ARMENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sarkis Knyazyan, Svetlana Mkrtchyan, Anahit Aloyan and Rita Parzyan, Concern Dialog
7.4 Prerequisites and Restrictions to Filing a Lawsuit Armenian law does not require any prerequi - sites for filing a trade mark or copyright lawsuit. However, before proceeding with a litigation, it is advisable to issue formal demand or warning letters to the alleged infringer. If the trade mark is not registered or the work of authorship is not properly deposited (for the purposes of proving authorship rights, if required), then it is advisable to do so before issuing a demand/warning letter or filing a litigation. Mediation and arbitration is available but is not widely utilised in Armenia. Trade mark or copyright owners should be mind - ful of potential restrictions when asserting their rights. These include avoiding groundless threats of legal action, misuse or abuse of rights, and ensuring compliance with competition law. Addi - tionally, both trade mark and copyright owners should be aware of exceptions to enforcement, such as fair use, and must not use their rights in a way that unjustly restricts competition or harms others without proper justification. 7.5 Lawsuit Procedure Intellectual property disputes (including copy - right and trade mark disputes) between private parties are heard by civil courts. IP disputes (including copyright and trade mark disputes) between a private party from one side and a state authority, from another side, are heard by the Administrative Court. When initiating a lawsuit, the plaintiffs are gener - ally required to pay state/official fees. The state fee for each non-monetary claim (such as a trade mark or copyright infringement lawsuit) is AMD20,000. This fee is typically paid when filing a complaint to a court. Attorney fees for drafting and issuing demand/warning letters and various other 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. Parties in trade mark or copyright disputes are not required to be represented by a lawyer, but it is highly recommended, since it would be nearly impossible to efficiently litigate without an IP attorney. Foreign trade mark owners can bring infringe - ment claims in Armenia, even if the mark is not registered in Armenia. In respect of bring - ing copyright infringement claims, there is no requirement and no state authority that registers copyright. 7.6 Declaratory Judgment Proceedings and Other Protections for Potential Defendants Declaratory judgment proceedings are not com - mon in IP disputes in Armenia. 7.7 Small Claims Armenia provides alternative avenues to resolve small trade mark or copyright claims outside of the formal court system. These alternative mechanisms offer a more streamlined and cost- effective approach to resolving disputes. The key option available is mediation, which is rec - ognised and supported by Armenian law. 7.8 Effect of Trade Mark and Copyright Office Decisions Unless the decisions of the Armenian IP Office are challenged in the administrative court, they are generally binding legal documents for civil courts. 7.9 Counterfeiting and Bootlegging Counterfeiting – ie, illegal/unauthorised use of the owner’s trade mark on goods that are not produced or the production of which is not
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