(d) requiring administrative decisions in opposition and cancellation proceedings to be reasoned and in writing, which may be provided by electronic means.
Article 18.24. Electronic Trademarks System Each Party Shall Provide:
(a) a system for the electronic application for, and maintenance of, trademarks; and
(b) a publicly available electronic information system, including an online database, of trademark applications and of registered trademarks.
Article 18.25. Classification of Goods and Services
Each Party shall adopt or maintain a trademark classification system that is consistent with the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, done at Nice, June 15, 1957, as revised and amended (Nice Classification). Each Party shall provide that:
(a) registrations and the publications of applications indicate the goods and services by their names, grouped according to the classes established by the Nice Classification; (16) and
(b) goods or services may not be considered as being similar to each other on the ground that, in any registration or publication, they are classified in the same class of the Nice Classification. Conversely, each Party shall provide that goods or services may not be considered as being dissimilar from each other on the ground that, in any registration or publication, they are classified in different classes of the Nice Classification.
Article 18.26. Term of Protection for Trademarks
Each Party shall provide that initial registration and each renewal of registration of a trademark is for a term of no less than 10 years.
Article 18.27. Non-Recordal of a Licence
No Party shall require recordal of trademark licences:
(a) to establish the validity of the licence; or
(b) as a condition for use of a trademark by a licensee to be deemed to constitute use by the holder in a proceeding that relates to the acquisition, maintenance or enforcement of trademarks.
Article 18.28. Domain Names
1. In connection with each Party's system for the management of its country- code top-level domain (ccTLD) domain names, the following shall be available:
(a) an appropriate procedure for the settlement of disputes, based on, or modelled along the same lines as, the principles established in the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy, as approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) or that:
(i) is designed to resolve disputes expeditiously and at low cost;
(ii) is fair and equitable;
(iii) is not overly burdensome; and
(iv) does not preclude resort to judicial proceedings; and
(b) online public access to a reliable and accurate database of contact information concerning domain name registrants,
in accordance with each Party's law and, if applicable, relevant administrator policies regarding protection of privacy and personal data.
2. In connection with each Party's system for the management of ccTLD domain names, appropriate remedies (17) shall be available at least in cases in which a person registers or holds, with a bad faith intent to profit, a domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark.
Section D. Country Names
Article 18.29. Country Names
Each Party shall provide the legal means for interested persons to prevent commercial use of the country name of a Party in relation to a good in a manner that misleads consumers as to the origin of that good.
Section E. Geographical Indications
Article 18.30. Recognition of Geographical Indications
The Parties recognise that geographical indications may be protected through a trademark or sui generis system or other legal means.
Article 18.31. Administrative Procedures for the Protection or Recognition of Geographical Indications
If a Party provides administrative procedures for the protection or recognition of geographical indications, whether through a trademark or a sui generis system, that Party shall with respect to applications for that protection or petitions for that recognition:
(a) accept those applications or petitions without requiring intercession by a Party on behalf of its nationals; (18)
(b) process those applications or petitions without imposition of overly burdensome formalities;
(c) ensure that its laws and regulations governing the filing of those applications or petitions are readily available to the public and clearly set out the procedures for these actions;
(d) make available information sufficient to allow the general public to obtain guidance concerning the procedures for filing applications or petitions and the processing of those applications or petitions in general; and allow an applicant, a petitioner, or their representative to ascertain the status of specific applications and petitions;
(e) ensure that those applications or petitions are published for opposition and provide procedures for opposing geographical indications that are the subject of applications or petitions; and
(f) provide for cancellation (19) of the protection or recognition afforded to a geographical indication.
Article 18.32. Grounds of Opposition and Cancellation (20)
1. If a Party protects or recognises a geographical indication through the procedures referred to in Article 18.31 (Administrative Procedures for the Protection or Recognition of Geographical Indications), that Party shall provide procedures that allow interested persons to object to the protection or recognition of a geographical indication, and that allow for any such protection or recognition to be refused or otherwise not afforded, at least, on the following grounds:
(a) the geographical indication is likely to cause confusion with a trademark that is the subject of a pre-existing good faith pending application or registration in the territory of the Party;
(b) the geographical indication is likely to cause confusion with a pre-existing trademark, the rights to which have been acquired in accordance with the Party's law; and
(c) the geographical indication is a term customary in common language as the common name (21) for the relevant good in the territory of the Party.
