TEHRAN - In a bid to overhaul Iran’s Intellectual Property (IP) system and bring it in line with international agreements in this field, the Iranian Parliament passed the “Law of Registration of Patents, Industrial Designs and Trademarks” on January 23, 2008.
The law, which is to be temporarily implemented for five years, came into effect on May 5, 2008, after being published in the Official Gazette on April 20, 2008.
In connection with trademarks, the law has provided definitions for collective marks and trade names and it included certain provisions for their registration in Iran.
A new opposition procedure has also been introduced, where any beneficiary can contest a mark during registration by filing a protest with the Iran Intellectual Property Office (IIPO), or refer to the court for the abrogation of the registered mark. The time limit for filing a petition before the court against the IIPO decision has been increased from 10 days to 2 months.
Other changes related to trademarks include the vulnerability of cancelling a trademark on the grounds of non-use and the introduction of late payment fee for the renewal of a trademark.
As per the law, the validity of a mark from the date of registration is 10 years renewable for subsequent similar periods.
On another level, the law introduced provisions for the registration and maintenance of industrial designs for the first time in Iran. Industrial designs will be protected for a period of 5 years renewable for two other similar periods.
Several provisions related to industrial designs’ definition, use and cancellation have been incorporated.
In relation to patents, the new law considers an invention as the result of thinking of an individual or individuals which presents a specific process or a product for the first time and solves a problem in a profession, craft, technology, industry and the like. In either case, exclusive legal protection for 20 years is provided to the owner of the invention.
It is noteworthy that the most important part of the law is the introduction of tougher civil and criminal penalties for IP infringements. Such penalties include compensation of damages to the holder of the IP right as well as cash penalty ranging from 10,000,000 Iranian Rials (US$1,000) to 50,000,000 Rials (US$5,000) and/or prosecution or imprisonment from 91 days to six months.