Igor Skorohodov
Saatja: Igor Skorohodov
Saatmisaeg: reede, 17. juuli 2020 11:06
Adressaat: 'Embassy of Greece in Tallinn'
Teema: RE: Registered trademarks with the term “Macedonia” in Estonia (AS 524)
Dear Sir
According to the Estonian Trade Marks Act section 9 (1) 11), legal protection is not afforded to the signs
which contain a registered geographical indication or are confusingly similar thereto if it may result in
unlawful use of the geographical indication pursuant to the provisions of the Geographical Indications
Protection Act, or the registration whereof is precluded pursuant to legislation of the European Union or
international agreements to which Estonia or the European Union is a party and which provide for the
protection of the designations of origin and geographical indications.
At the present time we are not aware of any registered or pending trademark with the term “Macedonia”
or “Makedonia” or confusingly similar to them in Estonia.
We would like to inform you and confirm that real-time data is available at
http://andmebaas.epa.ee/avalik/#/trademarks and it is possible to make a search to get a release of fresh,
actual and up-to-date information of trademarks. It also contains information on pending and trademarks
under examination procedure. Please be sure that our Office will kindly assist you in the process and respond
to your questions.
Best regards
Igor Skorohodov
Lawyer
Financial and Administrative Department
The Estonian Patent Office
+372 627 7916 |
[email protected]
Toompuiestee 7, 15041 Tallinn, Estonia |www.epa.ee/en
From: Embassy of Greece in Tallinn <
[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2020 1:32 PM
To: EPA yldpatendiamet <
[email protected]>
Subject: [VÄLJAST] Registered trademarks with the term “Macedonia” in Estonia (AS 524)
Ref.No.: F200 / AS 524
Tallinn, 15th July 2020
To: The Estonian Patent Office
Attn: Director General, Mr. Margus Viher
Dear Sir,
the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) “Macedonia” has been registered for wines produced in Greece in the
Region of Macedonia and is therefore entitled to the protection stated in Regulation 1308/2013. PGI Macedonia
thus refers to wines produced in the specific part of Greece and is protected against imitation and misuse.
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Relations between North Macedonia and the EU are governed by the “Stabilisation and Association Agreement”
(SAA) and other bilateral and multilateral agreements. The SAA, into force since 2004, bears the obligation of
alignment of the laws of North Macedonia to the EU acquis. Furthermore, an additional Protocol and Agreement
regarding wines and spirits was integrated in the framework of the SAA.
In addition, the Prespa Agreement between Greece and North Macedonia (2018), according to article 20 § 8, is
applied in accordance with obligations of the parties deriving from their membership in international organizations,
including the EU.
Considering the above, the term “Macedonian” is a PGI and refers to wines that are produced in the Region of
Macedonia, located in northern Greece. Therefore, a trademark for wines (cl.33), which includes this term, should
be accepted only if the designated products (wines) have the relevant characteristics attributed to this PGI.
In the light of the above, we have searched the data provided by the online trademark database of the Estonian
Patent Office and happily we discovered that no registered trademarks with the terms “Macedonia”, “Makedonia”
or any derivatives of them exist except the already expired trademark “MAKEDON” (registration num. 37799,
application num. M200200562 and expiration date 9.6.2013).
Consequently, we kindly ask the Estonian Patent Office to verify the above information and, if so, provide us with
additional information regarding registered or pending trademarks with the above mentioned terms registered in
Estonia.
Kind regards,
Georgios Kontis
Attaché
Embassy of Greece in Tallinn
Harju 6, 10130, Tallinn, Estonia
Tel.: +372 - 640 3560
[email protected] / www.mfa.gr/estonia
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