Jan 26, 2023 (Newsletter Issue 2/23)New Procedure for Trademark Applications on Arabic TransliterationOn 22 December 2022, the Iraqi Trademarks Office stipulated that trademark applications filed in Latin script must include the Arabic transliteration of the mark in accordance with Article 5 of the Iraqi Trademark Law No. 64 of 1977 for the protection of the Arabic language.
The new procedure applies to applications currently undergoing examination and new filings made on or after 2 January 2023.
Source: JAH Intellectual Property, Qatar, www.sabaip.com Jun 03, 2021 (Newsletter Issue 11/21)
No Longer Extension of Trademark Registrations to Kurdistan
The Trademarks Registrar of Kurdistan issued new directives suspending the legal extension of registered Iraqi trademarks to the Kurdistan region until further notice.
In lieu of this change in practice, trademark registration should be sought directly with the Kurdistan Trademark Office by filing a new trademark application. Before the new practice, it was possible to obtain legal protection by registering trademarks in Kurdistan if the owner of a registered trademark in Iraq wished to extend its protection to Kurdistan.
Source: www.agip.com
May 08, 2018 (Newsletter Issue 9/18)Transliteration Requirement for Latin Script Marks RescindedThe Iraqi Trademarks Office announced that trademark applications may now be filed in Latin script without having to submit the Arabic transliteration of the mark.
This update rescinds the previous registration requirement whereby the addition of Arabic transliteration; i.e. the way the Latin word(s) is spelled out to a Latin mark was a requirement, which provides for the protection of the transliteration of a registered mark without having to file a separate application for same.
However, it is advisable to register the transliteration of the mark in Arabic as a separate registration to avoid any problems that might arise when it comes to enforcing trademark rights against third parties using or attempting to register confusingly similar Arabic transliterations.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar Feb 13, 2018 (Newsletter Issue 3/18)Penalty for Late Payment of Publication FeesThe Iraqi Trademark Register has issued a new stipulation to settle the publication fees of accepted trademarks within seven days from the notification of acceptance. Failure to comply therewith will result in a penalty for late payment of publication fees of USD 42 per mark.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar Feb 13, 2018 (Newsletter Issue 3/18)Requirement to Re-Filing Certain Trademark ApplicationsOn January 29, 2018, the Iraqi Trademarks Registrar started to issue official notifications for removal of old trademarks bearing the filing numbers of 51,000 to 72,000 with a seven days’ time limit to re-file new trademark applications for the same trademark or else the trademark application will be removed from the Trademark Register and considered as never existed.
Trademarks which will be re-filed as of now or within the seven days from notification will remain on trademark records until the newly re-filed trademarks are examined, as the examination process will be connected to the priority filing number of the old trademark.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar Dec 05, 2017 (Newsletter Issue 21/17)Change of Trademark Publication ProcedureThe Iraqi Trademark Office informed about the change in publication of trademark applications procedure. Trademark applications once examined and accepted will be published in the Official Bulletin for opposition purposes three times in short intervals. The opposition term of 90 days will be calculated from the third notice of publication.
The Iraqi Trademarks registrar started to implement the three publications system with the Official Bulletin no. 557 issued on November 20, 2017. The trademark will be re-published in the Official Bulletin no. 558 and 559. The opposition term of 90 days will start from the third notice of publication in the Bulletin no. 559.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar Nov 07, 2017 (Newsletter Issue 19/17)New Stipulations to Come into ForceOn October 30, 2017, the Iraqi Trademark Office issued new directives which have brought in force the stipulations of article No. 15 of Iraqi Trademark Law No. 26 of 1957 pertaining the publication of renewals, recordals of change of name & address, merger, assignment etc in the Official Gazette. The said stipulations are expected to come into play in November 2017.
According to the notified decision, an official fee of IQD 200,000 (equivalent to USD 170) will be incurred for the above-mentioned actions. It will be applied for newly filed actions and retroactively for pending actions which have not yet been issued with their certificates.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar Jan 11, 2017 (Newsletter Issue 1/17)Kurdistan Trademark Office to Resume Normal FunctionIt is expected that the Kurdistan Trademarks Office is to resume normal function on January 12. 2017 with clear resolution on the implementation of new fees.
