REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1 Objects or Intellectual Property
Article 2. Bases for the Arising of Rights to Objects of Intellectual Property
Article 3. Right or Creatorship
Article 4. Exclusive Rights to Objects of Intellectual Property
Article 5. Passage of the Exclusive Rights to Another Person
Article 6. Licensing Contract
Article 7. Contract for the Creation and Use of the Results of Intellectual Activity
Article 8. Exclusive Right and Right of Ownership
Article 9. Time Period of Effectiveness of an Exclusive Right
Article 10. Means of Protection of Exclusive Rights CHAPTER II COPYRIGHT
Article 11. Objects of Copyright
Article 12. Types of Objects of Copyright Ar1icle 13. Parts or a Work and Derivative Works
Article 14. Works and Similar Results or Activity that are not Objects or Copyright
Article 15. Rights to Drafts of Official Documents, Symbols, and Signs
Article 16. Arising of Copyright. Presumption of Authorship
Article 17. Co authorship
Article 18. Authors or Derivative Works
Article 19. Rights of Persons Organizing the Creation of Works
Article 20. Symbols of Protection of Copyright
Article 21. Personal Nonproperty Rights or the Author Article 22. The Right to Integrity of the Work Article 23. The Right to Publication or the Work Article 24. The Right or the Author to Use or a Work Article 25. Disposition of the Right to Use or the Work
Article 26. Right of Access or the Author to a Fine Arts Work Article 27. Limitations Upon Copyrights Article 28. The Right to an Employment Work Article 29. Effectiveness of Copyright on the Territory of the Republic of Armenia
Article 30. The Beginning of Effectiveness of Copyright
Article 31. Time Period of Effectiveness of Copyright Article 32. Passage of a Work into the Public Domain Article 33. Author's Contract
Article 34. Terms or an Author's Contract
Article 35. Form of the Author's Contract
Article 36. Liability Under an Author's Contract
Article 37. Liability for Unlawful Use of a Work Without a Contract
Article 38. Legal Regulation of Copyright Relations CHAPTER 64. NEIGHBORING RIGHTS Article 39. The Objects of Neighboring Rights
Article 40. Subjects of Neighboring Rights
Article 41. Symbols of Protection of Neighboring Rights
Article 42. Time Period of Effectiveness of Neighboring Rights
Article 43. Legal Regulation or Neighboring Rights Relations CHAPTER 65. RIGHT TO AN INVENTION, UTILITY MODEL, OR INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Article 44. Conditions of Legal Protection of an Invention, Utility Model, or Industrial Design
Article 45. Right to Use of an Invention, Utility Model or Industrial Design
Article 46. Disposition of the Right to a Patent
Article 47. Right or Creatorship or an Invention, Utility Model, and Industrial Design
Article 48. Co creators of an Invention, Utility Model, or Industrial Design
Article 49. Employment Inventions, Utility Models, and Industrial Designs
Article 50. The right of the Creator to Remuneration for an Employment Invention, Utility Model, or Industrial Design
Article 51. Effectiveness of a Patent on the Territory of the Republic of Armenia
Article 52. Time Period of Effectiveness of a Patent
Article 53. Form of a Contract on Transfer of the Right to a Patent and Registration of the Rights Arising from the Contract
Article 54. Form of a Licensing and Sublicensing Contract and Registration of Rights Arising From Them
Article 55. Liability for Infringement of a Patent
Article 56. Limitation of the Rights of a Patent holder CHAPTER 68. RIGHT TO PROTECTION OF UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION FROM ILLEGAL USE
Article 64. Conditions of Legal Protection of Undisclosed Information
Article 65. Liability for Illegal Use of Undisclosed Information
Article 66. Transfer of the Right to Protection of Undisclosed Information from Illegal Use CHAPTER 69 MEANS OF INDIVIDUALIZATION OF PARTICIPANTS IN CIVIL COMMERCE, OF GOODS, AND OF SERVICES Firm Name
Article 67. Right to a Firm Name
Article 68. The Use of the Firm Name or a Legal Person in a Trademark
Article 69. Effectiveness or the Right to a Firm Name
Article 70. Passage of the Right to a Firm Name Trademark
Article 71. Conditions of Legal Protection of a Trademark
Article 72. The Right to Use a Trademark
Article 73. Legal Protection of a Trademark on the Territory of the Republic of Armenia
Article 74. Time Period of Effectiveness of the Registration of a Trademark
Article 75. Passage of the Right to a Trademark
Article 76. Permission to Use a Trademark
Article 77. Form of Contracts on the Transfer of the Rights to a Trademark or on the Giving of a license and the Registration of the transfer of Rights.
Article 78. Liability for Infringing the Right to a Trademark Designation of the Place of Origin of Goods
Article 79. Condition for the Legal Protection of the Designation or the Place of Origin of the Goods
Article 80. The Right to Use Designations of Place of Origin of Goods
Article 81. Area of Effectiveness of the Legal Protection of the Designation of the Place of Origin of Goods
Article 82. Time Period of Effectiveness of a Certificate of the Right to Use the Designation of a Place or Origin of Goods
Article 83. Liability for Unlawful Use or the Designation of the Place or Origin of Goods CHAPTER I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Objects or Intellectual Property
1. Objects of intellectual property include results of intellectual activity and means of individualization of participants in civil commerce, of goods, of work, and of services.
2.Results of intellectual activity are:
a) works of scholarship, literature and art;
b) performances, phonograms, and transmissions of broadcasting organizations;
c) inventions, utility models, industrial designs;
d) achievements of plant and animal breading;
e) the topology of integrated microcircuits;
f) undisclosed information, including secrets of production (or know-how).
