilateral treaty concluded by 53 States and the European Patent Organisation (an intergovernmental organization) on June 1, 2000 in Geneva, Switzerland. Its aim is to harmonize formal procedures, such as the requirements to obtain a filing date for a patent application, the form and content of a patent application, as well as representation. • The second one is the Law on Introducing Amendments to Intellectual Property Legislation of the Republic of Kazahstan. The amendments to IP legislation are aimed at eliminating inner contradictions, legislative recognition of the status of patent attorneys, as well as the reduction of terms for examination of application for subjects of industrial property. January 10, 2010 The Russian Patent Office has offered a new service – filing the application for registration of trade and service marks in the electronic form Within the scope of execution of the project “Complex of software tools for preparing the materials for examination and registration of trademarks” there has been developed the software ARM Registrar, a part of the set of software tools to automate the preparation of electronic materials sent for examination and registration of trademarks in the Russian Federal Institute of Industrial Property. The software is designed to enhance the effectiveness in submission of the application information with the Russian Federal Institute of Industrial Property for subsequent examination and registration of trademarks on the basis thereof. It is also designed to automate the process of receiving by the applicant or his representative correspondence relating to the registration procedure (requests, notifications, decisions and other documents) issued by the Russian Federal Institute of Industrial Property. The software offers the following facilities: - reviewing the applications and the list of documents relating to them, monitoring their state of prosecution; - developing new application materials for trademark registration, new and additional materials to existing applications and new registrations; - accessing electronic forms of documents used in the trademark registration process, including the preservation of their local copies; - accessing form templates of documents used in the trademark registration process; - accessing the International Standard Classification of Goods and Services (ICGS). - accessing incoming documents, directed from the Russian Federal Institute of Industrial Property; etc. For using the new service it is necessary: - to obtain an electronic digital signature key by means of conclusion of the corresponding agreement with the Russian Federal Institute of Industrial Property.; - to buy the license for CryptoPro CSP 3.0; - to install both the electronic digital signature key and the software on the computer. Meanwhile, in January 2011 the Russian Federal Institute of Industrial Property is to put into operation the trial automated system of paperless persecution of patent applications, i.e. software for electronic filing of invention applications. Our company, Mikhailyuk, Sorokolat and Partners, is already succesfully ustilizing the new software for electronic filing of trademark applications that simplifies the whole procedure and makes it much faster. Moreover, using the system helps cutting down expenses connected with the paper consumption, mail or courier services and offers in a way more reliable method