Trademark registration in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is the demanded jurisdiction by foreigners for the registration of trademarks. Every year, the National Institute of Intellectual Property (Kazpatent) receives 9-11 thousand new applications for trademark registration. Only a third of them from residents of Kazakhstan.

Among recognized as well-known trademarks in Kazakhstan almost half are owned by foreign companies.

The highest number of applications from foreigners comes from representatives of the USA, Russia, China, Switzerland, and the UK.

In total, Kazakhstan has more than 45 thousand active trademarks.

What can be registered as a trademark in Kazakhstan

Verbal, figurative, combined, 3D, and other trademarks, both in black and white and in color, can be registered in Kazakhstan.

If TM will have enough distinctiveness, sound, flavor, motion and other signs will be accepted for registration.

In Kazakhstan, the term “trademark” is applied to a trademark registered for goods, and the term “service mark” for trademarks for services. There are no features in terms of legal regulation between these definitions.

A trademark can be registered both in the name of a legal entity and an individual. Registration of TM for several persons is also allowed (collective trademark).

Marks that are generally accepted terms or symbols, violate the principles of public morality, mislead the consumer (characteristics, place of origin), use state symbols, or protected geographical indications (appellations of origin) will not be registered.

Registration steps and terms

Before filing an application, it is recommended to conduct a search for previously filed applications or registered trademarks. The presence of similar or identical TMs is the most popular reason for receiving refusion in registration.

Trademark search Kazakhstan

Documentation on applications in Kazakhstan can be executed in Russian and Kazakh, therefore, data in Kazpatent’s open databases are displayed in two languages.

Kazakhstan uses the classes of the Nice Classification and allows multi-class trademark registration.

After receiving the application, at the stage of a formal examination, the Patent Office checks compliance with all the rules for processing application documents. Kazpatent has 10 working days to conduct such an examination.

Further, the application is published officially in the Kazpatent bulletin and proceeds to the stage of the substantive examination. At this stage, Office’s experts check whether the mark complies with the requirements for providing protection and whether there are previously registered similar or confusingly similar TMs.

The full examination period is up to 7 months.

In the case of a positive conclusion, after 15 working days, a decision is made on the registration of the trademark and the owner can begin to use the icon or verbal designation of the registered trademark.

There is no separate opposition procedure in Kazakhstan – any person can file an objection in the registration of TM after its publication and before the decision on registration.

Trademark certificate is valid for 10 years from the filing date of the application with the possibility of an unlimited number of renewals.

If the TM is not used by the owner for the declared products/services for three years, registration for part of the list or the certificate as a whole can be challenged by third parties.

Trademark registration costs in Kazakhstan

Foreigners cannot directly apply to the Kazakh National Institute of Intellectual Property but are required to apply for the services of a local trademark attorney.

State fees for registration of a trademark in the Republic of Kazakhstan (electronic filing, excluding the cost of the services of a trademark attorney):

If you have any additional questions about the Trademark registration procedure in Kazakhstan or want to file an application, please contact us at info@craneip.com