- LAW ON MARKS AND GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
- Chapter I - GENERAL PROVISIONS
- Chapter II - MARKS
- SECTION I - REGISTRATION
- SECTION II – CONTENTS OF THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT IN A MARK (title amended – StateGazette No. 73/2006, in force since 06.10.2006)
- SECTION III – DISPOSITION OF THE RIGHTS IN MARKS
- SECTION IV - LAPSE OF REGISTRATION, REVOCATION AND INVALIDATION OFREGISTRATION
- SECTION V - COLLECTIVE AND CERTIFICATION MARKS
- SECTION VI - PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE PATENT OFFICE
- SECTION VII – Well-Known Marks and Marks With a Reputation (new – StateGazette No. 73/2006, in force since 06.10.2006)
- Chapter III - GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
- Chapter IV - INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION
- CHAPTER IVa – COMMUNITY MARK (new, State Gazette No. 73/2006, in force as of thedate of accession of the Republic of Bulgaria to the European Union)
- CHAPTER V - PROTECTION OF RIGHTS IN MARKS AND GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
- ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS
- TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
- Relevant Acts of the European Law
LAW ON MARKS AND GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
Publ. in State Gazette No. 81/ 14.09.1999, amended No. 82/17.09.1999; amended No. 28/01.04.2005, amended No. 43/20.05.2005, amended No. 94/25.11.2005, amended No. 105/29.12.2005, amended No. 30/11.04.2006, amended No. 73/05.09.2006; amended, No. 59/20 July 2007
Subject Matter
Art. 1. This Law governs the conditions and procedures for the registration of marks and geographical indications, the rights arising therefrom and the protection of those rights.
Field of Application
Art. 2. (1) The provisions of this Law shall apply to Bulgarian natural persons and legal entities and to foreign natural persons and legal entities from States party to international treaties to which the Republic of Bulgaria is also party.
(2) With regard to foreign natural persons and legal entities from other countries, this Law shall apply on the basis of reciprocity at the discretion of the Patent Office.
Representation
Art. 3. (1) Any person having the right under this Law to conduct business with the Patent Office may do so either in person or through a local industrial property agent.
(2) (amended -State Gazette No. 43/2005, in force since 21.08.2005) Those persons provided for in paragraph (1) who have no residence or headquarters in the Republic of Bulgaria shall conduct business with the Patent Office through a local industrial property agent.
Art. 4. (suppl. -State Gazette No. 43/2005, in force since 21.08.2005, amended – State Gazette No. 73/2006, in force since 06.10.2006) The Patent Office shall collect fees for: filing of applications; priority; registration; issue of certificates; acceleration of examination as to substance; renewal of registration; entries; correction of errors; appeals against rejections, revocation and invalidation; extension of time limits; publications of the application, registration and entries; filing of applications for international registration; forwarding of Community trademark applications; requests to determine whether a mark is well-known or with a reputation; publication of a mention about a mark being determined as well-known or having a reputation; information on marks or geographical indications filed for registration; enquiries and extracts from the State registers, under a tariff approved by the Council of Ministers.
Art. 5. The State Register of marks shall be kept by the Patent Office and shall contain data on all mark registrations and all subsequent entries relating thereto.
Art. 5a. (new -State Gazette No. 73/2006, in force since 06.10.2006) The Patent Office shall keep a Register where entries shall be made of all marks determined as well-known or having a reputation in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Art. 6. The State Register of Geographical Indications shall be kept by the Patent Office and shall contain data on all registrations of geographical indications, entries pertaining to users and all subsequent changes relating thereto.
Art. 7. (suppl. -State Gazette No. 73/2006, in force since 06.10.2006) The State Registers provided for in Articles 5, 5a and 6 shall be public. Any person may request information or an extract therefrom.
Art. 8. (1) The Patent Office shall keep a file on every mark or geographical indication, which shall consist of all the registration documents and subsequent entries. SECTION I -REGISTRATION
Definition
Art. 9. (1) Marks are signs that are capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of other persons and can be represented graphically. Such signs may be words, including the names of persons, or letters, numerals, drawings, figures, the shape of goods or of their packaging, a combination of colours, sound signals or any combination of such elements.
(2) A mark may be a trademark, a service mark, a collective mark or a certification mark.
