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Absolute grounds for refusal of registration
The presence of a distinctive ability is a fundamental condition for the designation to be registered as a trademark. The distinctive ability is due to the character of the designation itself. The designation filed for registration as a trademark must individualize goods or services of legal entities or individuals among similar goods or services of other legal entities and individuals. Absence of distinctive ability is an absolute basis and entails a refusal to register a trademark.
Absolute grounds for refusal to register the trademark are related to the following designations:
- designations that represent individual letters, numbers that do not have a distinctive graphic execution, combinations of letters that do not have a verbal character; lines, simple geometric figures, as well as their combinations that do not form compositions that give a qualitatively different level of perception, different from the perception of individual elements in them;
- realistic or schematic images of goods, claimed for registration as trademarks for the designation of these goods;
- three-dimensional objects, the shape of which is determined solely by a functional purpose;
- generally accepted names, which are, as a rule, simple indications of goods, declared for the designation of these goods: common abbreviated names of organizations, enterprises, industries and their abbreviations; designations in which the dominant position is occupied by marks or instructions used to indicate the type, quality, quantity, charasteristics, purpose, value of goods, as well as the time, place and manner of their production or sale.
- It is not allowed to register trademarks consisted only of designations that are state coats of arms, flags and emblems, official names of states, flags, emblems and abridged or full names of international intergovernmental organizations, official countermarks, seals of guarantee and hallmarks, awards and other honourable distinctions or similar to them to a degree of confusion. Such designations may be included as unprotected elements in the trademark, if this is agreed by the relevant competent authority or their owner.
Under absolute grounds in the registration of a trademark, designations which:
- Are false or capable of confusing the consumer regarding the product, the place of its origin or its manufacturer;
- Represents or contains an indication of the origin of wines or stiff drinks protected by international treaties of the Republic of Belarus, for the designation of wines or stiff drinks not originating from the place;
- Contradict the public interest, the principles of humanity and morality