Iraq is divided into two trademark jurisdictions; Baghdad and Erbil where filings should be undertaken separately in order to secure trademark protection for the whole country; duly noting that the registries operate independently of each other and filing a trademark application in one jurisdiction does not automatically grant protection in the other. Erbil is the de-facto capital of the self-autonomous region of Northern Iraq- Kurdistan. This region represents immense interest to trademark owners around the world both in terms of covering the whole of Iraq and also for the tremendous potential it offers to brands.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar Jul 25, 2016 (Newsletter Issue 14/16)Official Fees of PoA/Legalized Document Increased 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 the power of attorney or any other official document must be done by the following authorities in order to be acceptable by the Registrars of Iraq & Kurdistan: General Commission for Taxes at Ministry of Justice, Legalization Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Central Bank
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar May 18, 2016 (Newsletter Issue 9/16)
Formalities for Class 5 Applications Revised
The Trademark Office (TMO) in Baghdad recently introduced requirements on trademarks applications in class 5, even though there was no Ministerial Resolution issued in this regard.
Applicants are now required to provide the information listed below when filing applications covering pharmaceutical and veterinary preparations and sanitary preparations for medical purposes. This will apply on all new as well as pending applications that have not been examined yet.
1. International non-proprietary name
2. Name of manufacturer
3. Name of distributor
4. Product label
After submission of the above information, the TMO is expected to solicit the approval of the Ministry of Health before applications are placed for examination. The application will be rejected on formal grounds if the applicant fails to provide all of the relevant information. It is still unclear whether the information must be admitted at the time of filing or within a specified period of time from filing date.
Source: SABA & Co Intellectual Property, Lebanon
May 02, 2016 (Newsletter Issue 8/16)Abandoned Applications Due to Incomplete Documentation The Trademark Law (Trademarks & Indications Law No. 21 of 1957 with Amendments), Chapter 2 Article 16 is now applied by the Iraqi Trademarks Registrar strictly.
Article 16 implies that where registration of a mark is not completed within six months from the date of the application by reason of default on the part of the applicant the Registrar may inform the applicant, in writing, to complete the registration within the period prescribed in the regulation made under this law. Otherwise he shall be considered as having abandoned the application.
As per verbal circular, all the applicants who have pending applications under the series number 60,000 will be informed to submit the requisite documents within 7 days of the issue of the notice. Applications with incomplete will be considered as abandoned.
Applications filed under the above reference number should immediately complete the documentation.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar Mar 16, 2016 (Newsletter Issue 5/16)Practice Change on Search Requirements and MoreThe Iraqi Trademark Authorities have stipulated new directives which came into effect as of March 3, 2016.
Major changes are:
- Obligatory search before trademark registration has now been adopted with each class of goods or services to be searched separately with official request. The Official Search Fees for each class of goods have been reported to be 20,000 Iraqi Dinar (+/- 19 USD). The authorities confirm that the time frame to conduct the official search will be 10 working days.
- Depending upon the official search report, the trademark can be progressed to registration or a negative report can be challenged at the court of law.
- The Iraqi Trademark Office has discontinued the practice of insisting on Arabic transliteration to be included in the logo of the marks which is in non Arabic languages.
- The Registrar will continue accepting the new applications without the power of attorney while the same can be filed belatedly within non-extendable six months from the filing date at no extra fees.
- For recordal of assignment, change of name/address, mergers and license; all requisite documents are to be submitted in the original at the time of filing. Before, the original documents could be filed at a later stage after filing.
These new directives are expected to expedite the prolonged delays faced by the Iraqi Trademark Office in which the registration was taking approx. 2 to 3 years.
