• entered into general use to denote goods (services) of a certain type;
• which are generally accepted symbols and terms;
• indicating the type, quality, quantity, property, purpose, value of goods, as well as the place and time of their production or sale;
• which are international non-proprietary names of medicinal products;
• having a direct descriptive and (or) associative relationship with the goods or services for the designation of which they are used.

The indicated designations may be used as unprotected elements of a trademark if they do not occupy a dominant position in it.

Designations that reproduce state emblems, flags and emblems, abbreviated or full names of international organizations and their emblems, flags and emblems, official control, guarantee and assay marks, seals, Olympic symbols, awards and other distinctions are not registered as trademarks, but also designations similar to them to a degree of confusion.

Such designations may be used as unprotected elements if the designation does not consist solely of them and if there is consent to their use by the relevant competent authority or their owner.

• that are false or capable of misleading with respect to a product or its manufacturer, service or service provider, as well as names of geographical objects that may be misleading with respect to the place of production of the goods;
• formally indicating the true place of production of the goods, but giving an erroneous idea that the goods originate from another territory;
• representing or containing the names of geographical objects that identify mineral waters, wines or spirits, for the designation of such goods not originating from this place, as well as, if a translation or designation is used, it is accompanied by such expressions as “species”, “type”, “ in style” or other similar;
• contradicting in their content to public interests, principles of humanity and morality.

Designations that are identical or similar to the extent of their confusion are not subject to registration as trademarks:

• with trademarks registered in the Republic of Kazakhstan and protected by international treaties with an earlier priority in the name of another person in respect of homogeneous goods or services or with identical trademarks of the same person in relation to the same goods or services, with the exception of trademarks, registration recognized invalid or terminated;
• with trademarks recognized in the established manner in the Republic of Kazakhstan in relation to any types of goods and services;
• with designations declared for registration with an earlier priority in the name of another person in respect of homogeneous goods or services (except for withdrawn and terminated) or with identical designations of the same person in relation to the same goods or services;

Registration of a designation as a trademark in respect of homogeneous goods or services similar to the point of confusion with any of the trademarks in the above subparagraphs is allowed subject to the written consent of the trademark owner. (If the owner is a legal entity, then written consent must be presented on letterhead, signed by an authorized person and sealed with the seal of the legal entity (if any), and if the owner is an individual, then the signature must be notarized).

• with appellations of origin of goods protected in the Republic of Kazakhstan in relation to any goods, except when they can be included as an unprotected element of a trademark registered in the name of the owner of the right to use this appellation of origin, if the trademark is registered in relation to those the same goods for the individualization of which the name of the place of origin of goods is registered.

Designations not reproducing as trademarks:

• industrial designs protected in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the name of other persons subject to their earlier priority;
• names of works of literature, science and art known in the Republic of Kazakhstan at the filing date of an application, known works of art and fragments thereof in violation of copyright;
• surnames, first names, pseudonyms and derivatives from them, portraits and facsimiles in violation of the personal non-property rights of these persons, their heirs or assigns, as well as if these designations are the property of the history and culture of the Republic of Kazakhstan - without the permission of the relevant competent authority.

The reason for the refusal to register as a trademark designations that reproduce the heritage of the history and culture of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the lack of coordination with the authorized body in the field of culture.

The grounds for refusal also apply to the designations claimed for legal protection in the Republic of Kazakhstan as trademarks in accordance with international treaties ratified by the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The application is submitted through the office of the expert organization (RSE “National Institute of Intellectual Property”) of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan or through the web portal of “electronic government” www.egov.kz. An application for the provision of the state service “Registration of a trademark” is submitted through the web portal of “electronic government” www.egov.kz in accordance with:

• The Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 26, 1999 №456 On Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellation of Origin;
• By the order of the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan of October 11, 2018 №1481. Registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan October 16, 2018 №17557 On approval of state service standards for security and protection of Intellectual Property Rights;
• By order of the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated August 29, 2018 №1349. Registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan October 2, 2018 №17459 On approval of the Rules for conducting an examination of applications for selection achievements, objects of industrial property, trademarks and appellations of origin, registration of integrated circuits topologies.

The application must relate to one trademark.

The application must contain:

• a request for an examination of the designation indicating the applicant, as well as his location or place of residence;
• claimed designation;
• a list of goods and (or) services in accordance with the International Classification of Goods and Services.

The following must be attached to the application:

• a copy of the document confirming the payment for the examination;
• a copy of the power of attorney in the case of office work through a representative;
• the charter of a collective trademark (in the case of filing an application for a collective trademark), including the name of the organization authorized to register the collective trademark in its name, the purpose of registration of this mark, the list of entities entitled to use this mark, the list and uniform qualities or other characteristics of goods and services that will be designated by a collective trademark, conditions for its use, procedure for monitoring its use, liability for violation of the provisions of the charter of a collective trademark.

The application and the documents attached to it are submitted in Kazakh or Russian. If the documents are submitted in another language, the applicant shall submit their translation into Kazakh or Russian within one month.

The filing date of the application is established by the date of receipt of the application by the expert organization that meets the requirements of the above paragraphs, if these documents are submitted at the same time, by the date of receipt of the last of the submitted documents.

You can submit an application yourself at - RSE "National Institute of Intellectual Property" of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan or through a patent attorney. The application and the documents attached to it can be provided in both Kazakh and Russian. Then follows three stages: preliminary examination, full examination and, directly, registration of a trademark.

• preliminary examination - within ten working days from the date of application;
• full examination - within seven months from the date of application;
• based on the final conclusion, the expert organization makes a decision on registration, partial registration or on refusal to register a trademark.

At any stage of the examination, the expert organization has the right to request additional or clarifying information, without which the examination is impossible.

If the applicant fails to submit the requested information during the examination period and (or) the absence of a request to extend this period, the application shall be considered withdrawn.

The applicant pays for the services of an expert organization for the registration of a trademark within three months from the date of sending him a notification of a decision on registration or partial registration. If you do not submit a document confirming the payment for the specified service, the application for a trademark is recognized as withdrawn and the workflow on it is terminated.

• Trademark registration is valid for ten years from the filing date of the application.
• The validity of a trademark registration is renewed each time for ten years at the request of the owner filed during the last year of its validity. Information on the extension of the validity of the registration of a trademark within ten business days from the date of receipt of the application by an expert organization is entered into the State Register of Trademarks and a certificate.