On 16 January 2021, the amendments to the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On customs regulation in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, which were introduced on 5 January 2021, will come into force. The amendments substantially simplify the procedure of including intellectual property (“IP”) into the Customs Register of Intellectual Property of the Republic of Kazakhstan (“Customs Register”).

The amendments concern the list of documents that are submitted with the application for the inclusion of IP in the Customs Register. Specifically, the statutory requirement to provide a document confirming the act of violation of IP rights during the transportation of goods across the customs border of the Eurasian Economic Union (“EAEU”) will no longer apply. The list of documents that confirm such violation include decisions of the courts of the EAEU member-states, affirmative decisions or decrees of the authorized state bodies of the EAEU states whose competence includes the protection of rights to IP objects. This requirement to provide the document confirming the act of violation of IP rights during the transportation of goods across the EAEU customs border has often prevented entrepreneurs from acquiring the customs IP protection if they did not have the stated documents.

The amendments have also affected the format of filing applications for the inclusion and exclusion of IP objects from the Customs Register. Such applications will now be submitted exclusively in electronic format via the information system of the customs authorities.

If you have any questions, we will be happy to discuss them with you. Please contact us using the details below.

Nataliya Shapovalova
Partner
[email protected]
+7 701 768 64 27

Saniya Sultanova
Paralegal
[email protected]
+7 705 987 65 06