The official circular is to be published soon.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar Jun 30, 2015 (Newsletter Issue 10/15)New Directives on Submission of PoAOn June 7, 2015, the Iraqi Trademarks Registrar has released new directives stipulating the submission of a power of attorney legalized up to an Iraqi consulate abroad for all trademark applications whose filing date exceeded six months. Otherwise the Registrar will apply strictly article no. 16 of the Iraqi Trademarks and Geographical Indication no. 21 of 1957 which states that:
Where registration of a trademark is not completed within six months from the date of the application by reason of default on the part of the applicant the Registrar may inform the applicant, in writing, to complete the registration within the period prescribed in the regulation made under this law. Otherwise he shall be considered as having abandoned the application.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar Jun 16, 2015 (Newsletter Issue 9/15)Legal Extension to Kurdistan AbolishedThe Iraqi Trademarks Registrar has issued new directives abolishing the legal extension of registered Iraqi trademarks to Kurdistan.
Prior to this decision, it was possible to extend registered Iraqi trademarks to Kurdistan: If a trademark was already registered or accepted for registration in Iraq and the owner of the mark wished to extend its protection to Kurdistan, an official letter needed to be issued by the Iraqi Trademarks Registrar in Baghdad to the Registrar of Trademarks in Kurdistan furnishing him with the complete details of the concerned trademark and a report on its latest status in order to protect the mark and accredit its registration under Kurdistan jurisdiction.
Such practice is abolished now: When protection in Kurdistan is needed the application for registration should be filed directly with the Kurdistan trademarks office.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar Oct 14, 2014 (Newsletter Issue 15/14)
Accession to Singapore Treaty
WIPO presents its compliments to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and has the honour to notify the deposit by the Government of the Republic of Iraq, on 29 August 2014, of its instrument of accession to the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, adopted at Singapore on March 27, 2006.
In conformity with Article 28(3), the said Treaty will enter into force, with respect to the Republic of Iraq, on 29 November 2014.
Source: www.wipo.int
Jul 04, 2014 (Newsletter Issue 11/14)
Revision of TM Files Ongoing
A significant amount of trademark files were destroyed during the course of the Iraq War in 2003. Since then, the Iraqi Trademark Office has organized the revision of these files into separate batches in order account for all the records. The registrar currently examines applications with filing numbers ranging between 54,000 and 56,000. The Iraqi TMO has already completed the revision of the files ranging from 1 to 53999.
There are, however, some delays in processing the applications. Some trademarks are still pending due to heavy backlog and slow routine at the Iraqi TMO. In the event of missing documents, owners will be requested to submit all required documents. Incomplete trademark registrations will be considered abandoned and will not be processed.
Source: Saba & Co. IP – Head Office, Lebanon
Apr 01, 2014 (Newsletter Issue 6/14)Change of Practice of PoAThe Iraqi Trademarks Registrar has recently changed its practice with regards to power of attorney and stipulates the following:
Original power of attorney should be submitted at the time of filing the trademark application. The phrases “And the POA is valid for three years unless you are notified with its cancellation by us” should be included in the power of attorney form.
The above new practice is effected as of 1 March 2014. However, local agents and lawyers are still arguing this matter with the Iraqi Trademarks Registrar and this stipulation might be waived at any time.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar Jul 16, 2013 (Newsletter Issue 11/13)Official Trademark Fees in KurdistanThe Trademark Office of Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan Al Iraq Region, announced that the trademark charges in Kurdistan will be the same as adopted by the Trademark Directorate of Baghdad, as per the decision issued by Kurdistan Presidency Council No. 3306 dated April 1, 2013 and published at the Kurdistan Official Gazette.
Accordingly, starting from the beginning of June 2013, the following will be applied:
- Cancellation of the previous charges issued by the Ministry of Finance of Kurdistan. However, the charges will be interpolated as per the registration phases mentioned in the amended Trademark Law No. 21 of 1957.
- All trademark applications which have been accepted and published will be subject to the previous trademark charges.
- As from June 1, 2013 the new trademark charges will be applied according to the newly adopted tariff. Charges will be paid by each registration phase including examination phase, filing, publication, as well assignment, change, merger, cancellation, etc….
- The amended Trademark Law No. 21 of 1957 will be enforced with regard to the legal period of each phase of registration.
