Jurisdictional Updates in Iraq
22 July 2016
The official fees of local attestation of powers of attorney or any other legalized document to be used for IP matters in Iraq & Kurdistan have increased.
The local legalization of power of attorney or any other official legalized document must be locally legalized from the following authorities (General Commission for Taxes at Ministry of Justice, Legalization Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Central Bank) in order to be acceptable by the registrars of respective jurisdictions.
Jurisdictional Updates in UAE
21 July 2016
The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) will introduce a number of measures and penalties based on law No. (2) of 2009 on the establishment of ADDED and Resolution No. 25 on the regulation of economic activities and license issuance.
"These authorize the ADDED to impose penalties that can even reach the closure of any establishment that is involved in commercial fraud," said Khalifa bin Salem Al Mansouri, ADDED Acting Undersecretary.
Al Mansouri said his department is committed to continuing its efforts to combat trading in counterfeit and fraudulent goods and to confiscate them across the emirate of Abu Dhabi through raids. He stressed the commitment of the ADDED to protect commercial activities across all sectors, especially those that are directly involved with consumers.
Al Mansouri stressed that in line with its endeavors to promote its role in the field of commercial protection in Abu Dhabi, ADDED has initiated procedures to enforce laws of competition and intellectual property protection, to develop electronic platforms to receive consumer complaints, to launch awareness campaigns to ensure consumer rights and protection and to enforce governance mechanisms along with strategic partners in the field of consumer protection.
Parts of reports from Emirates 24/7 and Khaleej Times.
An Opportunity To Reinstate Trademark Applications In India
20 July 2016
As per notification dated July 11, 2016, the Indian Trade Marks Registry (TMR) has issued and dispatched 13062 examination reports in the months of March and April 2016.
As per the Trademark Rules, 2002, an examination report need to be replied within one month of its receipt by the applicant/agent. However, in respect of the examination reports issued during the months of March/April, 2016, the TMR has received only 3484 replies and in respect of remaining 9578 applications no replies have been received.
Although, the prescribed time to reply the examination reports in the remaining applications has lapsed, but the TMR has extended that time up to July 31, 2016. If no reply is filed on or before July 31, 2016 to the examination report, the application would be deemed as abandoned.
A copy of the public notice including a list of 9578 applications where replies need to be filed by July 31 is attached. Unless we have specifically written to you, your applications entrusted with us, have not been affected.
Jurisdictional Updates in UAE
12 July 2016
The Ministry of Economy at the United Arab Emirates has announced that an online patent and design filing service offered by the PTO will be launched. The new web service will allow UAE local agents to file patents and designs applications online. Currently, all agents in the jurisdiction have been requested to register themselves for this service; however, the official notification regarding the commencement of this practice is yet to be issued.
Jurisdictional Updates in Djibouti
11 July 2016
Djibouti has deposited its instrument of accession on the 23 June, 2016. Djibouti is the 150th Member State to join the PCT and the Treaty will enter into force for Djibouti on 23 September, 2016 and may be designated in PCT International applications from the said date. However, the law in Djibouti has not yet been amended to recognize the PCT, thus it is expected that there will be considerable delay before the country may do so.
Jurisdictional Updates in Oman
7 July 2016
The Omani Intellectual Property Directorate, has issued new circular stipulating that renewals for trademarks that are not originally registered by same agent should be filed with a pledge by the new agent declaring that the role will be restricted for renewal without undertaking any other action unless a change of agent name or address is recorded against the concerned trademark.
It is clarifies that those applications which do not have the change of agent of service recorded against them will not be accepted for renewal action without the above mentioned undertaking; otherwise the recordal of change of name and address of the agent will be obligatory.
Jurisdictional Updates in Yemen
6 July 2016
As of June 6, 2016, a new notice has been issued in the jurisdiction of Yemen stipulating that the use of class heading in trademark applications will no longer be an accepted practice.
This decision of the General Head of Intellectual Property Directorate has been issued in accordance with the Ministerial Decision No. 239 of 2011, relating to the adoption of International Classification of Goods and Services.
It is impressed that trademarks applications with class heading will be refused, and the applicant should specify the goods/ services for which registration is sought.
Furthermore, use of the phrase “all goods and services” under a respective class will not be acceptable.
The said stipulation is only applicable to new applications filed after June 06, 2016 and not the applications already filed or pending.
Jurisdictional Updates in Oman
5 July 2016
It is now possible in Oman to cancel or ask the applicant to alter the registration of any trade name if it is similar to a registered trademark or any part of the trademark, or if it is similar to another trade name recognized nationally or internationally. These new stipulations were a part of the Ministerial Decision no. 124/2016, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI); furthermore, complaints against parties with trade names that infringe trademarks may now be filed at the said Ministry.
Jurisdictional Updates in Rwanda
4 July 2016
The recent Ministerial Orders dated 17 March 2016 amending the Rwandan trademark law which have been implemented stipulating the following changes:
All powers of attorney required for a filing of trademarks now need to be notarized instead of the simply signed authorization used earlier. The term for filing an opposition to an application for a trade mark or a geographical indication has been increased from 30 days to 60 days, and the term within which the applicant for registration must respond is 14 days. The opposition document must contain specific information, including the grounds of opposition and the evidence along with the POA.
Jurisdictional Updates in Afghanistan
29 June 2016
Further to our news alert regarding the change of multi class system in this jurisdiction to single class system, we wish to elaborate of some key points regarding the official suggestion letter of Afghanistan PTO to Ministry of Commerce and Industries in regard of single class applications:
- The new regulation of filling separate applications per mark per class will only be applied for applications filed after March 11, 2016 and not for the previously filed applications.
- Renewal and recordals of the trademarks which have been registered via multi class applications will be renewed and recorded via multi class applications.
- Pending applications will follow the old system.
Jurisdictional Updates in Iraq
28 June 2016
The Iraqi Trademark Office has introduced a list of requisites for registration of trademarks to be filed under Class 5 for pharmaceuticals and other preparations for medical or veterinary purposes.
List of new requirements besides the required documents are as follows:
- International Nonproprietary Name
- Name of Manufacturer
- Name of Distributor
- Drug Formulation/Dosage Form
Please Note: Persons interested in filing trademark applications covering pharmaceutical and veterinary preparations and sanitary preparations for medical purposes should take care to provide the above requisites. Please note that this will apply on all new as well as pending applications that have not been examined yet.
The system is expected to be similar to that of Syria which imposes filing requirements that are specific to class 5. The TMO in co-operation with the country's Ministry of Health will decide upon the underlying applications before they are placed for examination. Accordingly, it is expected that the applications will be rejected on formal grounds if the applicant fails to provide all of the required information.
Jurisdictional Update in Ethiopia
1 June 2016
The Ethiopian Trademarks Office has issued new stipulations to enforce the Regulation of Renewal of 2006 Act No. 25 clause 4, which requires all renewals to be published with the Official Gazette and a local newspaper.
With immediate effect, the trademark office shall now record the effecting of a renewal registration and thereafter notify the same in the intellectual property gazette and a newspaper having nationwide circulation in Amharic. We wish to kindly clarify that the Amharic publications of the renewal is a must; however, requesting the same additionally in English is left to the discretion of the trademark owner.
