Once again about regional exhaustion of rights in the EAEU

With the development of online sales through marketplaces, original goods marked with trademarks of a foreign manufacturer are often imported into one EAEU country and then offered on a marketplace in the other EAEU country(ies). If the manufacturer of goods has appointed different distributors (authorized dealers, importers) in different EAEU countries, there might be conflict situations.

In such situations, it is important to remember the regional principle of exhaustion of exclusive rights to a trademark: if goods marked with a trademark were introduced into civil circulation in any EAEU country directly by the copyright holder or other persons with his consent, the use of the trademark (circulation of goods marked with the trademark) on the territory of all EAEU countries will not constitute an infringement of exclusive right to a trademark and can be exercised freely. The legal basis is para 16 of Appendix No. 26 to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Unionsigned in Astana on May 29, 2014.

It does not matter that an exclusive importer (distributor, dealer, licensee) has been appointed on the territory of any of the EAEU countries, since EAEU legislation does not allow the owner of the trademark to restrict the distribution of goods within the EAEU territory.

Of course, in case of possible claims, the seller of goods on the marketplace should take care of the availability of evidence that the goods are genuine and were put into circulation on the territory of the EAEU with the consent of the trademark owner (shipping documents, certificates of conformity, letters from the trademark owner, etc.).