Intellectual property

Invention

An invention is an object of intellectual property related to a solution of a technical nature.

In Kazakhstan, as an invention, a device, substance, microorganism strain, plant or animal cell culture can be protected, the method (the process of performing actions on a material object using material means), as well as the use of a known product or method for a new purpose or a new product for a specific purpose.

The invention must comply with the conditions of patentability: novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.

The exclusive right to an invention is confirmed by a special patent document. Despite the fact that this right is valid only in the country where the patent was granted and is limited in time (in Kazakhstan, the patent is valid for 20 years), it provides the patent holder with significant advantages in a competitive environment. It is enough to note that the legal protection of a patented invention is monopolistic, and the use of this invention by other persons, such as competitors, can only be carried out with the consent of the patent holder.

Both individuals and legal entities can obtain a patent for an invention. To do so, you must apply for a patent. In Kazakhstan, such application must be submitted to the National Institute of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan (expert organization), where the application passes a formal examination and substantive examination (within 18 months, if there is no extension of answers to requests). If the examination establishes the compliance of the invention with the criteria of patentability, which include novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability, a decision is made on the grant of a patent.

An incorrectly executed application for the grant of a patent, as well as untimely and incompetent answers to possible examination requests can lead to both additional time and financial costs, and to the refusal to grant a patent. Therefore, such a responsible and difficult matter as obtaining a patent for an invention is best trusted by professional patent attorneys.

Utility model

A utility model is an object of intellectual property related to a technical solution. In Kazakhstan, a utility model includes technical solutions in any field related to the product (device, substance, microorganism strain, plant or animal cell culture), method (the process of performing actions on a material object using material means), as well as the use of a known product or a method for a new purpose or a new product for a specific purpose, with the exception of diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods of treating people or animals.

The utility model must meet the conditions of patentability: novelty and industrial applicability (the invention has novelty, industrial applicability, inventive step).

The exclusive right to a utility model is confirmed by a secured document — a patent for a utility model.

The patent is valid for 5 years from the filing date of the application. Its validity can be extended at the request of the patent holder for three years.

The legal protection of the patented utility model is monopolistic, and the use of this invention by other persons, such as competitors, may be carried out only with the consent of the patent holder.

Both individuals and legal entities can obtain a patent for a utility model. To do this, you must apply for a patent. In Kazakhstan, such application must be submitted to the National Institute of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where the application undergoes a formal examination to verify the classification of objects protected as utility models (within 4-5 months, if there is no extension of answers to requests). An examination of the substance of compliance with the conditions of patentability in relation to utility models is not carried out.

A patent is issued at the risk and responsibility of the applicant.

Protection in the form of utility models is beneficial for the so-called “small inventions” with a short life in the market. Patenting a utility model is faster and cheaper.

Industrial design (design)

The industrial design includes the artistic and design solution of an industrial or artisanal craft product that determines the appearance of the product, i.e. design.

The task of industrial designs is to attract and interest the consumer. The artistic performance of the product affects the consumer choice: the appearance of the product may become one of the factors in the d ecision of the consumer to make a purchase. In other words, the popularity or unpopularity of a product, at least in part, depends on its appearance.

Thus, industrial designs can be very important both for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and for large companies, regardless of their field of activity.

The industrial design is granted legal protection if it is new, original.

Legal protection of an industrial design is provided by a title of protection — a patent protecting the appearance of the product, design decisions or working drawings. Both individuals and legal entities can obtain a patent for a utility model. To do this, you must apply for a patent. In Kazakhstan, such an application must be submitted to the National Institute of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where the application passes a formal examination and substantive examination (within 7-8 months, if there is no extension of answers to requests).

If the examination establishes the conformity of the industrial design with the criteria of patentability, which include novelty and originality, a decision shall be made on the grant of a patent.

The exclusive right to an industrial design is confirmed by a patent for an industrial design.

A patent for an industrial design is valid for 15 years from the filing date of the application. Its validity may be extended at the request of the patent holder, but not more than five years.

The legal protection of the patented utility model is monopolistic, and the use of this industrial design by other persons, such as competitors, may be carried out only with the consent of the patent holder.

An incorrectly executed application for the grant of a patent, as well as untimely and incompetent answers to possible examination requests can lead to both additional time and financial costs, and to the refusal to grant a patent. Therefore, such a responsible and difficult matter as obtaining a patent for an industrial design is best trusted by professional patent attorneys.

Copyright — personal non-property and property rights of the author. Copyright and related rights protect the rights of authors, artists, musicians, artists, broadcasters and other creators in their literary or artistic works and works.