3. Means of individualization of participants in civil commerce, of goods, of work, and of services are:
a) firm names,
b) trademarks (and service marks);
c) names of places of origin (or designations of origin) of goods.
4. Objects of intellectual property also include other results or intellectual activity and means or individualization of participants in civil commerce, of goods, and of services in cases provided by the present Code and other statutes.
Bases for the Arising of Rights to Objects of Intellectual Property
Art. 1
Rights to objects of intellectual property arise by virtue of the fact of their creation or as the result of the giving of legal protection by an empowered state body in the cases and by the procedure provided by the present Code or by another statute.
The conditions of providing legal protection of undisclosed information shall be determined by a statute.
Personal Non-Property and Property Rights to Objects or Intellectual Property
Art. 2
1. Personal non-property and property rights with respect to the results of creative activity belong to the creator of the results of intellectual activity.
2. Personal non-property rights belong to the creator regardless of his property rights and are retained by him in case of passage of his property rights to the results of intellectual activity to another person.
Right or Creatorship
Art. 3
1. The right to be recognized as the creator of a result of intellectual activity (the right of creatorship) is a personal non-property right and may belong only to the person by whose creative labor as result of intellectual activity has been created.
2. The right of creatorship is inalienable, non-transferable, and is effective without limit of time.
3. If a result is created by the joint creative labor of two or more persons, they shall be recognized as co creators.
Exclusive Rights to Objects of Intellectual Property
Art. 4
1. The holder of property rights to a result of intellectual activity or to a means of individualization of participants in civil commerce, goods, and services (hereinafter means of individualization) has the exclusive right of lawful use of this object of intellectual property at his discretion in any form and any way.
2. The use by other persons of objects of intellectual property, with respect to which their right holder has an exclusive right, is allowed only with the consent of the right holder, otherwise provided by statute.
3. The holder of an exclusive right to an object of intellectual property has the right to transfer this right to another person in whole or in part, to permit another person to use this object, and has the right to dispose of it in another manner if this does not contradict the rules of the present Code and other statutes.
4. Limitation on exclusive rights, including by way of giving the right for the use of an object of intellectual property to other persons, the declaration of these rights as invalid and their termination
(or annulment) is allowed in the cases, within the limits, and by the procedure established by the present Code and other statutes.
Passage of the Exclusive Rights to Another Person
Art. 5
1. Property rights belonging to the holder of exclusive rights to an object of intellectual property, unless otherwise provided by the present Code or other statute, may be transferred by their right holder in full or in part to another person by contract, and they also pass by the procedure of universal legal succession by inheritance or as the result of the reorganization of a legal person that is a right holder.
The transfer of property rights by contract or their passage by way of universal legal succession does not entail the transfer or limitation of the right of creatorship and other inalienable and non-transferable exclusive rights. The conditions of a contract on transfer or limitation of such rights are void.
2. Exclusive rights that are transferred by a contract must be defined therein. The rights that are not indicated in the contract as alienated are presumed not to be transferred, until proved otherwise.
Licensing Contract
Art. 6
1. Under a licensing contract the party holding an exclusive right to the result of intellectual activity or to a means of individualization (the licensor) grants the other party (the license) permission to use the respective object of intellectual property.
2 A licensing contract is presumed to be for compensation. The amount of remuneration and/or the procedure for determining the amount of remuneration and the time periods for its payment must be established in the licensing contract.
3. The licensing contract must define the rights given, the limits and the time periods for their use.
4. A licensing contract may provide for giving to the license:
a) the rights of use of the object of intelleclua1 property with the retaining by the licensor of the right of use and the right of giving licenses to other persons (a simple, nonexclusive license);
b) the rights of use of the object of intellectual property with the retaining by the
licensor of the right of use, but without retaining the right of giving licenses to other persons (an exclusive license)
c) other types of license allowed by statute.
Unless provided otherwise in the licensing contract, a license is presumed to be simple
(nonexclusive).
5. A contract on the provision by the licensor of the right of use of an object of intelleclua1 property to another person is a sublicensing contract. The licensor has the right to conclude a sublicensing contract only in cases provided by the licensing contract.
The licensee bears liability to the licensor for the actions of the sub licensee, unless the licensing contract provides otherwise.
Contract for the Creation and Use of the Results of Intellectual Activity
Art. 7
1. A creator may undertake by contract the obligation to create in the future a work, invention or other result of intellectual activity and to provide to the customer who is not his employer exclusive rights to the use of this result.
2. The contract provided for in Paragraph 1 of the present Article must define the nature of the result of intellectual activity to be created and also the purpose or the means of its use.
3. A contract obligating a creator to provide to any person exclusive rights to the use or any results of intellectual activity that this creator creates in the future is void.
4. Terms of a contract limiting a creator in the future in the creation of results of intellectual activity of a particular are void.
Exclusive Right and Right of Ownership
Art. 8
The exclusive right to a result of intellectual activity or a means of individualization exists independently of the right of ownership of material object in which such results or means of individualization is expressed.
Time Period of Effectiveness of an Exclusive Right
Art. 9
The exclusive right to an object of intellectual property is effective during the time period provided by the present Code or other statutes.
Means of Protection of Exclusive Rights
Art. 10
1. Protection of exclusive rights shall be conducted by the means provided by Article 14
of the present Code. Protection of exclusive rights may be conducted also by:
a) taking a material objects with the aid of which exclusive rights are violated and material objects created as the result of such violation;
b) compulsory publication about a breach committed, with an inclusion therein of information about to whom the right breached belongs;
c) other means provided by statute.
