Baku: Azerbaijan has enacted a new amendment to its Law on Patents, limiting the legal protection of industrial designs that incorporate state symbols and official insignia. The amendment, approved by President Ilham Aliyev, stipulates that objects containing, depicting, or imitating elements such as the national flag, coat of arms, and banknotes, or any recognizable parts thereof, will no longer qualify for patent protection.
According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the restriction also extends to objects featuring the abbreviated or full names of international and intergovernmental organizations, their flags, coats of arms, and other symbols and signs. The amendment further includes names and recognizable parts of awards, official insignia, control stamps, marks, seals, distinction signs, and any official names, images, or recognizable parts of cultural heritage objects from any state. Such objects must receive consent from the relevant competent authority of the respective state to be granted legal protection as industrial designs.