Iraq (IQ)
Latest News: 05-02-2013 (Newsletter Issue 6/13)Legal Protection of TMs in KurdistanThere are two options of obtaining legal protection through registration of trademarks in Kurdistan Iraq which are summarized as follows:
1. If the trademark is already registered in Iraq and the owner of the mark wishes to extend its protection to Kurdistan region an official letter should be issued by the Iraqi Trademarks Registrar in Baghdad and addressed to the Registrar of Trademarks in Kurdistan furnishing him with the complete details of the concerned trademark filed in Iraq with a report on its latest status as registered in order protect the mark and accredit its registration under Kurdistan jurisdiction.
2. For trademarks which are not originally registered in Iraq an application for registration of the mark should be submitted directly to the Trademarks registrar in Kurdistan with the following documents:
1. A power of attorney duly legalized up to an Iraqi consulate abroad as per enclosed format.
2. A certified copy of registration certificate of the trademark in the home country.
3. An extract from the commercial register or incorporation certificate of the trademark both legalized up to an Iraqi consulate abroad.
As alternative to document no. 2 in its absence, a certified copy of any document attesting that the applicant company is authorized to manufacture the goods intended to be included in the trademark application which needs to be also legalized up to an Iraqi conflate abroad.
The trademark application takes 6 – 8 months to be finally registered as from filing date to obtaining final registration certificate thereof.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Doha, Qatar 01-18-2013 (Newsletter Issue 1/13)New Power of Attorney RegulationsThe Trademarks Registrar of Iraq has issued a regulation with respect to belated powers of attorney (PoA) on 17 November 2012.
The power of attorney must be submitted within 6 months from the date of filing the trademark application, otherwise the application will be considered to have gone abandoned.
The power of attorney must be legalized by the Iraqi Consulate abroad and then locally legalized from the following authorities in order to be acceptable by the Iraqi registrar:
1. General Commission for Taxes at Ministry of Justice
2. Legalization Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
3. Central Bank
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Doha, Qatar 03-27-2012 (Newsletter Issue 5/12)
No Applications on Thursdays
The Trademark Registry in Iraq has appointed Thursday of every week for internal work only in order to review and examine the files and applications. The Trademark Office does not accept any applications or queries on Thursdays. Accordingly, all deadlines falling on a Thursday will be automatically extended to the next working day which would be the Sunday of that week since the official weekend in Iraq is Friday – Saturday.
Source: www.sabaip.com
11-08-2011 (Newsletter Issue 13/11)List of Missing Trademark FilesThe Iraqi Trademark Office has published on October 11, 2011 a declaration in connnection with the missing trademark files which were damaged in the war.
The declaration includes a schedule of the third group of the missing trademark files (No. 23000-34999). Owners of these trademarks should provide the Trademark Office through their trademark agents and legal attorneys with documents which prove that they are the legitimate owners of the same in order to preserve the legal protection of the said trademarks in Iraq.
The aforesaid declaration also stipulated that the requested documents should be submitted with the Trademark Office within six months from the date of the publication of the same; otherwise, registration of the said trademarks shall be considered as cancelled and never existed.
To access the declaration please click here
Source: JAH & Co. IP , Doha, Qatar 10-01-2011 (Newsletter Issue 11/11)TM Applications Soon Possible in KurdistanTrademark office of Iraqi Kurdistan at the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) in Erbil will start accepting trademark applications for the Kurdistan region through its newly established Trademark Department, located at the building of the Ministry. It was reported that the Trademark Office of Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan will start accepting trademark applications for the Kurdistan region. However, detailed information on the matter has yet to be revealed by the competent authorities until the time being as a meeting between the Officials at the two Trademarks Offices in Erbil and Baghdadis is contemplated by the end of coming November to agree on a unified mechanism for the registration process between them.
According to current practice the following two options are available for the protection of trademarks under the said jurisdiction.
1. If the trademark is filed in Iraq a letter from the Iraqi Trademarks Registrar should be addressed to the Trademarks Registrar in Kurdistan confirming that the concerned mark is filed and providing the full details of same as well as its status in order to protect the mark in Kurdistan by accrediting the registration in Iraq.
