The Kazakhstan Trademark Office is responsible for managing trademark affairs, and the official language is Kazakh. Kazakhstan adopts the "first-to-file" principle for trademark registration, but in certain cases, trademark rights can also be claimed based on "prior use."

Kazakhstan is a contracting party to international intellectual property treaties such as the TRIPS Agreement, the Paris Convention, the Nice Agreement, and the WIPO Convention. It has also joined the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol, allowing trademark registration through either "single-country registration" or "Madrid international registration."

Trademark Application

The main process for applying for a trademark in Kazakhstan includes: application, acceptance, publication, examination, approval, certification, and publication. The Kazakhstan Trademark Office completes the formal examination within about one month after the application is submitted. Trademarks that pass the formal examination are then published, and any interested parties can submit written objections from the time of publication until the end of the substantive examination. If the examination is successful, the trademark is approved for registration and a registration certificate is issued. If the examination is unsuccessful, a rejection notice is issued, requiring the applicant to respond within the time limit specified in the notice. Under smooth circumstances, trademark registration in Kazakhstan takes approximately one year.

Currently, Kazakhstan does not have a comprehensive opposition procedure, but during the trademark examination process, anyone can object to the trademark registration. After the trademark is registered, anyone who believes that a registered trademark infringes their rights can apply for invalidation or cancellation to protect their trademark rights.

Trademark Maintenance

A registered trademark in Kazakhstan is valid for 10 years, starting from the application date. Renewal can be processed within 12 months before the expiration date, with a grace period of 6 months. The renewal is valid for another 10 years. After the grace period, the trademark cannot be restored.

Applications for invalidation or cancellation of a registered trademark can generally be made based on the following reasons:

• Conflict with prior trademarks, such as owning a prior registered trademark;
• Malicious registration;
• Well-known trademark;
• Conflict with other prior rights, such as trade name rights, design rights, copyrights, personal names, etc.;
• Lack of distinctiveness;
• Descriptive trademark;
• Generic name or term within the industry;
• Negative impact;
• Geographical indication.

If a registered trademark is not used in the country for three consecutive years, anyone can apply for its cancellation, except in cases of force majeure.