. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/Q2/BGR/1/Add.1
4 November 1998
(98-4286)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
REVIEW OF LEGISLATION ON TRADEMARKS, GEOGRAPHICAL
INDICATIONS AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
BULGARIA
Addendum
The present document reproduces the responses from Bulgaria to follow-up questions which
the European Communities and their Member States had posed to Bulgaria in the context of the
review of legislation at the Council's meetings of 12 May and 16 July 1998.  It reproduces also an
amended answer received from Bulgaria concerning question 7 of the European Communities andtheir Member States.
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REPLIES OF BULGARIA TO FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS FROM THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES AND THEIR MEMBER STATES.
Please specify the period of time for which temporary protection is granted .
1
Temporary protection is carried out through the possibility to refer to the priority right as
from the date of exhibiting of the mark, provided that, within one month after the exhibition is closed,an application is filed for the registration of the mark.
Please clarify whether a well-known mark is protected against its use for goods or services,
which are not similar.  If so, what are the conditions, if any?
2
Article 4(d) of the Law on Trademarks and Indus trial Designs provides that signs which are
known in the country as world-known marks shall not be registered or used as marks.  This provides
for a privileged protection, i.e. a mark known as a world-famous mark represents an obstacle to the
registration of an identical or similar mark belonging to a third party, regardless of whether it is
registered or not, and regardless of the goods or services it is used for.  A mark may enjoy such aprotection provided that it meets the following c onditions: the mark shall be known and its renown
shall be nothing but world renown.
Article 6 bis of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property provides special
protection of marks which are well-known in the territory of the respective country.  Where a mark iswell-known within the territory of Bulgaria, but there is no registration thereof, it represents an
                                                     
1 The initial question posed by the EC and the answer from Bulgaria to it can be found in document
IP/Q2/BGR/1, page 2 (question 4).
2 The initial question posed by the EC and the answer from Bulgaria to it can be found in document
IP/Q2/BGR/1, page 3 (question 5).IP/Q2/BGR/1/Add.1
Page 2
obstacle to the registration of an identical or simi lar mark belonging to a third party with regard to
identical or similar goods or services only.  Such protection is more narrow than that under
Article 4(d) of the Law on Trademarks and Industria l Designs, which provides for no restrictions with
regard to the goods or services.  Protection under Article 6 bis of the Paris Convention for the
Protection of Industrial Property is afforded when the following conditions are met:  the mark shall be
well-known and its renown shall be a fact prior to the filing date of an identical or similar mark of a
third party.
Article 19 of the TRIPS Agreement provides t hat valid reasons, i.e. circumstances arising
independently of the will of the owner of the trademark, e.g. import restrictions, can be raised to
justify non-use.  Article 23 of the Law on Trademarks and Industrial Designs only provides that a
trademark shall be cancelled "if the mark has not been used, or has not been offered for use throughadvertisements in the press for a period of five years".  Please explain whether and how this complies
with the TRIPS Agreement.
3
The Law on Trademarks and Industrial Designs provides for a possibility to cancel the
registration of a mark, where the latter has not been used for a continuous period of five years.  Under
Article 19 of the TRIPS Agreement this period is three years.
Article 23 of the Law on Trademarks and Industrial Designs does not provide for the
acceptance of circumstances arising independently of the will of the owner of the trademark and
representing an obstacle to its use.  However, according to the practice of the Patent Office of theRepublic of Bulgaria, such circumstances should not affect the mark use requirements.
Please clarify whether the owner of a protected industrial design has the right to prevent
third parties not having the owner's consent from  selling articles bearing or embodying a design
which is a copy, or substantially a copy, of the protected design.
4
Article 29 of the Law on Trademarks and Industr ial Designs provides that registration of an
industrial design shall confer the right to the exclus ive use thereof.  Such a right implies that third
parties are prohibited from using the design without the consent of its holder.
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3 Bulgaria has amended the answer that it had given to this question as contained in document
IP/Q2/BGR/1, page 3 (question 7).
4 The initial question posed by the EC and the answer from Bulgaria to it can be found in document
IP/Q2/BGR/1, page 4 (question 12).