2. If the mark is not filed in Iraq the applicant might file an application directly in Kurdistan and the filing requirements are:
- A power of attorney legalized up to Iraqi consulate abroad.
- A copy of the incorporation certificate or extract from the commercial register of the applicant company legalized up to Iraq consulate as well.
- A declaration from the letter head of the applicant that the mark is not registered in Iraq legalized up to Iraq consulate.
Such registrations cover the jurisdiction of the region only and do not provide coverage and registration protection in Iraq.
Source: JAH & Co. IP , Doha, Qatar 06-10-2011 (Newsletter Issue 8/11)Official Fees DecreasedThe Iraqi Trademark Office issued a new Law No. 9 of 2010 amending some articles of the previous Law as well as fees for trademark services.
Source: Delta Legal Consultations Co. Ltd., Iraq
JAH & CO. IP, Qatar 01-01-2011 (Newsletter Issue 1/11)
New Regulations to Expedite TM Examination
In an attempt to expedite the slow processing of old pending trademarks applications which had been filed long time and not examined yet, the Trademark Office in Baghdad decided that examination procedures will be carried out in chronological order, not randomly, giving priority to old applications filed during or after the Iraqi War.
Meanwhile, the examination procedures have already started for the first group of applications bearing filing numbers (44000 to 45000), which are deemed to be completed. The second group of applications will begin shortly and so on for all remaining applications.
As a result, old applications filed early 2004 until 2007 are expected to be examined.
It is decided that recording change of owner's name or address will not be effected unless a notarized declaration or statement attesting this change is submitted and further legalized by the Iraqi Consulates/Embassies abroad. Accordingly, the already filed extracts from commercial registers proving these changes will not be accepted anymore and new notarized and legalized certificates are to be prepared.
Source: www.njq-ip.com
10-04-2010 (Newsletter Issue 15/10)Second List of Missing Trademark Files ReleasedThe Iraq Trademark Office posted in its official website the list of trademarks of which files have been lost during the war. The second group of the missing trademark files includes the files of trademarks (16091-22999). Trademark Owners are required to submit evidence of ownership within 6 months starting from September 20th, 2010, otherwise, the registration will be cancelled. To access the list click hereSource: www.delta-lc.com 08-12-2010 (Newsletter Issue 13/10)First List of Missing Trademark Files ReleasedThe Iraq Trademark Office posted in its official website, the list of trademarks which files have been lost during the war. The first group of the missing trademark files includes the files of trademarks (1 -16090). Trademark Owners are required to submit evidence of ownership within 6 months starting from June 7th, 2010, otherwise, the registration will be cancelled. To access the list click here
Source: Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property Legal basis are the Trademarks and Commercial Indications Laws amending the Trademarks and Descriptions Law No. 21 of 1957, on June 7th, 2010.
Trademark protection is obtained by registration.
Nice classification, 7th edition
Local sub-classification.
The service classes 35 to 42 were included in the classification system by the administrative decision of the Trademark Office No 1520 dated April 29th, 2001. Beer, ale and port in class 32, alcoholic goods in class 33 and pork meat in class 29 are not registrable.
Registrable as a trademark are all distinctive and graphically representable signs, three-dimensional forms, colours, sound marks and any combination of the mentioned signs.
The following trademark types are registrable: trademarks, service marks, collective marks and certification marks. Israelis and Israeli companies (even if they only have or had an office in Israel) cannot register trademarks. However, the Israeli boycott declaration is no more needed.
The application is filed at the Patent Office.
Multiple-class applications are possible. An application can include goods in any number of classes, but with additional charges for each additional class.
Foreign applicants need a local agent.
The power of attorney must be submitted within 6 months from the date of filing the trademark application, otherwise the application will be considered to have gone abandoned.
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 Iraqi registrar.
Foreign applicants do not need a domestic registration.
The application process includes a formal examination, an examination of distinctiveness and a search for prior trademarks. Signs not deemed distinctive in the examination can be registered if distinctiveness has been acquired by use.
Trademark applications accepted by the Registrar are published three times in the official gazette prior to registration. The approximate time frame for completing the registration process of a trademark in Iraq is from 1.5 to 2 years.