2. In case of breach of contracts on the use of results of intellectual activity and of means of individualization the general rules on liability for breach of obligations (Chapter 26) shall be applied.CHAPTER II COPYRIGHT
Objects of Copyright
Art. 11
1.Copyright extends to works of scholarship, literature, and art that are the result of creative activity regardless of the use and merits of the work and also to means of its expression.
2. The work must be expressed in audible, written or other objective form allowing the possibility of its perception.
A work in written form or otherwise expressed on a material carrier (manuscript, typescript, musical notation, recording with the use of technical means, including sound or video recording, fixation of an image in two dimensional or volume-special form, etc.) shall be considered as having objective form regardless of its accessibility by third persons.
An audible work or other work not expressed on a material carrier, shall be considered to have objective form if it has become accessible for perception by third persons (public speaking or public performance, etc.)
3.Copyright extends both to works published (made public, released to the public) and also to unpublished books.
4.Copyright does not extend to ideas, concepts principles, systems, proposed solutions, not discoveries of objectively existing phenomena.
Types of Objects of Copyright
Art. 12
The objects of copyright include:
1) literary works (literary-artistic, scholarly, instructional, publicistic, etc.)
2) dramatic and film script works;
3) musical works with words and without words;
4) musical-dramatic works;
5) choreographic works and pantomimes;
6) audiovisual works (motion picture, television, and video films, slide films, transparency films and other motion picture, television and video works), radio works;
7) works of painting, sculpture, graphics, design and other works of fine art;
8) works of applied decorative and stage-setting art;
9) works of architecture city planning, and garden and park art,
10) photographic works and works made by modes analogous to photography;
11) geographic, geologic, and other maps, plans, drawings, and plastic works related to geography, topography, and other sciences;
12) programs for computers or all types, including applied programs and operating systems;
13) kinds of fonts;
14) other works meeting the requirements established by Article 11 of the present Code.
Parts of a Work and Derivative Works
Art. 13
1. Parts of works, their names, and derivative works are objects of copyright if they meet the requirements established by Article 11 of the present Code.
2.Derivative works include;
l) works that are the reworking of other works (revisions, annotations, summaries, resumes, surveys, stage-settings, arrangements, and other similar works of scholarship, literature, and art);
2) translations;
3) collections (encyclopedias, anthology, databases) and other compiled works, that are by selection or organization or materials the result of creative labor.
3. Derivative works are protected by copyright, regardless of whether or not the works upon which they are based or which they include are objects of copyright.
Works and Similar Results or Activity that are not
Objects or Copyright
Art. 14
The following are not objects of copyright:
l) official documents (statutes, decrees, etc,), and also their official translation;
2) official symbols and signs (f1ags, seals, medals, currency, etc,
3) folk works;
4) communications on daily news or communications on current events having the nature of ordinary press information;
5) resu1ts acquired with the use of technical means without the conduct of human creative activity.
Rights to Drafts of Official Documents,
Symbols, and Signs
Art. 15
1. The right of authorship to a draft of an official documents, of a symbol, or of a sign belongs to the person who has created the draft (the developer).
2. The developers of drafts of official documents, symbols, and signs have the right to publish such a draft if this is not forbidden by the body upon whose delegation the development of the draft was made. In case of publication of the draft the developers have the right to indicate their names.
3. The draft may be used by the competent body for the making of an official document without the consent of the developer if this draft has been published by him or has been sent by him to the respective body.
4. In the making of official documents, symbols or signs on the basis of a draft, additions and changes may be made to it at the discretion of the body conducting the making of the official document, symbol, or sign.
After approval of the draft by the competent body, it may be used without indication of the name of the developer.
Arising of Copyright. Presumption of Authorship
Art. 16
1. Copyright to a work of scholarship, literature, or art arises by virtue of the fact of its creation. Neither registration of the work nor the observance of any other formalities is required for the arising of copyright.
2. A person indicated as author upon first publication of a work is considered its author unless proven otherwise.
3. If a work is published anonymously or under a pseudonym (with the exception of the case when the pseudonym of the author leaves not doubt as to his identity), the publisher, the name of designation of which is indicated on the work, in the absence of proofs other otherwise is considered to be a representative of the author and has the right to protect the rights of the author and to ensure their exercise. This provision shall stay in effect until the author of such a work reveals his identity or declares his authorship.
Co authorship
Art. 17
1. Copyright to a work made by the joint creative labor of two or more citizens belongs to the coauthors jointly, regardless of whether such a work forms one indivisible whole or consists of parts each of which also has independent significance.
2. A part of work has independent significance if it may be used independently from other parts of the work.
3. Each of the coauthors shall have the right to use a part of the work created by him that has independent significance at his discretion unless otherwise provided by agreement among them.
4. The relations of coauthors shall be determined on the basis of an agreement. In the absence of such an agreement, copyright to a work shall be exercised by all the authors jointly and remuneration shall be distributed among them equally.
5. If the work of coauthors forms one invisible whole, then no one of the authors has the right without sufficient bases therefore to forbid the use of the work.
Authors or Derivative Works
Art. 18
1. Authors of derivative works are respectively persons who have made the revision of other works, translators, compilers of collections and other compiled works.
2. The author of a derivative work shall enjoy copyright to this work on the condition of his observance of the right of the author of the work that has undergone revision, translation, or inclusion in a compiled work.
