China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially announced on May 8 that the Inaugural China-Central Asia Summit will be held in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province from May 18 to 19, with President Xi Jinping chairing the summit. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, President Sadyr Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan, President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan, and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan attended the Summit. This summit is China's first major home-court diplomatic event this year, and it is a milestone in the history of China's relations with Central Asian countries.

The intellectual property index in Central Asia is relatively low, and the number of intellectual property rights is relatively small. Kazakhstan has obvious advantages compared with other countries in Central Asia. The 5 Central Asian countries overall have relatively perfect intellectual property legislation and have established corresponding intellectual property supervision but lack strong protection of intellectual property rights, and the law enforcement and judicial systems need to be improved. The current intellectual property cooperation system between China and the 5 Central Asian countries is relatively loose.

Regarding the current intellectual property laws of the 5 Central Asian countries, there are some subtle differences in the protection of patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Patent applications in Kazakhstan also follow the first-to-file principle, and patent applications there must be filed by a patent agent. The applicant qualification for trademark registration is that any individual, enterprise, or body corporate can apply, and the protection principle of prior registration is adopted.

The protection period for invention patents in Kyrgyzstan is 20 years. Where it is a pharmaceutical patent, an extension (not exceeding 5 years) of the protection period can be requested. Applications for invention patents will undergo formal examination, preliminary examination, and substantive examination, while applications for utility model patents and design patents will only undergo formal examination and preliminary examination.

Invention patents or minor invention patents for different inventions and creations are granted in Tajikistan. The invention patent right is granted after the application for the invention patent has passed the substantive examination, and the term of validity is 20 years from the date of submitting the application to the local patent office. Minor invention patents are granted after the application for the invention patent has passed the prior formalities examination and is valid within 10 years from the date of filing the application.

The Patent Office of Uzbekistan examines each patent application, including formal examination, examination of utility model patent applications, and substantive examination of invention patents or design patents.

Turkmenistan conducts formal examinations within 3 months and limited examinations within 6 months. After the limited examination is completed, a decision is made on whether to issue a provisional patent right. For the purpose of obtaining a patent right (valid for twenty years), the applicant should submit a request for suspension of the provisional patent and request substantive examination within 5 years from the filing date. Design patents are also divided into provisional design patents (valid for 10 years) and design patents (valid for 15 years), which are similar to invention patents.

From IPRdaily

May 19th, 2023