Legal Defence in Court

At the beginning of the century, a specialized board was established in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus, named the Judicial Board for Intellectual Property of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus. Its competence covers settlement of all intellectual property disputes as a court of the first instance.

The decisions of the Judicial Board on intellectual property take effect from the moment they are issued and are not subject to challenge or appeal. However, a decision can be appealed against by way of supervisory review within one year.

• The competence of the Judicial Board covers the disputes and complaints that affect intellectual property in one way or another. They can be divided into several categories.

• The first category of disputes refers to everything that is related to the use and registration of rights to industrial property objects (inventions, trademarks, plant varieties, topologies of integrated circuits, etc.), including recognition as an author or exclusion from the list of the authors.

• The second category of disputes refers to everything that is related to the creation and use of copyright, including recognition as an author or exclusion from the list of the authors.

• The third category of disputes refers to declaring transaction invalidation or declaring an avoidable transaction as invalid in respect of intellectual property and application of the consequences of its invalidity.

• The fourth category of cases refers to everything that is related to rationalization proposals.

• The fifth category of cases refers to the disputes for compensation for damages or compensation for the unlawful use of intellectual property.

• The sixth category of cases refers to handling complaints against decisions of the structural divisions of the National Center for Intellectual Property of the Republic of Belarus, including decisions of the Examination Division and decisions of the Appeals Board.

• The seventh category of cases refers to protection against unfair competition (if trademark rights are affected).

It should be noted that a person who has suffered from unfair competition (if trademark rights are affected) can apply first at his/her discretion to the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus (MART) or apply directly to the Judicial Board, without applying to MART.

If you first apply to MART, the decision of MART can be appealed to the Judicial Board. If you apply directly to the Judicial Board, its decision cannot be appealed. The benefit of applying directly to the Judicial Board is significant saving of time for consideration of a dispute.