Industrial property is one of the areas of intellectual property. The concept of the industrial property was used in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which was adopted in 1883. According to Article 1 of this Convention, the objects of industrial property are: patents for invention and utility model, trademark, design, service mark, brand name and name of place of origin, geographical indication, as well as the prevention of unfair competition.

A patent gives its owner a monopoly right, on the basis of which he/she can make use of it at his/her discretion, as well as prohibit other persons from commercial use of the patented invention or prevent the fact of such use. In other words, the object protected by the patent cannot be manufactured, sold, offered for sale, used, imported or otherwise included in civil circulation without the consent of the patent holder.

There is no international patent that is simultaneously valid in all countries. A patent provides protection only in the territory of the country or region (EU countries, Eurasian Union countries, etc.) where it was granted under the legislation of that country or region. Based on the above, there are several ways to obtain a patent in several countries: by filing a separate application in each country or by filing one application in regional patent offices (European Patent Organization, etc.). In addition, on the basis of one application, a patent can be obtained in several countries in accordance with the PCT procedures of the international patent system, through which an “international application” is submitted to the receiving patent office or the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization with a list of the countries in which a patent may be obtained in the future. However, in each indicated country, application materials are filed separately, and each country makes its own decision on granting a patent.

The differences arising from the patent law of Georgia and the instructions on the procedures related to drawing up an invention and utility model application, filing it and granting a patent, are as follows:
a) Term of patent. The validity period of an invention patent is 20 years, the validity period of a utility model patent is 10 years.
b) Assessment procedure for patentability criteria. Both the invention and the utility model must meet such patentability criteria as novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.
However, the invention at the novelty and inventive level is assessed based on documents, which are publicly available worldwide, based on the opinion of a person skilled in the art, while the utility model at the novelty and inventive level is assessed locally, namely, based on patents registered in Georgia, following the opinion of a person skilled in the art.

Patent search is a rather broad concept and it is conducted when:
a) A preliminary assessment of the patentability of an invention or utility model is required.
The need for such a procedure arises before filing an application for a patent. Conducting this kind of preliminary patent search and analyzing the identified state of the art documents make the chances of getting a patent for an invention or utility model to be assessed objectively.
b) The possibility of free operation needs to be determined. The need for such a procedure arises when a person intends to include a product or method in economic (commercial) circulation and wants to make sure in advance that he/she will not violate the special rights of third parties granted by the patent. In other words, this kind of patent search serves to assess the risks of free action and takes into account the detection of such valid patents in the territory of the target countries, which may harm the implementation of the above-mentioned commercial activities. The latter is associated with large financial and material losses. Free operation searches may also be used to assess the relationship of a patented invention with patents owned by third parties in order to assess the effectiveness of commercialization of the product under patent.
c) The validity of a patent needs to be assessed. This procedure covers assessment of the patent validity, i.e. to determine whether the patent has been issued in full compliance with the legislation and whether there are any
grounds for invalidating it or not. This kind of search may be necessary for a number of reasons, including when an illegally issued patent limits the ability to conduct bona fide commercial activities. d) The search for patents and/or patent applications belonging to a specific person is necessary.
This procedure involves searching for patents and/or patent applications belonging to a specific owner or applicant.

A trademark is a symbol or a set of symbols which is graphically displayed and which distinguishes the goods and/or services of one enterprise from the goods and/or services of another enterprise. Mainly there are trademarks of the following types:
a) Word trademark. It includes symbols consisting of letters, numbers, a word or words, a person’s name and their combination.
b) Image trademark. It includes various abstract or realistic images without any text.
c) Combined trademark. It is a combination of a verbal part and a graphic element.
d) Volumetric trademark. Such marks are three-dimensional figures, including the shape or packaging of goods.
e) Sonic trademark. This kind of trademark is represented by sounds, vocal or instrumental phrases, fragments of musical works, household, industrial, natural or other types of sounds and their combination, etc.
f) Color trademark. Such marks include designations consisting of one or more colors.

A trademark registration gives its owner a special right to prohibit a third party, without his/her consent, from using in civil circulation the mark which has the following characteristics towards the protected trademark:
a) is identical and the goods are also identical;
b) is identical, and the goods are so similar that there is a possibility of confusion between these marks, including confusion as a result of association;
c) is similar, and the goods are identical or so similar that there is a possibility of confusion between these marks, including confusion as a result of association;
d) is identical or similar and is protected due to the good reputation of the trademark in Georgia, the use of this mark undeservedly creates favorable conditions for a third party, or harms the reputation of the trademark or its distinctiveness. Special rights also enable the owner of a registered trademark to prohibit third parties from:
a) placing a mark identical or similar to the trademark on the goods or on their packaging, label, etc.;
b) offering goods marked with the same or similar trademark, putting them into civil circulation or storing them in a warehouse for this purpose, import or export;
c) offering, putting into circulation, selling or preparing for selling, importing or exporting packaging material or packaging marked with an identical or similar trademark;
d) offering or providing services using the trademark;
e) using the trademark for advertising or on business papers;
f) using one’s own name or address as a trademark, if they coincide with the trademark of a person with a special right;
g) using a symbol or a combination of symbols as a trademark, representing the type, quality, quantity, characteristics, value, purpose, geographical origin, selling place, time or other features of the goods;
In Georgia, special rights to a trademark arise from the date of its registration and are valid for 10 years. The term of validity of the trademark registration can be extended for each subsequent 10-year period upon payment of the established fee. The number of continuation is unlimited.

Design is the appearance of an industrial or hand-made product, including shape, configuration, ornament, harmony of colors and lines, contour, texture or manner of execution of the material of a product, or a combination thereof. In accordance with the Law of Georgia on Designs, registration of a design gives its owner a special right:
a) to make use of it at his/her discretion. That is, he/she has the right to sell or alienate the design in a different way, to issue a private license for the use of the design in accordance with the established rule;
b) to allow or prohibit offering for sale, use, import, export or other involvement in civil circulation of that product, in which the registered design is included and storage of such a product for these purposes. Special rights to a registered design arise from the date of filing the application and are valid for at least 5 years. The term of validity can be extended for periods of 5 years, upon payment of the appropriate fee, but not exceeding 25 years from the date of filing the application.

One application can protect up to 100 designs if they belong to one class of the Locarno Classification. These designs are discussed independently of each other.

Design is the appearance of an industrial or hand-made product, including shape, configuration, ornament, harmony of colors and lines, contour, texture or manner of execution of the material of a product, or a combination thereof. In accordance with the Law of Georgia on Designs, registration of a design gives its owner a special right:
a) to make use of it at his/her discretion. That is, he/she has the right to sell or alienate the design in a different way, to issue a private license for the use of the design in accordance with the established rule;
b) to allow or prohibit offering for sale, use, import, export or other involvement in civil circulation of that product, in which the registered design is included and storage of such a product for these purposes. Special rights to a registered design arise from the date of filing the application and are valid for at least 5 years. The term of validity can be extended for periods of 5 years, upon payment of the appropriate fee, but not exceeding 25 years from the date of filing the application.

In response to the above-mentioned question, there may be dozens of reasons, but all of them can be combined into two main ones, namely, assessing the chance of registration and protecting against competitors. The preliminary search of the trademark before filing for registration includes the detection of identical and confusingly similar marks and, accordingly, the determination of the chances of registration based on them. However, if identical or confusingly similar marks are detected, there is an opportunity to assess the risks of infringement of the rights of the owners of the registration of these marks.