ARMENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sarkis Knyazyan, Svetlana Mkrtchyan, Anahit Aloyan and Rita Parzyan, Concern Dialog
5.3 Ability to File an Opposition or Revocation/Cancellation An opposition may be filed by the owner of an earlier trade mark, a well-known trade mark, or an owner of other prior rights, such as geograph - ical indications, industrial design; as well as by famous persons or their heirs, authors, or other individuals or legal entities having legal interest. Opponents are not required to have representa - tives, but as a rule they are represented by IP attorneys or IP agents. The official/state fee for filing a trade mark oppo - sition is AMD10,000. Attorney fees for drafting various legal documents may vary from law firm to law firm. A professional IP attorney, with a partner level, may charge between EUR300–400 per hour. A blended hourly rate may be between EUR250–350. A trade mark invalidation or cancellation may be initiated by any person who has a legally defined interest. 5.4 Opposition or Revocation/ Cancellation Procedure Within two months following the publication date of the application, any interested party may file an opposition to the Armenian IP Office against registration of a trade mark. Within three busi - ness days of receiving the opposition, the IP Office reviews it to ensure compliance with the submission requirements set by law and noti - fies the applicant. The applicant has one month to submit a response to the opposition. If the applicant does not submit a response, the IP Office completes the substantive examination and makes its decision. If a response to the opposition is submitted, the IP Office completes the substantive examination without sharing the response with the opposing party. Once the decision is made, the opposing party receives
the IP office’s decision on registration or refusal of the trade mark application, together with the decision on upholding or rejecting the opposi - tion. All cancellation or invalidation actions are brought before the court. Only revocations of applications or registrations by the owner and/ or applicants of such registrations/applications may be submitted to the Armenian IP Office. Trade mark registration may be invalidated or cancelled partially, if the grounds for cancella - tion/invalidation apply to specific goods and/or services for which the trade mark is registered. 5.5 Legal Remedies Against the Decision of the Trade Mark Office Applicants or opposing parties may appeal refus - als or partial registrations within the IP office, or to the Board of Appeals, or to the Administrative Court. The timeframe for the appeals within the IP office is two months. The timeframe for the appeal to the Board of Appeals is three months. In addition to these terms, there is a possibility of requesting an extension of time (except for oppositions) for up to six months. Decisions on registration may be challenged in the Adminis - trative Court. Non-use cancellation actions must be submitted to general jurisdiction courts (civil courts). Any decision of the IP office may be appealed to the administrative court directly, without going through all internal appeal proce - dures (including the Board of Appeals). 5.6 Amendment in Revocation/ Cancellation Proceedings Amendments during revocation or cancellation proceedings are restricted.
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