General Information | Patents of Invention
Trade & Service Marks | Industrial Designs | Domain Names
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General Information

Area: 488,100 sq. km.
Population: 5,300,000 inhabitants (estimated 2008).
Capital: Ashgabad, with about 900,000 inhabitants.
Languages: Turkmen (official), Russian.
Currency: Manat.

GENERAL REMARKS

Turkmenistan used to be part of the former Soviet Union. The republic declared its independence on October 27, 1991. The Patent Office of Turkmenistan (Turkmenpatent) was established in December 1993. Turkmenistan is a Neutral State; so declared officially by U.N.O. on December 12, 1995.

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Patents of Invention

LEGAL BASIS

• Law on Inventions and Industrial Designs of November 14, 2008.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, since March 1, 1995, with effect as of December 25, 1991.
• PCT, since March 1, 1995.
• Eurasian Patent Convention, since August 12, 1995.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (no legalization but stamped or sealed);
• Specification, claims and abstract (if not available in Russian, preferably in English);
• Drawings;
• Priority document, if priority is claimed, to be filed within three months from the filing date.

REMARKS

National Phase of PCT: under Chapter I: 30 months; under Chapter II: 31 months.
Validity: Short Patent (if full examination is not requested): issued after formal examination - valid for 10 years as of the filing date. Patent: issued after the full examination - valid for 20 years.
Annuities: are accumulated and paid with the granting fee, and for subsequent years, on the anniversary of the filing date (or International filing date for PCT).
Opposition: possible during the entire term of protection, through the Patent Office Appeal Board.

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Trade and Service Marks

LEGAL BASIS

• Law on Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellation of Origin of November 15, 2008.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, since March 1, 1995, with effect as of December 25, 1991.
• Madrid Protocol, since September 15, 1999.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (no legalization but stamped or sealed);
• Prints of the sign to be protected (20);
• List of goods and services, according to the International Classification; one application may include goods belonging to more than one International Class (to be translated into Turkmen or Russian);
• Priority document, if any (to be filed within three months from the filing date).

REMARKS

Kinds of protection: trademarks and service marks (word marks, device marks and combinations thereof). Besides the original version, filing of word mark applications in the Cyrillic alphabet is highly recommended, the Russian language still being one of the official languages in the country.
Classification: International.
Obligation to use the registered mark: compulsory, must be used; if not used within any three-year period after the registration (or last use) date, the mark can be cancelled upon request of an interested party; nominal use (advertising, publications) is accepted in absence of actual use.
Duration - renewals: 10-year period after the registration or last renewal date.
Opposition: possible.

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Industrial Designs

LEGAL BASIS

• Law on Inventions and Industrial Designs of November 14, 2008.

MEMBERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

• Paris Convention, since March 1, 1995, with effect as of December 25, 1991.
• Locarno Agreement as of June 7, 2006.

FILING REQUIREMENTS

• Power of Attorney (no legalization but stamped or sealed);
• Photographs and drawings;
• Specification of the design (if not in Russian, preferably in English);
• Priority document (if any).

REMARKS

Duration - renewals: short patent, after formal examination: 10 years; full patent, after complete examination: 15 years from the filing date. Renewable for one additional period of 5 years.
Opposition: possible during the entire term of protection, through the Patent Office Appeal Board.

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Domain Names

LEGAL BASIS

• There is no specific legislation on country code top-level domain names.

FILING

• ccTLD: .tm
• Applicant: must be a resident/legal entity in the country of Turkmenistan, or a company with an official registered representative n Turkmenistan.
• Local Presence: required.

REMARKS

Duration - renewals: 10 years, renewable.
Uniform dispute resolution procedure: none.

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If you wish more detailed information concerning intellectual property protection in this territory please contact us or order Katzarov’s Manual on Industrial Property®.

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