According to the Iraqi Trademark Law Act. 16, required documents must be completed within six months from the date of filing. If, during this time, a new application for an identical trademark is lodged by a third party, the first applicant will be given 7 days to file the outstanding documents; otherwise, the application will be deemed cancelled and consequently the new applicant will be allowed to continue the registration of its mark.
National:
The opposition period is 90 days from the date of the third publication of the trademark.
Opposition against designation of IR Mark
(The period starts from the national publication date, if not stated differently):
not a member of the Madrid Agreement or Protocol.
A trademark registration is valid for 10 years from the date of application. Renewal is possible for periods of 10 years. Trademarks filed or registered before April 26th, 2004, will remain valid according to the old law for 15 years, but are renewable for further terms of 10 years.
The grace period for renewals is 6 months after the expiration date of the trademark.
If the trademark has not been used for 3 consecutive years from registration, it is vulnerable to cancellation.
There are other grounds for cancellation. Any third party can lodge a cancellation within five years from the registration date in accordance with specific grounds submitted to the Court. The Court might then cancel the trademark based on the (Article 21 / 1) of the Trademark Law.
The official fee for filing is IQD 200,000.- (approx. EUR 117.-) for one class and for registration IQD 250,000.- (approx. EUR 146.-). The publication fee in the Bulletin is IQD 200,000.- (approx. EUR 117.-), a fixed sum.
Trademark Licence Agreement
In Iraq a licence agreement has to be in writing. It is permitted to license the use of registered and pending trademarks. A trademark may be licensed for some or all of the goods or services in respect of which the trademark is registered. The sale of a registered trademark does not automatically terminate the licence.
There are no specific statutory provisions in the Iraqi Civil or Commercial Law stipulating the terms or conditions for the licensing of trademarks.
Recordal
There are no mandatory provisions in law for the recordal of a licensee. Recordal is voluntary, but a licence will not have legal effect vis-à-vis third parties unless it is recorded and published. There is no time frame for a recordal and there is no prescribed form or content for the validity of a licence agreement. The terms and conditions agreed upon between the parties will constitute the licence agreement.
The following documents are required for a recordal:
1. A power of attorney, duly legalised up to an Iraqi Consulate, with the legalisation stamp affixed to the back of the document. If it is not possible to legalise the document up to an Iraqi Consulate, it may be legalised up to a Jordanian Consulate.
2. A legalised licence agreement, executed by the licensor and the licensee (preferably in English) as well as two copies thereof
Effectiveness
When the licence agreement is recorded in the Trademark Register and published in the Official Gazette, it will be effective and enforceable vis-à-vis third parties from the application date for the recordal. The licence is published in the Official Gazette and in two local newspapers.
Infringement Proceedings
There is an evidentiary presumption that use of a recorded licensee is permitted use. The licensee may not join the trademark owner in infringement proceedings. An infringement action can only be defended by the legitimate owner of the trademark. The licensee may call upon the owner to institute infringement proceedings, but he may not institute any proceedings in his own name if the proprietor refuses or neglects to do so. The owner of the mark may however give the licensee that right
| Search type |
First class |
Add. class |
| Word Mark Search (availability) |
340,00 € |
250,00 € |
| Word Mark Search (identical) |
310,00 € |
210,00 € |
| Extended Search (word mark, company name, domain) |
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| Device Mark Search (availability) |
390,00 € |
270,00 € |
| Trademark Owner Search |
290,00 € |
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| Company Name Search |
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| Domain Name Search (extended) |
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| i-Search (word mark availability + legal opinion) |
400,00 € |
380,00 € |
The Prices above are S.M.D. Markeur Search Fees
Country Index is a free service of S.M.D. Markeur, an international IP searching and monitoring firm.
We would like to thank the following law firms for their assistance in updating the information provided:
Country Survey04-24-2013
JAH & CO. IP, Doha, Qatar
09-08-2011
JAH & CO. IP, Doha, Qatar
Licensing04-24-2013
JAH & CO. IP, Doha, Qatar
12-15-2011
JAH & CO. IP, Doha, Qatar
Raysan Patent & Trademark Agents, Tehran, Iran