2. If a Party has protected or recognised a geographical indication through the procedures referred to in Article 18.31 (Administrative Procedures for the Protection or Recognition of Geographical Indications), that Party shall provide procedures that allow for interested persons to seek the cancellation of a geographical indication, and that allow for the protection or recognition to be cancelled, at least, on the grounds listed in paragraph 1. A Party may provide that the grounds listed in paragraph 1 shall apply as of the time of filing the request for protection or recognition of a geographical indication in the territory of the Party. (22)
3. No Party shall preclude the possibility that the protection or recognition of a geographical indication may be cancelled, or otherwise cease, on the basis that the protected or recognised term has ceased meeting the conditions upon which the protection or recognition was originally granted in that Party.
4. If a Party has in place a sui generis system for protecting unregistered geographical indications by means of judicial procedures, that Party shall provide that its judicial authorities have the authority to deny the protection or recognition of a geographical indication if any of the circumstances identified in paragraph 1 has been established. (23) That Party shall also provide a process that allows interested persons to commence a proceeding on the grounds identified in paragraph 1.
5. If a Party provides protection or recognition of a geographical indication through the procedures referred to in Article 18.31 (Administrative Procedures for the Protection or Recognition of Geographical Indications) to the translation or transliteration of that geographical indication, that Party shall make available procedures that are equivalent to, and grounds that are the same as, those referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 with respect to that translation or transliteration.
Article 18.33. Guidelines for Determining Whether a Term Is the Term Customary In the Common Language
With respect to the procedures in Article 18.31 (Administrative Procedures for the Protection or Recognition of Geographical Indications) and Article 18.32 (Grounds of Opposition and Cancellation), in determining whether a term is the term customary in common language as the common name for the relevant good in the territory of a Party, that Party's authorities shall have the authority to take into account how consumers understand the term in the territory of that Party. Factors relevant to such consumer understanding may include:
(a) whether the term is used to refer to the type of good in question, as indicated by competent sources such as dictionaries, newspapers and relevant websites; and
(b) how the good referenced by the term is marketed and used in trade in the territory of that Party. (24)
Article 18.34. Multi-Component Terms
With respect to the procedures in Article 18.31 (Administrative Procedures for the Protection or Recognition of Geographical Indications) and Article 18.32 (Grounds of Opposition and Cancellation), an individual component of a multi- component term that is protected as a geographical indication in the territory of a Party shall not be protected in that Party if that individual component is a term customary in the common language as the common name for the associated good.
Article 18.35. Date of Protection of a Geographical Indication
If a Party grants protection or recognition to a geographical indication through the procedures referred to in Article 18.31 (Administrative Procedures for the Protection or Recognition of Geographical Indications), that protection or recognition shall commence no earlier than the filing date (25) in the Party or the registration date in the Party, as applicable.
Article 18.36. International Agreements
1. If a Party protects or recognises a geographical indication pursuant to an international agreement, as of the applicable date under paragraph 6, involving a Party or a non-Party and that geographical indication is not protected through the procedures referred to in Article 18.31 (Administrative Procedures for the Protection or Recognition of Geographical Indications) (26) or Article 18.32.4 (Grounds of Opposition and Cancellation), that Party shall apply at least procedures and grounds that are equivalent to those in Article 18.31(e) (Administrative Procedures for the Protection or Recognition of Geographical Indications) and Article 18.32.1 (Grounds of Opposition and Cancellation), as well as:
(a) make available information sufficient to allow the general public to obtain guidance concerning the procedures for protecting or recognising the geographical indication and allow interested persons to ascertain the status of requests for protection or recognition;
(b) make available to the public, on the Internet, details regarding the terms that the Party is considering protecting or recognising through an international agreement involving a Party or a non-Party, including specifying whether the protection or recognition is being considered for any translations or transliterations of those terms, and with respect to multi-component terms, specifying the components, if any, for which protection or recognition is being considered, or the components that are disclaimed;
(c) in respect of opposition procedures, provide a reasonable period of time for interested persons to oppose the protection or recognition of the terms referred to in subparagraph (b). That period shall provide a meaningful opportunity for interested persons to participate in an opposition process; and
(d) inform the other Parties of the opportunity to oppose, no later than the commencement of the opposition period.
