ARMENIA LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Aram Orbelyan, Narine Beglaryan, Artur Hovhannisyan, Lilit Karapetyan, Sarkis Knyazyan and Shushanik Stepanyan, Concern Dialog
product market if the agreement relates to the given product market (horizontal agreement); • between economic entities that are not competitors and act as acquirers and sellers in the same product market if the agreement relates to the given commodity market (verti - cal agreement); and/or • between economic entities operating in related or different product markets, which directly or indirectly lead to or may lead to the prevention, restriction or prohibition of com - petition (other agreement). Restrictive agreements and practices, among other things, relate to the following: • distribution or division of markets or supply sources; • setting unfair prices; and • restricting other economic entities from enter - ing the market. The actions or behaviour of economic entities in foreign countries, when such actions or behav - iour may prevent, restrict or prohibit economic competition or harm the interests of consumers in the RA, may also be considered as restrictive agreements within the meaning of the Law. 6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position The Law on the Protection of Economic Com - petition prohibits the abuse of a dominant or monopoly position, including: • charging unreasonably high or low prices; • obstructing competitors in the market; • refusing to deal with certain customers or offering special discounts to customers who buy all or most of their supplies from the dominant company; • not authorising the use of transmission net - works, other distribution networks or other
infrastructure for a reasonable fee or condi - tion; and • imposing conditions for membership or par - ticipation in professional or other unions.
7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents
Patents can be granted for technical solutions that concern a product or a method. There are three conditions for the patentability of an inven - tion: • novelty; • inventive step (non-obviousness); and • industrial applicability (utility). Patents are registered by the Intellectual Prop - erty Office of Armenia. The Office’s website has guidance on the procedure and samples of the necessary forms. If the object of the protection is a product, the right-holder has an exclusive right to prohibit any third party from manufacturing the product, using it, introducing it to the market, offering it for sale, or importing or obtaining the product for any of those purposes. Similar prohibitions can be imposed if the object is a method. The infringement of a patent can result in civil and criminal liability. Patents are protected for 20 years from the fil - ing date or ten years in the case of short-term patents. 7.2 Trade Marks A trade mark is a mark that is used to distinguish the products and/or services of one person from the products and/or services of another. There are very detailed regulations on the absolute and
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