English
The average time frame for the registration approval is 8 months, if no objections or oppositions arise.
No. The mark is protected only in the Philippines.
Yes. A signed power of attorney is one of the application requirements.
Yes. A mark that was used prior to registration is qualified for legal protection if consumers can easily recognize the mark as being owned by the applicant. If another person tries to apply for its registration, it will be considered as application in bad faith. Pre-filing use also serves as a prima facie evidence of the mark’s distinctiveness. This will help the applicant overcome oppositions based on non-distinctiveness.
Yes. It will result to automatic cancellation.
Marks or signs that are graphically reproducible and can make a good or service distinguishable from others are accepted for registration.
- Names
- Words
- Slogans
- Colors
- Devices
- Trade dress
- Shapes (3-dimensional)
The sequence of the application procedure is as follows:
-
Examination – The trademark office will examine the application with regards to:
- Formalities
- Classification
- Clarity
- Descriptiveness
- Distinctiveness
- Deceptiveness
- Conflict with earlier filed registrations
-
Publication – The filing details will be made accessible to the public through publication in print and online.
- Mark
- Goods/services
- Name and address of applicant
- Citizenship and country of incorporation of applicant
- Date and number of application
- Trademark representation
- Registration – The trademark office will grant the registration once the prosecution is over and all oppositions are won.
Applicants are not permitted to apply for the registration of any of these marks:
- Marks that contradict principles of moral or marks that oppose public order
- Generic words
- Non-distinctive marks
- Surnames
- Names of geographic locations
- Marks that cannot be interpreted visually such as taste, smell, or sound
- Marks that include flags, symbols or names of international organizations, nations, states or regions
Sí, el Sistema de Clasificación de Niza se usa en esta jurisdicción. Una única solicitud es suficiente para múltiples clases de bienes/servicios. El solicitante también puede presentar una solicitud individual para cada clase, de ser necesario.
Yes. Applicants are allowed to use the filing date in their home country as the filing date in the Philippines if:
- Their home country is a Paris Convention signatory
- The filing date in their home country is within 6 months prior to the filing date in the Philippines
- Their home country is a WTO (World Trade Organization) member
- The international registration can be based in the Philippines
To satisfy the requirement, the mark must be used:
- within 3 years from the date of filing
- within 5 years from the date the registration was issued
- no 3-year gap between each use during its term
The initial term of its validity is 10 years from the registration date.
The first renewal will take place 10 years from the date when the registration was granted.
It is illegal to use an unregistered trademark for the following:
- Toiletries
- Pharmaceutical products
- Tobacco products
- Industrial chemical products
Registration is the only way to secure ownership rights to a trademark.
The national trademark office of the Philippines is available at: http://www.ipophil.gov.ph/
No. There is no need to use the mark before it can be applied for registration.
Grounds for opposition include:
- Identical or confusingly similar to a internationally known trademark
- Unauthorized use of national insignia or protected emblems
- Company name rights
- Conflict with moral standards or issues with public policy
- Geographical indication in the mark
- Generic mark
- Personal name rights
- Registered design rights
- