Trademarks – NJQ & Associates

THE GAZA STRIP (STATE OF PALESTINE): NEW REGULATIONS REGARDING POWERS OF ATTORNEY

NJQ & Associates — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 12:07:19 +0000

GAZA – The Deputy Office of the Ministry of the National Economy in the State of Palestine now requires applicants and their agents to submit a photocopy of their powers of attorney at the time they file a trademark application, along with a document attesting the position of the signatory person.

For more information, please contact gaza@qumsieh.com.

IRAQ: UPDATES REGARDING POWERS OF ATTORNEY

NJQ & Associates — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 12:03:18 +0000

BAGHDAD – Despite the regulation requiring a legalised power of attorney (POA) to be filed within six (6) months of the application date, it is recommended to submit at least a notarized copy of the POA at the time of filing. This is to protect the application from being challenged on the basis that it did not comply with the regulations in the event of litigation. In other words, the notarized POA must accompany the application.

It is still possible, however, to submit a fully legalised POA within the six (6) month period.

For more information, please contact iraq@qumsieh.com.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: AMENDMENT OF PENDING TRADEMARK APPLICATIONS NO LONGER POSSIBLE

NJQ & Associates — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 16:56:57 +0000

ABU DHABI – The Trademarks and Copyright Works Department of the Ministry of Economy (the Department) announced, by a circular letter dated 8 March 2023, that it is no longer possible to request an amendment of a pending trademark application after filing.

If the application contains errors, the applicant or its agent can request the cancellation of the application and file a new, corrected application. If the error is of a technical nature (e.g. wrong items or wrong classes), however, the Department will issue a refusal decision which can be appealed within thirty (30) days from the date of the notification.

For more information, please contact uae@qumsieh.com.

SAUDI ARABIA: REDUCES TRADEMARK PUBLICATION FEES

NJQ & Associates — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 12:45:57 +0000

RIYADH – The Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) has, on 9 June 2022, announced a reduction in the official publication fees related to trademarks.

This comes with the “Saudi Arabia 2030” vision of reinforcing economic and investment activities and developing public service sectors.

Please refer to the table below for the new fees.

TRADEMARK FILING

Item	Old Fee (USD)	New Fee (USD)
Publication fees in the Official Gazette	$920	$155

TRADEMARK RENEWAL

Item	Old Fee (USD)	New Fee (USD)
Publication of the renewed trademark	$920	$310

TRADEMARK ASSIGNMENT

Item	Old Fee (USD)	New Fee (USD)
Publication of assignment	$460	$155

TRADEMARK MERGER OF AN OWNER OF A TRADEMARK

Item	Old Fee (USD)	New Fee (USD)
Publication of merger	$460	$155

TRADEMARK RECORDAL OF CHANGE (NAME AND/OR ADDRESS)

Item	Old Fee (USD)	New Fee (USD)
Publication fees for name change recordals	$460	$155
Publication fees for change of address recordals	$460	$155
Publication fees for change of name and address recordals	$460	$155

For more information, please contact saudi-arabia@qumsieh.com.

SOMALIA: UPDATE ON TRADEMARK REGISTRATION PROCESS

NJQ & Associates — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 07:36:11 +0000

MOGADISHU – Pursuant to the provisions of the Somali Trade Mark Law No. 3 of 22 January 1955, and its amendment by Law No. 33 of 18 January 1975, the Somali Trademark Office (TMO) has recently introduced examination and publication processes on trademark registrations.

Registration Procedure
It is now obligatory to lodge a “search request” for trademarks before filing an application to ensure that the sought mark is not registered by third parties.

If the search returns no results, applicants may submit an application after paying the prescribed fees. The TMO will then examine the application on absolute grounds before it proceeds to publication. The examination takes approximately ten (10) days.

If accepted, the application will advance to the Official Gazette publication, where the opposition period is 35 days.

Required Documents
The below documents must accompany the application:

Power of attorney, no legalisation required;
A photocopy of the applicant’s business license or the commercial register, and
A copy of the registration certificate of the trademark in the home country or abroad.

For more information, please contact somalia@qumsieh.com.

TUNISIA: INCREASE IN TRADEMARK OFFICIAL FEES

NJQ & Associates — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 11:29:20 +0000

TUNIS – The National Institute of Standardisation and Industrial Property (INNORPI), by Ministerial Decree number 29/2020, has announced a 100% increase in the official fees for all trademark-related transactions.

Said decree was published in the Official Gazette dated 24 January 2020 and became effective on 27 January 2020.

Our schedule of charges will reflect the new government fees. Our professional fees will stay the same.

Should you need more information, please contact us at tunisia@qumsieh.com.

YEMEN: UPDATES IN THE TRADEMARK OFFICE

NJQ & Associates — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 11:28:00 +0000

SANA’A – The Ministry of Industry and Trade has announced that the packaging of any medical product and equipment imported into the country or produced within the country must be registered as a trademark.

The Ministry believes that this decision will serve to better competition by enforcing strategies to reduce unfair trade behaviour, which helps to fight infringement while eliminating the chance of consumers passing off and confusion in the process.

For more information, please contact yemen@qumsieh.com.

State of Palestine: Updates on Trademarks

NJQ & Associates — Sat, 31 Aug 2019 08:18:25 +0000

The Trademarks Registrar of the State of Palestine has issued a circular letter in which the translation of the trademark must be provided when the application is filed.

The above regulation became effective on 1 July 2019 with a retroactive effect to pending applications.

For more information, please contact palestine@qumsieh.com.

Qatar – Online Trademark Filings and Other Updates

NJQ & Associates — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 06:28:27 +0000

DOHA – On 15 November 2017, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce announced the commencement of receiving and processing trademark applications for registration in electronic form, and that new trademark applications can be filed online through its website. While filing fees are paid online upon submitting the application, publication and registration fees must still be paid manually to date. In addition, renewal and recordal applications are not yet to be processed online.

Colour photocopies of the required documents can now be uploaded upon filing the application. Originals shall be supplied within 1 month of the filing date. Earlier practice of providing the original documents upon submitting the application has been discontinued.

Further, the Qatari Trademark Office (QTMO) has adopted the 11th Edition of the Nice Classification.

Finally, the QTMO now accepts trademark applications filed by individuals. Previously, a trademark application filed in Qatar had to be filed by a legal entity or company.

Should you have any questions, please contact qatar@qumsieh.com.

UAE – Introducing VAT Rate and Changes in Practice

NJQ & Associates — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 06:22:46 +0000

VAT Rate:
ABU DHABI – The UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs will apply a 5% Value Added Tax (VAT) starting on 1 January 2018 by the Federal Decree Law No 8 of 2017.

Therefore, said VAT will constitute a pass through charge for such matters and will be reflected on affected invoices starting from the effective date and will be applied on all un-billed work as well as new matters.

Registration of Trademarks:
The Trademark Office of UAE has started issuing registration certificates electronically for the applications published in the Official Gazette number 180 dated 27 September 2017 onwards. This procedure was entered into force on 27 November 2017.

For more information, please contact uae@qumsieh.com.