“The Road Map is a plan aimed to improve further the field of IP in Kazakhstan. The objective is to increase the level of expertise and make it attractable to the business,” said Annikki Hämäläinen, trademark attorney at Papula Nevinpat in Helsinki. Hämäläinen handles foreign trademark registrations, infringement and counterfeit cases, among others, in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States which includes Kazakhstan.

“We see that the plan will have a huge impact on the development of IP rights in Kazakhstan. The possibility of implementing a special IP Court will increase the IP awareness. The measures for subsidizing international patenting should help local inventors,” Hämäläinen added.

In early January, protests erupted across Kazakhstan decrying various issues including high fuel prices, inflation, lack of jobs, corruption, low wages and injustice. The protesters, tagged as “terrorists” by President Qaysm Joomart Tokaev, were made up of oil workers, coal miners, copper smelters, activists and young people. On January 6, Tokaev declared a state of emergency nationwide and several arrests were made.

With the government having largely dealt with the situation, things are now getting back to normal in Kazakhstan. Tokaev has appointed new members of the government including the Ministry of Justice which handles IP protection. The government has also switched its focus to social-economic and state security reforms. How the IP roadmap will fit into this new scheme of things remains to be seen.

Espie Angelica A. de Leon