Report by
Valery Kudashov
Chairman, State Patent Committee
Republic of Belarus

In the course of government reforms, the State Patent Committee has been transformed into the National Intellectual Property Center of the Science Committee of the Minister Council of the Republic of Belarus, under the Order of the President of the Republic of Belarus. The functions of the abolished Committee for Copyright and Neighboring Rights have been transferred to the Center.

The National Intellectual Property Center is a state organization with the rights of a legal entity executing all functions of a patent agency and an institution for copyright and neighboring rights.

In 2001, the Republic of Belarus continued to take measures advancing IP protection and enforcement.

To bring the legislation of the Republic of Belarus in compliance with the TRIPS, a Law "On Amendments and Modifications to the Customs Code of the Republic of Belarus" was adopted in 2001. The new law set forth new regulations to secure IP protection while transporting goods through the tax border of the Republic of Belarus.

To bring the legislation of the Republic of Belarus in compliance with international treaties, a draft Patent Law and a draft Law "On Amendments and Modifications to the Civil Code" have been developed and submitted for the consideration by the Government.

A draft Law "On Geographic Indications" and a draft Law "On Amendments and Modifications to the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus," aimed at improving the protection of appellations of origin and geographic indications, have been developed and submitted for the consideration by the National Assembly by the Republic of Belarus.

In 2001, Belarus proceeded to advance existing legislation in the area of trademark and service mark protection. The Rules for the Recognition of a Trademark as Well-known in the Republic of Belarus, targeted at enforcing the provisions of the Law "On Trademarks and Service Marks" and the Paris Convention for Protection of Industrial Property, were adopted.

In 2001, 487 IP infringements were disclosed. Four criminal cases initiated on the violations of copyright, neighboring and patent rights and rights for inventions are under investigation, according to Part 2 Article 201 of the Criminal Code.

The current problems related to IP protection in the Republic of Belarus include the following:

1. Foreign manufacturers are not represented properly in Belarus. This causes problems for law enforcement agencies to identify specific holders of infringed rights.

2. Criminal cases under Article 201 of the Criminal Code (Violation of Copyright, Neighboring and Patent Rights and Rights for Inventions) are referred to the cases of private and partially public actions and may be filed only upon an application of an injured party. An application by the infringed person is also required to apply administrative liability to copyright and neighboring right violators under Article 167-9 of the Administrative Code.

3. There are problems with the examination and expertise of infringing products, which is now conducted in Belarus by the State Expert Crime Detection Center of the Interior Ministry. Examination and expertise are possible only if the samples of registered goods are available. In most cases, they are not.

To resolve the above-mentioned issues, the Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Culture, the Customs Committee and the Science Committee will assign their representatives to create a working group to develop recommendations on the improvement of intellectual property protection in Belarus.

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