Art. 10. (1) The rights in a mark shall be acquired by registration as of the filing date of the application. Art. 11. (1) The following shall not be registered: (iii) (suppl. -State Gazette No. 43/2005, in force since 21.08.2005) marks which consist exclusively of signs or indications that have become customary in the current language or in the established practices of the trade in the Republic of Bulgaria with respect to the goods or services filed for registration; (vii) marks which may deceive the consumers as to the nature, quality or geographical origin of the goods or services;
(viii) (amended -State Gazette No. 43/2005, in force since 21.08.2005) marks which consist of or include escutcheons, flags or other emblems of States party to the Paris Convention, or imitations thereof, as well as escutcheons, flags or other emblems or the full or abbreviated official names of international intergovernmental organizations; Art. 12. (1) A mark shall not be registered: (iii) if it consists of a geographical designation or derivatives thereof. Rights Conferred by a Mark
Art. 13. (1) The right in a mark shall comprise the right of its holder to use it and dispose of it, and to prevent third parties not having his consent from using in the course of trade: (iii) (amended -State Gazette No. 43/2005, in force since 21.08.2005) any sign which is identical with or similar to the mark in relation to goods or services which are not identical with or similar to those for which the mark is registered, where the earlier mark has a reputation in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and where use of that sign without due cause would take unfair advantage of, or be detrimental to, the distinctive character or the repute of the earlier mark. Art. 14. A mark shall not entitle the proprietor to prohibit a third party from using the following in the course of trade, provided that such use is not contrary to the honest practices of the trade: (iii) the mark where it is necessary to indicate the intended purpose of the goods or services, in particular as accessories or spare parts.
Art. 15. (1) (amended – State Gazette No. 73/2006, in force since the date of Accession of the Republic of Bulgaria to the European Union) A mark shall not entitle the proprietor to prohibit its use in relation to goods or services which have been put on the market in the territory of the European Union member states, respectively of the European Economic Area, under that mark by the proprietor or with his consent.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply where there exist legitimate reasons for the proprietor to oppose further commercialization of the goods, especially where the condition of the goods is changed or impaired after they have been put on the market.
Art. 16. (1) A mark may be held by two or more person.
(2) Each holder may use the mark without the consent of the other holders and without accounting to them for that use, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
Art. 17. When using the mark, the proprietor may indicate that it is registered by putting a circled letter R alongside it.
Art. 18. If the reproduction of a mark in dictionaries, encyclopaedia or other reference works gives the impression that the mark constitutes the generic name of the goods or services for which it is registered, its proprietor may oblige the publisher of the reference work in question to indicate, at the latest in the next edition of the publication, that the mark is a registered mark.
Art. 19. (1) If, within a period of five years following registration, the proprietor has not put the mark to genuine use on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria in connection with the goods or services in respect of which it is registered, or if such use has been suspended for an uninterrupted period of five years, the registration may be revoked, unless there are legitimate reasons for non-use. Art. 20. (1) Marks shall be registered for a period of ten years following the filing date of the application.
(2) Registration may be renewed, in accordance with Article 39, for an unlimited number of further ten-year periods.
Chapter I -GENERAL PROVISIONS
Fees
State Register of Marks
State Register of Well-Known Marks and Marks With a Reputation
State Register of Geographical Indications
Access to the State Registers
File
Chapter II -MARKS
Acquisition of the Rights in a Mark
Absolute Grounds for Refusal of Registration (title amended – State Gazette No. 73/2006, in force since 06.10.2006)
(xii) (deleted -State Gazette No. 43/2005, in force since 21.08.2005)
Relative Grounds for Refusal (title amended – State Gazette No. 73/2006, in force since 06.10.2006)
priority date, as appropriate, if it is registered;
((iii) a mark which is well known in the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria
on the filing date or priority date, as appropriate, of the mark.
SECTION II – CONTENTS OF THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT IN A MARK (title amended – State Gazette No. 73/2006, in force since 06.10.2006)
(iii) importing or exporting the goods under that sign; (iv) using the sign on business papers and in advertising. Limitation of the Effects of a Mark
Exhaustion of the Rights Conferred by a Mark
Jointly Held Marks
Notice of Registration
Reproduction of Marks in Works of Reference
Obligation to Use the Mark
Term of Validity of Registration