3. The copyright of creators of derivative works shall not prevent other persons from creating their own derivative works on the basis of work already used earlier.
Rights of Persons Organizing the Creation of Works
Art. 19
1. Persons organizing the creation of works (publishers of encyclopedias, makers of films, producers, etc.) shall not be recognized as authors of the respective works. However in the cases provided by the present Code or other statutes, such persons shall acquire exclusive rights to the use of these works.
2. Publishers of encyclopedias, encyclopedic works, periodical or continuing collections of scholarly works, newspapers, magazines, and other periodical publications shall have the exclusive rights to the use of such publications. The publisher shall have the right in case of any use of such designations to indicate its name or demand such an indication.
The authors of works included in such publications shall retain the exclusive rights to the use of their works independent of the publication as a whole unless otherwise provided by a contract for the creation of the work.
Symbols of Protection of Copyright
Art. 20
1.The holder of an exclusive copyright may, for notification of his rights, use the symbol of protection of copyright which shall be placed on each copy of the work and consists of three elements:
1) the Latin letter "C" in a circle;
2) the name (or designation) of the holder of the exclusive copyright;
3) the year of first publication of the work.
2.Unless proved otherwise, the right holder shall be considered to be the person indicated in the symbol of protection of copyright.
Personal Nonproperty Rights or the Author
Art. 21
1. The author of the work shall have the following personal nonproperty rights:
a) the right to be recognized as author of the work (the right of authorship);
b) the right to use or permit the use of the work under his own name, under pseudonym, or anonymously (the right to the author's name);
c) the right to integrity of the work.
2. A declaration by the author or an agreement by the author with anyone on renunciation of the exercise of personal non-property rights is void.
The Right to Integrity of the Work
Art. 22
1. The author has the exclusive right to make changes and additions to his work and to the protection of the work from the introduction into it by anyone without the consent of the author of changes or additions (the right to integrity of the work).
2. In case of publication, public performance, or other use of the work, the introduction of any changes eitl1er in the work itself or in its name or in the indication of the name of the author is allowed on1y with the consent of the author.
It is forbidden without the consent of the author to provide the work upon publication with illustrations, forewords, afterwards, commentaries, or any explanations.
3. After the death or the author the protection of the integrity of the work shall be exercised by the person indicated in the will and the absence of such indications, by the heirs of the author and also by persons to whom the protection of copyrights is entrusted in accordance with statute.
The Right to Publication or the Work
Art. 23
1. The author has the right to open access to the work to an indefinite circle of persons (the right to publication).
2. A work shall be considered published when such access is opened for the first time by the author or with his consent by the publication, public performance, public display of the work, or release of the work to the public in another manner.
3. The author shall have the right to renounce a previously taken decision on publication of a work (the right to recall), on condition of compensation of the persons, who have received the right to use the work of the losses, including lost profit, caused by such a decision. If the work has already been published, the author has the duty to give public notice of its recall. In this case he has the right to remove, at his expense, from circulation previously made copies of the work.
The provisions of this Paragraph shall also be applied to employee works unless a contract with the author provides otherwise.
The Right or the Author to Use or a Work
Art. 24
1. The author shall have the exclusive rights to the use of the work in any form and by any mode.
2.The use of a work is the reproduction and distribution of the work and its vending by other modes, which include in particular:
a) public display (showing, exhibition) of the work;
b) renting a copy constituting a material carrier of the work;
c) public performance of the work;
d) transmission over the airwaves (broadcast by radio and television), including transmission by cable or communications satellite;
e) technical recording of the work;
f) reproduction of a technical recording of the work, including by radio or television;
g) translation or reworking of a work for its later use;
h) practical realization of city planning, architectural, or design plan.
3.Reproduction is the repeated giving of objective form to a work, even that which it had in the original (publishing a work, running off sound or video recordings, etc.).
4. The distribution of a work is the sale, barter, renting out, or other operations with copies of a work, including their import.
If copies of a work have been alienated by the procedure established by statute, then their further distribution shall be allowed without the consent of the author and without the payment of remuneration with the exception of cases provided by statute.
5. A work shall be considered used regardless of whether it has been used with the purpose of acquiring profit or its use was not directed at this.
6. The practical use of matters constituting the contents of works (inventions, other technical, economic, organizational, etc. solutions) sha11 not constitute the use of a work in the sense of copyright.
Disposition of the Right to Use or the Work
Art. 25
1.The author or other right holder may by contract, including contract concluded at public auction, transfer all rights to use the work to another person (alienation of the right to use).
2. The right to use of a work may pass by way of universal lega1 succession (Paragraph I of Article 05).
3.The right holder may grant another person permission (a license) for the use of the work within limits. Permission is required for the use of the work both in its original and in a reworked form, in particular as a translation, arrangement, etc.
For each mode of use of the work special permission of the right holder is required (Paragraph 2 of Article 05).
Right of Access or the Author to a Fine Arts Work
Art. 26
The author of a fine arts work has the right to demand from the owner of the work the giving of the possibility to exercise the right to reproduce his work (the right of access). However, the owner may not be required to deliver the to the author.
Limitations Upon Copyrights
Art. 27
Limitations of the exclusive rights of the author shall be applied on the condition that they do not cause unjustified damage to the normal use of the work and do not impinge in an unjustified manner on the legal interests of the author.
Limitation of the exclusive rights of the author and of other persons to the use of the work sha11 be allowed only in cases provided by statute.
The Right to an Employment Work
Art. 28
1.The copyright to a work created in the course of fulfillment of an employment task (an employment work) belongs to the author of the work.
