ARMENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sarkis Knyazyan, Svetlana Mkrtchyan, Anahit Aloyan and Rita Parzyan, Concern Dialog
Applications may be filed by any person who has an industrial or commercial establishment in Armenia, or resides in Armenia, or is a citizen or national of Armenia. 5. Trade Mark Procedure for Inter Partes Proceedings 5.1 Timeframes for Filing an Opposition or Cancellation Third parties having legal interest are allowed to file oppositions within two months after publica - tion of the trade mark application in the Official Gazette of the Armenian IP Office. The law does not allow extension of time for fil - ing oppositions. The general statutory limitation for challenging any trade mark registration is two months from the date of publication of information regarding trade mark registration. Non-use cancellation actions may be filed at any time, where the trade mark was not in use for a consecutive period of three years preceding the date of filing a non-use cancellation action. Copyright is not subject to registration in Armenia. Therefore, revocation/ cancellation actions are not applicable. In the event of non-use cancellation actions, the burden of proof is on the owner of the mark. Failure to submit relevant evidence will result in cancellation of registration. 5.2 Legal Grounds for Filing an Opposition or Cancellation Trade mark oppositions may be filed in the event. • the trade mark is identical or confusingly simi - lar to an earlier trade mark registered for the same goods and/or services;
• the trade mark is identical or similar to an earlier trade mark and is filed for goods and/ or services that are not identical to those cov - ered by the earlier trade mark, if the applicant may unfairly benefit from the distinctive char - acteristics or reputation of the earlier trade mark; or harm the distinctive characteristics or reputation of the earlier trade marks; • the trade mark is identical or confusingly simi - lar to another person’s trade name (company name); • the trade mark is identical or similar to a geographical indication or place of origin protected in the Republic of Armenia; • the trade mark reproduces or incorporates an earlier industrial design or any other object of industrial property with earlier priority rights in the Republic of Armenia; • the trade mark reproduces or incorporates lit - erary, scientific, or artistic works protected by copyright, or their titles, quotations, excerpts, characters; and • the trade mark reproduces or incorporates the name, surname, pseudonym, or image of any famous person. Non-use cancellation actions may be filed in the event bad faith applicants registered similar or identical trade marks in Armenia with an objec - tive to benefit from such registrations. Such action may be also filed to overcome a refusal based on a similar trade mark which has not been in use for a period of three years prior to filing the application or the non-use cancellation action. Re-examination is possible after receiving a notification of a potential refusal, a preliminary refusal or a partial registration. A re-examination is also possible after receiving a final refusal, by appealing the refusal to the board of appeals.
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