- Filing applications will be conducted using the legal forms available at the Trademark Office of Kurdistan in Arabic and Kurdish.
It is worth mentioning that the trademarks already registered in Baghdad could be protected in the Kurdistan Region through obtaining a certified copy of the certificate of registration of the subject mark. It must be attached to a certification letter from the Trademark Directorate of Baghdad addressed to the Trademark Office of Erbil which confirms the registration of the trademark in Baghdad. Also note that this service is chargeable.
Source: JAH & Co. IP, Qatar May 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 Jan 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 Mar 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
Nov 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 Oct 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 Jun 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 Jan 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
Oct 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 Aug 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 and Coalition Provisional Authority Order No.80 on Registration Fees for Iraqi, Arab and Foreign Trademarks and Trade Names.
Trademark protection is obtained by registration.
Iraq is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and WIPO.
Nice classification, 7th edition
Local sub-classification with a possibility of claiming sub-class heading.
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.
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 and Trademark Office.
The Iraq is divided into two trademark jurisdictions; Baghdad and Erbil where filings should be undertaken separately in order to secure trademark protection for the whole country. The registries operate independently of each other and filing a trademark application in one jurisdiction does not automatically grant protection in the other. Erbil is the de-facto capital of the self-autonomous region of Northern Iraq-Kurdistan.
Multiple-class system is applied with a local sub-class system. An application can include goods or services in any number of classes, but with additional charges for each additional sub class.
Foreign applicants need a local agent.
Power of attorney can be filed belatedly within six months from the filing date at no extra fees with an extension of the same for seven days from the date of official notification from the Trademark Office and failure to comply therewith results in cancellation of the trademark which will be treated as abandoned.
The Power of attorney or any other official legalised document must be locally legalised from the following authorities (General Commission for Taxes at Ministry of Justice, Legalisation Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Central Bank) within one year from its issuance date in order to be acceptable by the Iraqi registrar.
Foreign applicants do not need a domestic registration.
A prior trademark clearance search for each class of goods/services at the Trademark Office is mandatory though it takes 18-24 months to obtain an official search report, which will be treated as an official formal, absolute and relative grounds examination of the trademark and subsequently expediting the procedure. Once the official search is issued the applicants have non-extendible 30 working days to file the application. Depending upon the official search report, the trademark can be progressed to registration or a negative report can be challenged at the court of law.
The application process includes the examination on formal, absolute and relative grounds. Signs not deemed distinctive in the examination can be registered if distinctiveness has been acquired by use.
Trademark applications once filed within 30 days subsequent to the issuance of the official search request will be published in the Official Bulletin for a 90 days opposition purposes three times in short intervals before the registration.
The approximate time frame for completing the registration process of a trademark in Iraq is from 12 to 14 months, except the issuance of the registration certificates which experience a lengthy delay (say one to two years).
National:
The opposition period is 90 days from the date of the third publication of the trademark.
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.
Practical details on grace periods for trademark renewals are available in our publication
herePractical details on trademark use requirements are available in our publication
hereIn Iraq, the official fee for filing in first sub-class is IQD 200,000 and for registration in first sub-class IQD 250,000. The publication fee of trademark in any number of sub-classes in the Official Bulletin is IQD 200,000, a fixed sum. Official filing fees for each additional sub-class over first sub-class to 3 sub-classes is 20,000, publication zero and registration in each additional sub-classes over first sub-classes up to 3 sub-classes 20,000 and official filing fees for each additional sub-classes over 4 sub-class is 10,000, publication zero and registration fees 10,000.
In Kurdistan, the official fee for filing in first sub-class is IQD 350,000 and for registration IQD 350,000. The publication fee in any number of sub-classes in the Official Bulletin is IQD 250,000, a fixed sum. Official filing fees for each additional sub-class over first sub-class to 3 sub-classes is 20,000, publication zero and registration 20,000 and official filing fees for each additional sub-classes over 4 sub-class is 10,000, publication zero and registration fees 10,000.
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Practical details on trademark licensing are available in our publication
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General Trademark Regulations
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Sep 10, 2023
JAH Intellectual Property, Doha, Qatar