2. The right of use of an employment work in a manner occasioned by the purpose of the task and within the limits deriving from it belongings to the person for whose task the work was created and with whom the author is in labor relations (to the employer), unless the contract between him and the author provides otherwise. The employer has the right to transfer such a right of use to another person.
The contract or the employer with the author may provide for payment to the author for remuneration for the use of employment work and contain other terms on its use.
3.Upon the expiration often years from the time or presentation of the work and with the consent of the employer-even earlier, the author acquires in full the right to the use of the work and to the receipt or author's remuneration, regardless of the contract concluded with the employer.
4. The right of an author to use an employment work in a manner not occasioned by the purpose of the task is not limited.
Effectiveness of Copyright on the Territory of the
Republic of Armenia
Art. 29
1. Copyright to a work first released to the public on the territory of the Republic of Armenia or not released to the public, but one the original of which is on its territory in some objective form, sha11 be effective on the territory of the Republic of Armenia. In this case, copyright shall be recognized for the author and his heirs, and also for other legal successors of the author regardless of their citizenship.
2. Copyright shall be recognized also for citizens or the Republic or Armenia whose works first were released to the public or exist in some objective form on the territory of a foreign state and also for their heirs and other legal successors.
3. In the giving or legal protection to an author in accordance with international treaties the fact of release of a work to the public on the territory or a foreign state sha11 be determined according to the provisions of the respective international treaty.
The Beginning of Effectiveness of Copyright
Art. 30
Copyright to a work begins to be in effect from the time a work is given an objective form accessible for perception by third persons regardless of its release to the public. Copyright to an audible work is effective from the time of its communication to third persons.
If a work does fall under the effect of Article 29 of the present Code, the copyright to such a work shall be protected from the time of the first publication is made in the Republic of Armenia.
Time Period of Effectiveness of Copyright
Art. 31
1. Copyright shall be in effect during the life of the author and for 5O years after his death, counting from January 1 of the year following after the year of death of the author.
2. Copyright to a work made in co authorship shall be in effect during the life of the coauthors and for 5O years after the death of the last of the authors who has survived the other coauthors.
3. Copyright to a work first released to the public under a pseudonym or anonymously shall be in effect for 50 years, counting from January 1 of the year of release of the work to the public.
If during the course of this time period work the pseudonymous or anonymous author is revealed, then the terms established by Paragraph I of the present Article shall be applied.
4.DuriJlg the time periods indicated in Paragraphs 1-3 of the present Article, copyright shall belong to the heirs of the author and shall pass by inheritance. During these same time periods, a copyright shall belong to legal successors who have received this right by contract with the author, his heirs, or subsequent legal successors.
5.Copyright to a work first released to the public within 50 years after the death of the author shall be in effect for 50 years after its release to the public, counting from January 1 of the year following the release of the work to the public.
6Authorship, the name of the author, and the integrity of the work shall be protected without limit of time.
Passage of a Work into the Public Domain
Art. 32
1.Upon the expiration of the time period of effectiveness of the copyright to a work it shall enter the public domain.
Works that never were given protection on the territory of the Republic of Armenia shall be considered to be in the public domain.
2. Works that are in the public domain may be used freely by any person without payment of author's remuneration. However, the right of authorship, the right to the name, and the right to integrity of the work must be observed.
Author's Contract
Art. 33
1. The author or his heir may transfer the right to use his work to another person by means of conclusion of an author's contract.
2. An author's contract is assumed to be for compensation.
3.An author's contract may be concluded for a ready work or for a work that the author undertakes the duty to create (an order contract). An author's contract also includes a contract concluded by an author or his heirs on permission to use a work within certain limits (an author's licensing contract).
Terms or an Author's Contract
Art. 34
1.An author's contract must provide:
a) the modes of use of the work (the concrete rights transferred under the given contract.
b) the time period for which the right to use the work is transferred;
c) the amount of remuneration and (or) the procedure for determining the amount or remuneration for each mode of use of the work and the time periods for payment.
In the absence in the author's contract of a condition on the territory within the boundaries of which the right to use the work is effective, the effect of the right transferred by the contract is limited to the territory of the Republic of Armenia.
2.Rights to use of the work unknown at the time of conclusion of the contract may not be the subject of an author's contract.
3. The amount of remuneration shall be determined in the author's contract by agreement of the parties.
If in an author's contract for publication or other reproduction of the work, remuneration is determined in the form of a fixed sum, then such a contract must establish the maximum number of copies to be made of the work.
4.An agreement on the renunciation by the author or his heirs of the right to receive remuneration is void.
5. Rights transferred under an author's contract may be transferred by any party to the contract in full or in part to other persons only in the case when this is directly provided by such a contract.
Form of the Author's Contract
Art. 35
The author's contract must be concluded in written form.
Liability Under an Author's Contract
Art. 36
1.A party that has not performed or has improperly performed obligations under an author's contract is obligated to compensate for losses caused to the other party, including lost profit.
2. If an author has not presented an ordered work in accordance with the conditions of an order contract, he has the duty to compensate for the actual damage caused to the customer.
Liability for Unlawful Use of a Work Without a Contract
Art. 37
In case of use of a work without a contract with the right holder, the infringer has the duty to compensate to the right holder the losses borne by it, including lost profit. The right holder has the right to recover from the infringer, instead of the losses, the income received by it as a result of the breach.
The use of a work in a mode not provided by the author's contract or upon the
Termination of effectiveness of such a contract shall be considered a use the work without a contract.
