Belarus Trademark Information

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. The population is estimated at 9648533 with a GDP of $130.780 billion.

After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1994 as the country's first president, Aleksandr LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion remain in place.

Trademarks are assigned through the National Center of Intellectual Property (NCIP), State Committee on Science and Technologies. Belarus is a member of the Madrid Protocol. A trademark is valid for 10 years and may be renewed for further periods of 10 years each.