Copyright extends to both published (published, publicly performed, publicly shown) and unpublished works that exist in any objective form:

written (manuscript, typescript, musical notation and the like);

oral (public utterance, public performance and the like);

sound or video recordings (mechanical, digital, magnetic, optical, and the like);

images (drawing, sketch, picture, plan, drawing, film, television, video or photo frame and the like);

three-dimensional (sculpture, model, layout, construction and the like);

other forms.

Copyright Objects in Kazakhstan include

1) literary works;

2) dramatic and musical dramatic works;

3) screenwriting;

4) works of choreography and pantomime;

5) musical works with or without text;

6) audiovisual works;

7) works of painting, sculpture, graphics and other works of fine art;

8) works of applied art;

9) works of architecture, urban planning, design and landscape gardening art;

10) photographic works and works obtained by methods similar to photography;

11) maps, plans, sketches, illustrations and three-dimensional works related to geography, topography and other sciences;

12) computer programs;

13) other works.

Any author should be aware that copyright to a work arises at the time of creation of this work and does not require mandatory registration or any other official confirmation.

However, before you transfer a book to a publisher or tell your colleagues about your invention, you must first try to protect your intellectual property as best as possible.

The easiest and most affordable is the registration of copyright in literary, musical, artistic, photographic, computer programs and other works.

In order to uphold your work (deposit — this is actually the registration of copyright in a work), the author / authors (or representative) must enter information about their copyrights in the State Register of Rights to Objects Protected by Copyright (hereinafter referred to as the Register) .

The application is submitted in electronic form to the National Institute of Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the registration procedure takes 2 days.

Based on the information entered into the Register, an expert organization issues a certificate of entry of information into the State Register of Rights to Objects Protected by Copyright.

Our experts will help you to correctly and quickly fill out an application and register your copyright.

Means of individualization: trademarks, appellations of origin, geographical indications.

Trademark

A trademark is a designation that serves to distinguish goods (services) of some legal entities or individuals from similar goods (services) of other legal entities or individuals.

Graphic, verbal, alphabetic, digital, three-dimensional and other designations or their combinations may be registered as a trademark.

A trademark may be registered in any color or color combination.

To register a trademark in the Republic of Kazakhstan, an electronic application must be submitted to an expert organization. An application for a trademark to an expert organization shall be submitted by one applicant and shall relate to one trademark. Applicants can be legal entities and individuals.

The application is examined within 7 months and includes two stages of examination: preliminary and full. At any stage of the examination, the expert organization has the right to request additional or clarifying information, without which the examination is impossible.

In the course of a full examination, the designation is checked for eligibility and for the presence / absence of a violation of the rights of owners whose rights to intellectual property arose earlier.

Based on the results of a full examination, the applicant is provided with one of the following conclusions: an expert opinion on registration, on preliminary partial registration or preliminary refusal to register a trademark.

If the decision is positive, the trademark is registered in the State Register of Trademarks, registration information is published in the official bulletin. A trademark certificate is provided to the owner of the trademark, which certifies the exclusive right to use and dispose of the trademark in relation to the goods and services indicated in the certificate. No one may use a trademark protected in the Republic of Kazakhstan without the consent of the owner.

Trademark registration is valid for ten years from the filing date of the application. The validity of a trademark registration is unlimited, and can be extended at the request of the owner every time for ten years.

An incorrectly executed application for registration of a trademark, as well as untimely and incompetent answers to possible examination requests can lead to both additional time and financial costs, as well as to a refusal to register a trademark or termination of paperwork on your application. Therefore, such a responsible matter as obtaining a certificate for a trademark is best trusted by professional patent attorneys.

Appellation of Origin

Appellation of Origin of Goods (AOC) — a designation representing or containing the name of a country, region, settlement, locality or other geographical indication, as well as an indication derived from such an appellation and made known as a result of its use in relation to the product, special properties, quality, reputation or other characteristics of which are mainly associated with its geographical origin, including the characteristic natural conditions and (or) human factors.

The AOC always indicates a specific geographic feature, as it is inseparable from a specific geographical object. It is impossible to transfer the production of goods from one geographical object to another.

Despite the similarities with trademarks, AOCs have a number of signs, firstly, the designation of the product should contain an indication that the product comes from a certain territory, region or locality. In this connection, the current or historical, official or unofficial, full or abbreviated name of a country, region, settlement, locality or other geographical object, as well as a designation derived from such a name, may be registered as a AOC.

Secondly, a sign of AOC is the relationship between the designation of a product and its special properties, quality, reputation or other characteristics.

The special properties, quality, reputation or other characteristics of the AOC are solely or mainly determined by the natural conditions or human factors or environmental conditions and human factors characteristic of a given geographical object.