Legal Regulation of Copyright Relations
Art. 38
Copyright relations shall be regulated by the present Code and by the statute of the Republic of Armenia "On Copyright and Neighboring Rights."
The statute of the Republic of Armenia "0n Copyright and Neighboring Rights" shall be applied to relations not regulated by the present Chapter.CHAPTER 64 NEIGHBORING RIGHTS
The Objects of Neighboring Rights
Art. 39
Neighboring rights extend to staging, performing, sound and video recordings of a performance (recordings of a performance), transmissions of organizations of over-the-air and cable broadcasting.
For the arising and exercise of neigl1boring rights there is no requirement of observation of any formalities whatsoever.
Subjects of Neighboring Rights
Art. 40
1. The subjects of neighboring rights are the performers, the makers of recordings of a performance, and organizations of over-the-air and cable broadcasting.
2.The right to a performance belongs to the performers and also to their heirs. The right to the use of such a performance may pass to other legal successors.
3. The right to a recording of a performance belongs to the person who has created such a recording or his legal successors.
4. The right to a transmission belongs to the organization of over-the-air or cable broadcasting that has made the transmission or to its legal successors.
Symbols of Protection of Neighboring Rights
Art. 41
The producer of a recording of a performance and the performer may for notification of their rights use the symbol of protection of neighboring rights, which is placed on each copy of the sound or video recording and/or on each jacket containing it and consists of three elements:
1) the Latin letter "PO" in the circle;
2) the name (or designation) of the holder of the exclusive neighboring rights;
3) the year of first publication of the recording.
Time Period of Effectiveness of Neighboring Rights
Art. 42
1. The rights of a performer shall be effective for 50 years from the time of first performance (or presentation) or first recording.
The right of the performer to his name and to protection of the performance from distortion shall be protected without limit of time.
2. The right of the creator of a recording of a performance shall be effective for 50 years after its first recording.
3. The right of an organization of over-the-air or cable broadcasting to the transmission shall be in effect for 50 years from the time of its first transmission.
Legal Regulation or Neighboring Rights Relations
Art. 43
Neighboring rights relations shall be regulated by the present Code and by the statute of the Republic of Armenia "On Copyright and Neighboring Rights."
The statute of the Republic of Armenia "The Copyright and Neighboring Rights" shall be applied to relations not regulated by the present Chapter.CHAPTER 65. RIGHT TO AN INVENTION, UTILITY MODEL, OR INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Conditions of Legal Protection of an Invention,
Utility Model, or Industrial Design
Art. 44
1. The rights to an invention, utility model, or industrial design shall be protected on the condition of issuance of a patent.
2. Legal protection shall be given.
1) to an invention, which is a solution that is new, has an inventive level, and is industrially applicable;
2) to a utility model, which is the design realization of means of production and consumer items;
3) to an industrial design, which is an artistic-design solution for a manufacture defining its external appearance and being new, original, and industrially applicable.
3. The requirements applied to an invention, utility model, and industrial design, according to which the right arises to acquire a patent and also the procedure for its issuance by the patent office shall be established by the statute of the Republic or Armenia "0n Patents."
Right to Use of an Invention, Utility Model or
Industrial Design
Art. 45
1.The patent holder has the exclusive right to the use of the protected invention, utility model, or industrial design at his discretion.
2.Other persons do not have the right to use the invention, utility model, or industrial design without the permission or the patent holder, with the exception of cases when such use in accordance with the law of the Republic or Armenia "0n Patents" is not a violation or the rights of the patent holder.
Disposition of the Right to a Patent
Art. 46
The right to acquire a patent, the rights deriving from the registration of an application, the right to possession of a patent, and the rights deriving from a patent may be transferred in whole or in part to another person.
Right or Creatorship or an Invention, Utility Model, and Industrial Design
Art. 47
1.The creator of an invention, utility model, or industrial design has the right of inventorship and the right of giving a name to the invention, utility model, or industrial design.
2.The right of creatorship and other personal rights to an invention, utility model, or industrial design arise from the time or arising of rights based on a patent.
3. The person indicated in the application as the creator of the invention, utility model, or industrial design, shall be considered the creator until it is proved otherwise.
Co creators of an Invention, Utility Model, or
Industrial Design
Art. 48
1. The mutual relations of co creators of an invention, utility model, or industrial design shall be determined by agreement among them.
2. Noncreative support in the creating of an invention, utility model or industrial design (technical or organizational assistance, assistance in formalizing rights, etc.) does not entail creatorship.
Employment Inventions, Utility Models, and
Industrial Designs
Art. 49
The right to receive a patent for an invention, utility model, or industrial design made by an employee in the fulfillment by him of his employment responsibilities or of a concrete task of the employer (an employment invention) belongs to the employer if this is directly provided in a contract between them.
The right of the Creator to Remuneration for an
Employment Invention, Utility Model, or Industrial Design
Art. 50
The amount, conditions, and procedure for remuneration of a creator for an employment invention, utility model, or industrial design shall be determined by an agreement concluded between him and the employer or, in case of absence of an agreement by decision of a court.
Effectiveness of a Patent on the Territory of the
Republic of Armenia
Art. 51
A patent for an invention, patent for a utility model, or patent for an industrial design issued by the patent office of the Republic of Armenia is effective on the territory of the Republic of Armenia.
Patents issued in foreign states or by an international organization are effective on the territory of the Republic of Armenia in the cases provided by international treaties of the Republic of Armenia.
