Trademark

Article 83

The registration of a mark is approved by a decision of the Department and shall be published, in the manner prescribed by the Regulations, in the Trademarks and Industrial Designs Gazette.

Registration will take effect from the date of filing the application.

Article 84

The Department shall deliver to the owner of the registered mark a certificate containing the information published in the aforementioned Gazette.

Article 85

The owner of a registered mark may request the Department, in writing, to introduce any modifications that do not essentially affect the substance of the mark. He may also request a modification by deletion without any concomitant addition to the statement of products covered by the mark.

The decision to accept or reject the request for modification shall be subject to the same conditions prescribed for the acceptance of the original application for registration.

The prescribed provisions for opposition, appeal and publication shall apply to such decisions.

Article 86

Any person may apply to consult the registered marks or obtain extracts or copies of entries in the register, according to the rules and procedures prescribed in the Regulations and against payment of a fee prescribed therein not exceeding 100 pounds.

Article 87

The transfer of the mark ownership, its mortgage or attachment can be made independently from the commercial enterprise or exploitation project, in accordance with the rules and procedures prescribed in the Regulations.

Article 88

The transfer of the ownership of the commercial enterprise or exploitation project shall include, unless otherwise agreed, the marks registered in the name of the owner, if such marks were inherently related to the said commercial enterprise or exploitation project.

Should the commercial enterprise or exploitation project be transferred without the trademark, the owner of the mark may, unless otherwise agreed, continue to use the mark for the same kind of goods, category or categories for which such mark was registered.

Article 89

The transfer of ownership, the right of disposal or the mortgage of a mark shall not be valid towards a third party, unless such has been duly recorded in the register and published in the Official Gazette in the manner prescribed in the Regulations.

Article 90

The period of protection conferred by the registration of the mark is 10 years, renewable for an identical period or periods upon request of its owner and every time within the last year of the protection period, against payment of the fees due for the initial registration application.

The owner of the mark may request the renewal of the protection period within six months after the date of its expiry against payment of the prescribed fees and a supplement prescribed by the Regulations not exceeding 500 pounds, failing which the Department shall proceed to cancel the said mark from the register.

Article 91

The competent court may, upon request by any interested party, issue an enforceable decision to cancel the registration if it appears to the court that the mark has not been seriously used for a period of five consecutive years.

Article 92

A cancelled mark may be re-registered in favor of its owner exclusively within three years from the date of the cancellation, according to the prescribed conditions and same procedure of registration and against payment of a fee prescribed by the Regulations not exceeding 1,000 pounds.

After the lapse of the said period, a mark may be re-registered for the benefit of its owner or a third party, in connection with the same products, under the same conditions, procedures and fees of the initial application for registration.

However, where the cancellation is in response to an enforceable court order invalidating the registration of a mark, such a mark may be registered in favor of a third party soon after the cancellation.