One of the effective measures for the protection of intellectual property rights is the inclusion of trademarks or other IP rights in the customs register of intellectual property objects. Measures on the part of the customs authorities are taken in respect of goods containing objects of copyright and related rights, trademarks, service marks, geographical indications and appellations of origin of goods, included in the customs register at the request of the right holder.
The right holder or a person representing his interests (hereinafter referred to as the applicant), who believes that there may be or is a violation of his rights in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic on intellectual property in connection with the import into the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic or export from the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic, or when performing other actions with goods under customs control, has the right to submit an application to the authorized state body in the field of customs on the inclusion of the relevant intellectual property object in the customs register of intellectual property objects.
The application is filed in respect of one object of intellectual property.
The application must contain the following information:
1) the right holder, and if the application is submitted by his representative, also the representative;
2) on the object of intellectual property;
3) on the term of protection of rights to the object of intellectual property by the customs authorities of the Kyrgyz Republic;
4) on goods, the movement of which across the customs border or other actions with goods under customs control, entail, in the opinion of the right holder, a violation of his rights;
5) on the codes of goods not less than at the level of the first four digits in accordance with the Commodity Nomenclature of Foreign Economic Activity.
The application shall be accompanied by documents confirming the existence and ownership of the right to intellectual property objects (certificate, license agreement or other documents in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic on intellectual property), if necessary, a power of attorney issued by the right holder to the person representing his interests.
The applicant may attach to the application samples of goods and (or) other information that can serve as confirmation of the fact of infringement of the right holder’s intellectual property rights, in his opinion.
The application shall be accompanied by the right holder’s obligation (in writing) to compensate for property damage that may be caused to the declarant, owner, recipient of goods or other persons in connection with the suspension of the release of goods.
In order to verify the accuracy of the information provided by the applicant, the authorized state body in the field of customs within ten working days from the date of receipt of the application has the right to request from the authorized state body in the field of intellectual property documents confirming the declared information. The requested documents must be submitted within ten working days from the date of receipt of the request.
The authorized state body in the field of customs shall consider the application within a period not exceeding one month from the date of its receipt, and shall make a decision on the inclusion of the intellectual property objects specified in the application in the customs register or on the refusal to include the intellectual property objects specified in the application in the customs register.
In the event that the authorized state body in the field of customs sends a request to the applicant, the specified one-month period is suspended until a response is received. At the same time, the total period for consideration of the application should not exceed three months.
In order to secure the costs associated with the suspension of the release of goods, the applicant is obliged to submit a liability insurance contract for causing property damage in connection with the suspension of the release of goods within ten working days from the date of receipt of the decision on the inclusion of the intellectual property object in the customs register. At the same time, the insurance amount must be at least 7000 (seven thousand) calculation indicators.
At the same time, the applicant takes measures to submit an insurance contract for the period of entry of the intellectual property object into the customs register of intellectual property objects.
Customs Register of Intellectual Property Objects
- The authorized state body in the field of customs affairs shall maintain a customs register of intellectual property objects for taking measures related to the suspension of release of goods.
- In order to include intellectual property objects in the customs register, the applicant shall be obliged to pay a fee in the amount determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic.
- Objects of intellectual property, in respect of which the authorized state body in the field of customs has made a relevant decision, shall be entered into the customs register.
- An object of intellectual property shall be subject to exclusion from the customs register in the following cases:
1) upon the written request of the applicant;
2) in case of non-payment of the fee for the extension of the term of protection of the intellectual property object;
3) upon termination of legal protection of an object of intellectual property.
- It is allowed to make changes or additions to the customs register of intellectual property objects on the basis of information received:
1) from the right holder (his/her representative) – on changing the information specified in the application for inclusion of the intellectual property object in the customs register or in the documents attached to it;
2) from interested parties – that the persons specified in the customs register of the intellectual property object as the right holder are deprived of rights or limited in their rights to the intellectual property object on the basis of a court decision that has entered into force.
Term of protection of intellectual property rights
The period of validity of the protection, during which customs control will be carried out, is no more than two years from the date of the decision of the authorized state body in the field of customs on the inclusion of the intellectual property object in the customs register, taking into account the period specified by the right holder in the application, as well as the validity period of the documents attached to the application.
The term of protection of rights may be extended on the basis of the applicant’s application for an unlimited number of years each time, provided that the requirements of this Chapter are met. For the extension of the protection period, the applicant is obliged to pay a fee in the amount of 25 (twenty-five) calculation indicators.
The term of protection of the right holder’s rights to intellectual property objects by the customs authorities may not exceed the period of validity of the right holder’s exclusive right to the relevant intellectual property object.
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* The calculated index is 100 (one hundred) soms.