Foreign citizens and legal persons or their legal successors have the right to acquire, in the Republic of Armenia, a patent for an invention, a patent for a utility model, or a patent for an industrial design if a solution that is the subject of an application by the established procedure satisfies the requirements applied by the statute of the Republic of Armenia "On Patents" for an invention, utility model, or industrial design.
Time Period of Effectiveness of a Patent
Art. 52
The time period of effectiveness of a patent is established by the statute of the Republic of Armenia "On Patents."
Form of a Contract on Transfer of the Right to a
Patent and Registration of the Rights Arising from the Contract
Art. 53
1. A contract for the assignment of a patent must be concluded in written form and the rights arising from the contract are subject to registration at the patent office.
2. Nonobservance of written form or of the requirement of shall entail the invalidity of the contract.
Form of a Licensing and Sublicensing Contract and
Registration of Rights Arising From Them
Art. 54
1. A licensing contract or sublicensing contract shal1 be concluded in written form and the rights arising from these contracts shall be subject to registration at the patent office.
2. Nonobservance of the written form or the requirement of registration shall entail the invalidity of the contract.
Liability for Infringement of a Patent
Art. 55
Upon demand of the patent holder the infringement of a patent must be terminated and the infringer shall be obligated to compensate the patent holder for the losses borne by it.
Limitation of the Rights of a Patent holder
Art. 56
The bases for the limitation of rights of a patent holder, conditions for termination (or annulment) of a patent, of recognizing it as invalid, issuance of compulsory licenses, and compulsory alienation of patents are established by the statute of the Republic of Armenia "On Patents". CHAPTER 68. RIGHT TO PROTECTION OF UNDISCLOSED INFORMATION FROM ILLEGAL USE
Conditions of Legal Protection of Undisclosed
Information
Art. 64
1. A person who lawfully possesses technical, organizational, or commercial information, including secrets of production (or know-how) unknown to third persons (undisclosed information), has the right to protection of this information from ilega1 use, if the conditions are observed by the Paragraph 1 of Article 141 of the present Code.
2. The right to protection of undisclosed information from illegal use arises independently of the fulfillment with respect to this information of any formalities whatsoever (its registration, acquiring certificates, etc.).
3. The rules on the protection of undisclosed information shall not be applied with respect to information that, in accordance with statute may not constitute an official, commercial, or banking secret (information on legal persons, rights to property subject to state registration, information subject to presentation for state statistical reporting, etc.)
4. The right to protection of undisclosed information sha11 be effective so long as the conditions provided by Paragraph 1 of Article 141 of the present Code are in effect.
Liability for Illegal Use of Undisclosed Information
Art. 65
1. A person who without legal bases has received, distributed, or is using undisclosed information shall be obligated to compensate the person who lawfully possesses this information for the loss caused by its illegal use.
2. If a person who is illegally using undisclosed information has received it from a person who did not have the right to distribute it, of which the acquirer did not know and should not have known (a good-faith acquirer), the lawful possessor of the undisclosed information has the right to demand from it compensation for losses caused for use of the undisclosed information after the good-faith acquirer learned that it use was illegal.
3. A person lawfully having undisclosed information has the right to demand from a person who is illegally using it the immediate cessation of its use. However, a court, taking into account the funds expended by a good-faith acquirer of undisclosed information toward its use, may permit its further use on the condition of a compensated nonexclusive license.
4. A person who has independently and lawfully acquired information constituting the content of undisclosed information has the right to use this information independently of the rights of the possessor of the corresponding undisclosed information and is not liable to it for such use.
Transfer of the Right to Protection of Undisclosed
Information from Illegal Use
Art. 66
1. A person having undisclosed information may transfer all or part of the information constituting the content of this information to another person under a licensing contract (Article 06).
2. The licensee shall be obligated to take appropriate measures for the protection of the confidential information acquired under the contract and has the same rights to its protection from illegal use by third persons as has the licensor. Unless otherwise provided in the contract, the duty to keep the information confidential remains for the licensee even after the termination of the licensing contract if the corresponding information continues to remain undisclosed information.CHAPTER 69 MEANS OF INDIVIDUALIZATION OF PARTICIPANTS IN CIVIL COMMERCE, OF GOODS, AND OF SERVICES
Firm Name
Right to a Firm Name
Art. 67
1. A legal person has the exclusive right to use its firm name on goods, their packing, in advertising, signs, catalogs, bills printed publications, official letterheads, and other documentation connected with its activity and also in demonstration of goods at exhibits and fairs.
2.The firm name of a legal person is determined upon the approval of its charter and is subject to registration by the procedure established by statute.
The Use of the Firm Name or a Legal Person in a
Trademark
Art. 68
The firm name of a legal person may be used in a trademark belonging to it.
Effectiveness or the Right to a Firm Name
Art. 69
1. On the territory of the Republic or Armenia there is in effect an exclusive right to a firm name registered in the Republic of Armenia as the designation of a legal person.
For a name registered or generally recognized in a foreign state, an exclusive right is in effect on the territory of the Republic of Armenia in the cases provided by statute.
2. The effectiveness of the right to a firm name is terminated only upon the liquidation of the legal person or with a change in its firm name.
Passage of the Right to a Firm Name
Art. 70
Passage of the right to the firm name of a legal person is allowed only in cases of its reorganization.
Trademark
Conditions of Legal Protection of a Trademark
Art. 71
1. A trademark (or service mark) is a registered verbal, pictorial, special, or other designation serving to distinguish the goods or services of one person from the same kind of goods and services of other persons.
