The international legal regulation of trademarks turnover

Abstract

Background. In Ukraine, since 2011, there has been intensive dynamics of trade­mark registrations by foreign manufacturers. In this context, today there is a significant increase of interest in trademarks not only on the part of lawyers, but also on the part of the international community, entrepreneurs, government officials, media, etc.
Analysis of recent research and publications. Many domestic scholars focused the attention to the problems of international legal guard of trademarks. We studied various aspects of the international regulation of intellectual property rights on trademarks.
The purpose of the article is to examine the present state of international regulation of intellectual property rightson trademarks.
Materials and methods. The methodological basis of the research was the following general scientific and special methods as dialectical, system-functional, comparative and logical, and others. The information base for the research was international treaties on the protection of trademarks, which ratified by Ukraine and scientific works of domestic scientists.
Results. International legal guard system of trademark rights unifies the instru­ments to secure the rights of persons that legally own and manage these trademarks in different countries. The basis of international agreements on the protection of trademarks is the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Agreement on Trademark Law, and the TRIPS Agreement. In 2006 the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks was adopted, which introduced common procedural rules and regulations and applies to all types of trademarks (except Collective) which can be registered in this jurisdiction and authorized the use of electronic means of communication. The basic documents that determine the order of the international registration is Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and the Protocol to Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, and the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Registration of Marks.
It should be noted that the presence of the international registration may not always protect rights holders of human rights violations. For example, as a rule, the use of the trademark, which is made not directly relevant certificate holder, the international registration or a person whose trademark recognized as well known, requires permission to use it.
Conclusion. By analyzing the provisions of international legal acts, it is evident that most of all was aim primarily at regulating relations connected with the registration of trademarks and prevent violations of property rights holders. In addition, ratification international agreements by Ukraine in the field of trademarks have not fully contributed to solving the existing legislative gaps. Another problem is the question of exhaustion of the exclusive rights of trademark having international registration.