2. In respect of international agreements referred to in paragraph 6 that permit, the protection or recognition of a new geographical indication, a Party shall: (27) (28)
(a) apply paragraph 1(b);
(b) provide an opportunity for interested persons to comment regarding the protection or recognition of the new geographical indication for a reasonable period of time before such a term is protected or tecognised; and
(c) inform the other Parties of the opportunity to comment, no later than the commencement of the period for comment.
3. For the purposes of this Article, a Party shall not preclude the possibility that the protection or recognition of a geographical indication could cease.
4. For the purposes of this Article, a Party is not required to apply Article 18.32 (Grounds of Opposition and Cancellation), or obligations equivalent to Article 18.32, to geographical indications for wines and spirits or applications for those geographical indications.
5. Protection or recognition provided pursuant to paragraph 1 shall commence no earlier than the date on which the agreement enters into force or, if that Party grants that protection or recognition on a date after the entry into force of the agreement, on that later date.
6. No Party shall be required to apply this Article to geographical indications that have been specifically identified in, and that are protected or recognised pursuant to, an international agreement involving a Party or a non-Party, provided that the agreement:
(a) was concluded, or agreed in principle 8 prior to the date of conclusion, or agreement in principle, of this Agreement;
(b) was ratified by a Party prior to the date of ratification of this Agreement by that Party; or
(c) entered into force for a Party prior to the date of entry into force of this Agreement for that Party.
Section F. Patents and Undisclosed Test or other Data
Subsection A. General Patents
Article 18.37. Patentable Subject Matter
1. Subject to paragraphs 3 and 4, each Party shall make patents available for any invention, whether a product or process, in all fields of technology, provided that the invention is new, involves an inventive step and is capable of industrial application. (30)
2. Subject to paragraphs 3 and 4 and consistent with paragraph 1, each Party confirms that patents are available for inventions claimed as at least one of the following: new uses of a known product, new methods of using a known product, or new processes of using a known product. A Party may limit those new processes to those that do not claim the use of the product as such.
3. A Party may exclude from patentability inventions, the prevention within their territory of the commercial exploitation of which is necessary to protect ordre public or morality, including to protect human, animal or plant life or health or to avoid serious prejudice to nature or the environment, provided that such exclusion is not made merely because the exploitation is prohibited by its law. A Party may also exclude from patentability:
(a) diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals;
(b) animals other than microorganisms, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals, other than non- biological and microbiological processes.
4. A Party may also exclude from patentability plants other than microorganisms. However, consistent with paragraph 1 and subject to paragraph 3, each Party confirms that patents are available at least for inventions that are derived from plants.
Article 18.38. Grace Period
Each Party shall disregard at least information contained in public disclosures used to determine if an invention is novel or has an inventive step, if the public disclosure: (31) (32)
(a) was made by the patent applicant or by a person that obtained the information directly or indirectly from the patent applicant; and
(b) occurred within 12 months prior to the date of the filing of the application in the territory of the Party.
Article 18.39. Patent Revocation
1. Each Party shall provide that a patent may be cancelled, revoked or nullified only on grounds that would have justified a refusal to grant the patent. A Party may also provide that fraud, misrepresentation or inequitable conduct may be the basis for cancelling, revoking or nullifying a patent or holding a patent unenforceable.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, a Party may provide that a patent may be revoked, provided it is done in a manner consistent with Article SA of the Paris Convention and the TRIPS Agreement.
Article 18.40. Exceptions
A Party may provide limited exceptions to the exclusive rights conferred by a patent, provided that such exceptions do not unreasonably conflict with a normal exploitation of the patent and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the patent owner, taking account of the legitimate interests of third parties.
Article 18.41. Other Use without Authorisation of the Right Holder
The Parties understand that nothing in this Chapter limits a Party's rights and obligations under Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement, any waiver or any amendment to that Article that the Parties accept.
