Annual Report 1999

TURKMENISTAN

The development of the system of industrial property protection in Turkmenistan

Chairman of Turkmenpatent R.Agabaev

Turkmenistan is an independent, democratic, secular and law-governed state that formed by the will of the people.

In November 1995 Turkmenistan was declared a neutral nation by a Decree of the United Nations General Assembly.

The neutral nation of Turkmenistan possesses a significant scientific and technical potential. Over 6 thousand scientists are working in scientific establishments and higher education institutes. Alongside pure research, applied industry science is developing, represented by design engineers, and research and exploration establishments active in the areas of geology, oil and gas exploration and processing, and material science for earthquake-resistant construction. The spectrum of scientific research includes such promising developments and methods as the techniques of earthquake forecasting, theory and practice of nature management under arid conditions, research and development of alternative energy sources, and equipment and technology for chemical processing of raw materials.

The formation of the national system of industrial property in Turkmenistan started with the adoption of the Patent Law on October 1, 1993. The Law regulates relations of property and associated personal non-property relations that arise out of the creation, legal protection and use of inventions, industrial designs, trademarks and service marks.

Turkmenistan has been a member of WIPO since March 1, 1995, and is a party to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). It was the first state to accede to the Eurasian Patent Convention, thus initiating the formation of a new inter-state system of common patent invention protection. Today Turkmenistan is a full member of this Convention, with its own representatives in the Administrative Council, and also with national patent attorneys registered as Eurasian patent attorneys.

From 1995 to 1999 the Patent Office received 579 patent applications. Of these, 271 were filed by national and 308 by foreign applicants. Requests to re-register 331 former USSR inventions were also received. These included 280 from national applicants and 51 from foreign ones. Patent applications and requests received totaled 910. Information on the number of applications and requests for the period from 1995 to 1999 is given in the table format.

Information on applications for new inventions filed and requests for re-registration of inventions

Name of indicators Number by years
  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 Total
Applications for inventions received.            
of these: 147 230 102 53 47 579
from national applicants 72 63 52 41 43 271
from foreign applicants 75 167 50 12 4 308
including:            
according to the PCT procedure 7 145 39 5 2 168
Requests received for the granting of a Turkmenistan patent on the base of titles of protection of the former USSR. 243 88 102 53 47 331
Of these:            
from national applicants 198 82 - - - 280
from foreign applicants 45 6 - - - 51
Total number: 390 318 102 53 47 910

The granting of patents and provisional patents of Turkmenistan

  1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Patents for inventions 1 228 92 93 68
Including:          
to national applicants 1 228 31 2  
to foreign applicants   - 61 91 68
Patents for inventions 1 9 113 55 27
Including:          
to national applicants 1 9 103 55 27
to foreign applicants - - 10 -  

Seminars organized by the Patent Office under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan during 1996-1999

Name of seminar Dates Participants (type and number) Speakers and lecturers Seminar co-organizers
1. Regional seminar on licensing May 2-3, 1996 Staff of patent offices and patent attorneys of the CIS countries 68 persons R.A. Agabaev and WIPO lecturers Bojan Pretnar, Heinz Bardehle, Marion Guth, and Bobrovszky Jeno WIPO
2. Regional seminar on the licensing of patents and transfer of technologies May 6-8, 1996 Staff of patent offices and patent attorneys of the CIS countries 68 persons EPO lecturers Jacques-Henri Gaudin and Miguel Herrera EPO
3. National seminar �Modern methods of patenting inventions and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)� April 21-24, 1997 Employees of patent services, Ministries and Departments and Offices, patent attorneys and employees of Turkmenpatent 55 persons WIPO employee V.E. Troussov WIPO
4. National seminar �Protection of industrial property in the market economy� April 22-23, 1998 Entrepreneurs, bank employees, employees of the Department for the support of private enterprise, patent attorneys, and the employees of Turkmenpatent 86 persons EPO lecturers Ted Blake, Peter Kolker and Mark Robinson EPO and the Department for the support of private enterprise under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan
5. National seminar �The Madrid system of international registration of trademarks� December 22-23, 1998 Employees of Turkmenpatent and patent attorneys 32 persons WIPO employees Bruno Machado and Boris Khabirov WIPO
6. National seminar �Legal protection and the use of trademarks� June 3-4, 1999 Employees of patent services, ministries, and Departments and Offices, entrepreneurs 70 persons Turkmenpatent lecturers F. Guseynova, N. Sonin and O. Kirsta Department for the support of private enterprise
7. National seminar �Private enterprise and trademark as a tool for the sale of products and services� July 27, 1999 Employees of patent services, ministries, Offices and Departments, and entrepreneurs 70 persons Turkmenpatent lecturers F. Guseynova, N. Sonin, and O. Kirsta Department for the support of private enterprise