What should you consider when securing Design rights within Russia?

19 October 2021

In her latest post at Kluwer Trademark Blog, our Senior Attorney Louise Thorning Ahle discusses the practical and financial implications of registering a design in Russia.

Currently the Russian PTO denies applicants the right to defend or file responses to refusals for those who have applied through the Hague International Design System and such refusals are considered final, rather than provisional. This is in contrast to those who have applied for national design applications as Rospatent offers such applicants a three month response to a provisional refusal (extendable to 10 months under certain circumstances).

There is an argument that this approach contravenes Article 12(3)(b) of Geneva Act 1999, which stipulates that international design applicants should be treated equally in being allowed to defend their registrations against provisional refusals and the consequences of such a difference in approach are still up for debate. Given that disputing a final refusal could lead to additional costs, but for now it makes sense to investigate the practical and financial implications of each approach before attempting to secure such rights within Russia.

You can find the full blog post here.