Article 18.42. Patent Filing
Each Party shall provide that if an invention is made independently by more than one inventor, and separate applications claiming that invention are filed with, or for, the relevant authority of the Party, that Party shall grant the patent on the application that is patentable and that has the earliest filing date or, if applicable, priority date, (33) unless that application has, prior to publication, (34) been withdrawn, abandoned or refused.
Article 18.43. Amendments, Corrections and Observations
Each Party shall provide a patent applicant with at least one opportunity to make amendments, corrections and observations in connection with its application. (35)
Article 18.44. Publication of Patent Applications
1. Recognising the benefits of transparency in the patent system, cach Party shall endeavour to publish unpublished pending patent applications promptly after the expiration of 18 months from the filing date or, if priority is claimed, from the earliest priority date.
2. If a pending application is not published promptly in accordance with paragraph 1, a Party shall publish that application or the corresponding patent, as soon as practicable.
3. Each Party shall provide that an applicant may request the carly publication of an application prior to the expiration of the period referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 18.45. Information Relating to Published Patent Applications and Granted Patents
For published patent applications and granted patents, and in accordance with the Party's requirements for prosecution of such applications and patents, each Party shall make available to the public at least the following information, to the extent that such information is in the possession of the competent authorities and is generated on, or after, the date of the entry into force of this Agreement for that Party:
(a) search and examination results, including details of, or information related to, relevant prior art searches;
(b) as appropriate, non-confidential communications from applicants; and
(c) patent and non-patent related literature citations submitted by applicants and relevant third parties.
Article 18.46. Patent Term Adjustment for Unreasonable Granting Authority Delays
1. Each Party shall make best efforts to process patent applications in an efficient and timely manner, with a view to avoiding unreasonable or unnecessary delays.
2. A Party may provide procedures for a patent applicant to request to expedite the examination of its patent application.
3. If there are unreasonable delays in a Party's issuance of patents, that Party shall provide the means to, and at the request of the patent owner shall, adjust the term of the patent to compensate for such delays. (36)
4. For the purposes of this Article, an unreasonable delay at least shall include a delay in the issuance of a patent of more than five years from the date of filing of the application in the territory of the Party, or three years after a request for examination of the application has been made, whichever is later. A Party may exclude, from the determination of such delays, periods of time that do not occur during the processing (37) of, or the examination of, the patent application by the granting authority; periods of time that are not directly attributable (38) to the granting authority; as well as periods of time that are attributable to the patent applicant. (39)
Subsection B. Measures Relating to Agricultural Chemical Products
Article 18.47. Protection of Undisclosed Test or other Data for Agricultural Chemical Products
1. If a Party requires, as a condition for granting marketing approval (40) fora new agricultural chemical product, the submission of undisclosed test or other data concerning the safety and efficacy of the product, (41) that Party shall not permit third persons, without the consent of the person that previously submitted such information, to market the same or a similar (42) product on the basis of that information or the marketing approval granted to the person that submitted such test or other data for at least 10 years (43) from the date of marketing approval of the new agricultural chemical product in the territory of the Party.
2. If a Party permits, as a condition of granting marketing approval for a new agricultural chemical product, the submission of evidence of a prior marketing approval of the product in another territory, that Party shall not permit third persons, without the consent of the person that previously submitted undisclosed test or other data concerning the safety and efficacy of the product in support of that prior marketing approval, to market the same or a similar product based on that undisclosed test or other data, or other evidence of the prior marketing approval in the other territory, for at least 10 years from the date of marketing approval of the new agricultural chemical product in the territory of the Party.
3. For the purposes of this Article, a new agricultural chemical product is one that contains (44) a chemical entity that has not been previously approved in the territory of the Party for use in an agricultural chemical product.
Subsection C. Measures Relating to Pharmaceutical Products
Article 18.48. Patent Term Adjustment for Unreasonable Curtailment
1. Each Party shall make best efforts to process applications for marketing approval of pharmaceutical products in an efficient and timely manner, with a view to avoiding unreasonable or unnecessary delays.
2. With respect to a pharmaceutical product (45) that is subject to a patent, each Party shall make available an adjustment (46) of the patent term to compensate the patent owner for unreasonable curtailment of the effective patent term as a result of the marketing approval process. (47) (48)
3. For greater certainty, in implementing the obligations of this Article, each Party may provide for conditions and limitations, provided that the Party continues to give effect to this Article.