2. Legal protection of a trademark is given on the basis of its registration.
3. The right to a trademark is evidenced by a certificate.
4. Designations whose registration as a trademark is not allowed, the procedure for registration of trademarks, for their annulment and declaration as invalid, and also cases in which legal protection of unregistered trademarks may be allowed shall be determined by the statute of the Republic of Armenia "On Trademarks, Service Marks, and Designations of Places of Origin of Goods."
The Right to Use a Trademark
Art. 72
1. The possessor of the right to a trademark has the exclusive right to use and dispose of the mark belonging to it.
2. The use of a trademark is any introduction of it into commerce: the making, application, import, storing, proposal for sale, or sale of the trademark or of goods designated by this mark, its use in signs, advertising, printed production, or other business documentation.
Legal Protection of a Trademark on the Territory of the Republic of Armenia
Art. 73
A trademark registered by the patent office of the Republic of Armenia or by an international organization by virtue of an international treaty of the Republic of Armenia is granted legal protection on the territory of the Republic of Armenia.
Time Period of Effectiveness of the Registration of a
Trademark
Art. 74
The time period of effectiveness of the registration of a trademark shall be established by the Statute of the Republic of Armenia "On Trademarks, Service Marks, and Designations of Places of Origin of Goods. "
Passage of the Right to a Trademark
Art. 75
1. The right to a trademark with respect to all the classes of goods and services indicated in the certificate or part of them may be transferred by the right holder to another person by contract
2. The passage of the right to a trademark, including its transfer by contract or by the way of legal succession must be registered at the patent office.
Permission to Use a Trademark
Art. 76
1. The right to use a trademark may be given by the holder of the right to the trademark to another person with respect to all classes of goods and services indicated in the certificate or part of them under a licensing contract (Article 06).
2. A licensing contract permitting the licensee to use a trademark must contain a condition to the effect that the quality of the goods or services of the licensee will be not lower than the quality of goods or services of the licensor and that the licensor has the right to exercise supervision of the fulfillment of this condition.
3. Upon termination of the effect of registration of the right to a trademark the effect of the licensing contract is terminated.
4. The passage of the right to a trademark to another person does not entail the termination of the licensing contract.
Form of Contracts on the Transfer of the Rights to a Trademark or on the Giving of a license and the Registration of the transfer of Rights.
Art. 77
1. A contract on the transfer of the right to a trademark or on the giving of a license must be concluded in written form and the transfer of rights must be registered in the patent office.
2. Nonobservance of the written form or the requirement of registration entails the invalidity of the contract.
Liability for Infringing the Right to a Trademark
Art. 78
1. A person is unlawfully using a trademark must cease the infringement and compensate the holder of the trademark for the losses borne by it (Article 17).
2. A person who is unlawfully using a trademark has the duty to destroy reproductions of the trademark that have been prepared, to remove from the goods or their packaging an illegally used trademark or a designation similar to it to the point of confusion.
3. In the case of the impossibility of fulfilling the requirements established by Paragraph 2 of the present Article, the respective goods are subject to destruction.
Designation of the Place of Origin of Goods
Condition for the Legal Protection of the Designation or the Place of Origin of the Goods
Art. 79
1. The designation of the place of origin (indication of origin) of goods is the name of the country, populated point, locality, or other geographic object used for the signification of goods, whose special qualities exclusively or mainly are determined by the natural conditions or other factors characteristic for this region or a combination of natural conditions and these factors.
The designation of the place of origin of goods may be the historical name of a geographic object
2. Legal protection of the designation of the place or origin of the goods shall be provided on the basis of its registration. Registration of the designation of a place of origin shall be conducted by the present office.
On the basis of registration a certificate of the right to use the designation of a place of origin shall be issued.
3. The procedure and conditions for issuance of certificates, recognizing as invalid and terminating the effectiveness of registration and certificates shall be determined by the statute of the Republic of Armenia "On Trademarks, Service Marks, and Designations of Places of Origin of Goods".
The Right to Use Designations of Place of Origin of Goods
Art. 80
A person who has the right to use the designation of a place of origin of goods has the right to place this designation on the goods, packaging, advertising, catalogs, bills, and to use it in another manner in connection with the introduction of the given goods into civil commerce.
Area of Effectiveness of the Legal Protection of the Designation of the Place of Origin of Goods
Art. 81
1. In the Republic of Armenia legal protection shall be provided for the designation of places of origin of goods located on the territory of the Republic of Armenia.
2. Legal protection of the designation of a place of origin of goods that are located in another state shall be provided in the Republic of Armenia in cases provided by statute.
Time Period of Effectiveness of a Certificate of the
Right to Use the Designation of a Place or Origin of Goods
Art. 82
The time period of effectiveness of a certificate of the right to use the designation of the place or origin of goods shall be established by the statute of the Republic of Armenia "On Trademarks, Service Marks and Designations of the Place of Origin of Goods."
Liability for Unlawful Use or the Designation of the
Place or Origin of Goods
Art. 83
1. A person having the right to use the designation of a place of origin of goods and also an organizations for the protection of the rights of consumers may demand, from a person who has illegally used the designation, the termination of its use, the removal from the goods, their packaging, letterheads, and similar documentation of an illegally used designation similar to it to the point of confusion, the destruction of depictions prepared of the designation and-if this is impossible - the taking and destruction of the goods and/or packaging.
2. A person having the right to use the designation of a place of origin of goods has the right to demand from an infringer of this right the compensation for losses borne (Article 17).
The President of Republic of Armenia P. Kocharyan
March 31, 2000
Erevan City. |
