Utility Models

– Patent, Utility Model and Industrial Designs Law of December 16, 2002, with amendments as of December 18, 2017.

Membership in International Conventions

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as of April 26, 1970.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), as of May 31, 1992.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, as of April 14, 1993.
– The Patent Cooperation Treaty, as of April 14, 1993.
– Eurasian Patent Convention, as of August 12, 1995.
– Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, Section XXIII, as of October 9, 2013, effective from January 1, 2015.

Filing

Applicant: the inventor(s), any individual or legal entity.

Foreigners: must appoint a local representative.

Patentability: a patent is granted for a utility model which is new, industrially applicable, and relates to the structured designing of means of production or consumption goods, or their constituent parts.

Novelty: worldwide.

Novelty grace period: twelve months before the filing date, if public disclosure is made by the applicant or the inventor.

Exceptions to protection: scientific theories, methods of economic organization and management, schedules and rules, as well as processes, substances, strains of microorganisms, cultures of cells of plants and animals, as well as their use for a new purpose.

Priority: according to the Paris Convention.

Territory covered: the Republic of Belarus.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney, simply signed;
2. Specification;
3. Drawings (21 x 29.7 cm);
4. Priority certificate, if any.

Electronic filing: available.

Examination Procedure

Examination: only formal examination within three months from the filing date.

Correction of the application: accepted, if not affecting the subject matter, within two months from the filing date. Under special request of an applicant or a third party, a novelty search may be carried out.

Transformation into a patent application: possible, up to three years from the date of filing.

Granting and Protection

After formal examination, the decision to grant is issued. The claims of the utility model are published in the Official Gazette of the Patent Office over three months from the registration date. The recognition of a utility model is certified by a patent document after payment of the granting fee.

Duration of protection: a patent lasts five years from the filing date.

Extension: possible for five more years.

Annuities: have to be paid for maintaining the patent’s validity.

Scope of protection: is determined by the claims.

Legal protection: the patentee has the exclusive right to use a patented utility model.

Working: compulsory. Non-working during a period of three years from the date of publication renders the utility model vulnerable to an involuntary license request by a third party.

Licensing: possible; must be recorded at the Patent Office.

Compulsory licenses: may be accorded in case of non-working during three years after the date of grant, with compensation. Further, since 2023, granting a compulsory license  by an administrative procedure for the public interest is available. The decision on its provision will be made by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus. The person, to whom a compulsory license is granted, is obliged to pay remuneration to the patent holder. Such license can be issued to ensure national security.

Modification of Protection after Granting

Opposition to the Patent Office’s granting decision is possible within six months after publication of the claims in the Official Gazette.

Infringements: are judged by the Supreme Patent Chamber Court.