IP Law Amendments in Kyrgyzstan

Important changes to Kyrgyzstani IP legislation take effect in April, 2023. They affect different IP rights including the following.

Patents

The applicable law enters into force on April 7, 2023. The main changes include the following:

• the examination of an invention patent application becomes mandatory, it is to be performed upon the applicant’s request. Accordingly, the possibility of obtaining an invention patent under the applicant’s responsibility has been excluded;
• the effective term of an industrial design is extended to 25 years, the annual fees are to be paid every 5 years. Before the amendments, the effective term was 10 years with the possibility of extension for another five years;
• the maximum term of protection for a utility model patent is extended from 8 to 10 years.

Trademarks and geographical indications

The amendments take effect on April 15, 2023. The main changes are listed below:

• the formal examination term is reduced from one month to 10 days, the term of substantive examination is shortened from 12 to 7 months;
• the term for submitting priority materials is set as 2 months from the filing date instead of 3;
• the deadline for submitting the response to an office action is now set as three months from the issuing date (instead of 2 months from the date of receipt);
• international nonproprietary names are included in the list of the grounds for refusal;
• along with appellations of origin of goods, geographical indications are introduced as a separate IP right.

Additionally, the amendments open the possibility of electronic filing of applications for any intellectual property right.