Natural factors may be due to the characteristics of the soil, climate, water composition, certain air humidity, etc. An example is the mineral water Saryagash, Essentuki, Borjomi, which are extracted from wells and contain a special chemical composition of water.

Special features related to human factors include cultural, professional, and industrial traditions, i.e. human factors should be understood as professional skills of local masters. Examples include the Vologda lace, Khokhloma painting, Palekh caskets, Swedish steel, and Estonian pianos.

Unlike trademarks, not only the person who filed the application first, but also other persons may have the right to use registered AOC.

In fact, the first applicant establishes certain parameters of product quality, which are recorded in the State Register. A person who wants to use an already registered AOC must ensure the quality of their products that matches the already registered parameters.

The law does not allow the registration of AOC designations, which are the names of geographical objects that can be misleading about the place of production of the goods, formally indicating the true place of production of the goods, but giving an erroneous idea that the goods are from another territory, containing the names of geographical objects, associated with the place of production of goods.

The law does not recognize the AOC designation, although it represents and contains the name of a geographical object, but is included in the Republic of Kazakhstan in general use as a designation of a product of a known type, not associated with the place of its manufacture. Those. we are talking about a designation that has lost its original ability to be for the consumer an indication of the place of actual origin of the goods, and even more so a designation that indicates its special properties. This usually happens due to the widespread use of the appellation of origin, which practically leads to a loss of connection with the geographical name of the place of production. For example, the well-known designations such as “Swiss cheese”, “Brazilian coffee”, “Poltava sausage”, “Krakow sausage”, “Cologne” (eau de Cologne, Cologne water), etc., have lost their identification with the place of their actual origin.

Unlike trademarks, the specificity of the AOC is that the holders of the right to use the AOC cannot cede to anyone the right to use the AOC and cannot provide licenses for the right to use the AOC.

In order to obtain the right to use the appellation of origin of goods, it is first necessary to submit an application to an expert organization.

The application must relate to one appellation of origin. The applicants may be business entities that produce in a geographical location (a name that is claimed as a AOC) goods whose special properties are exclusively or mainly related to the geographical environment, including natural conditions and (or) human factors.

Within thirty working days from the filing date of the application, an examination is conducted, during which the expert organization is entitled to request additional materials.

Based on the results of the examination, an appropriate decision is made: on the registration of the name of the place of origin of goods and (or) the right to use the name of the place of origin of goods, or on the refusal to register the name of the place of origin of goods and (or) the right to use the name of the place of origin of goods.

When a positive decision is made by the AOC and (or) information about the owner of the right to use the AOC is registered in the State Register of Appellations of Origin of Goods, information on registration is published in the official bulletin.

After registration, the holder of the right to use the appellation of origin of goods has the exclusive right to use it, which is certified by an extract from the State Register of Appellations of Origin of Goods.

Registration of an appellation of origin is valid indefinitely, provided that the special properties of the goods produced in the territory of the specified geographical object are preserved.

The right to use the appellation of origin is valid for ten years from the date of application to the expert organization. The validity period of the right to use the appellation of origin of goods is extended every ten years at the request of the owner filed during the last year of its validity, provided that the special properties of the goods in respect of which the appellation of origin of goods is registered are preserved.

An incorrectly executed application for registration and (or) granting the right to use the appellation of origin, as well as untimely and incompetent answers to possible examination requests can lead to both additional time and financial costs, and to refusal to register and (or) granting the right to use the name of the place of origin of the goods, as well as the termination of office work on your application. Therefore, such a responsible and difficult matter, as obtaining exclusive rights to use the appellation of origin, is best trusted by professional patent attorneys.

Geographical Indication

A geographical indication is a designation that appears on goods that come from a particular geographic region and possess properties, a reputation or characteristics that are primarily determined by their place of origin.

The main difference between a geographical indication and an appellation of origin is that for a geographical indication, only one stage of production within the specified territory is sufficient. For example, the collection of medicinal herbs, while their processing and packaging can be carried out in the territory of another region, where there are corresponding production facilities. To obtain the right to use the appellation of origin of goods, it is necessary that all stages of production are located on the territory of the specified geographical object.

To date, the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of intellectual property does not contain such an object as a geographical indication in the list of objects that are means of individualization. However, subparagraph 3) of Article 1 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On trademarks, service marks and apellations of origin” contains the concept of a geographical indication, according to which it is an indication identifying goods originating from a certain territory, region or locality.

Currently, Kazakhstan is discussing the introduction into the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of intellectual property of a new IP object — a geographical indication.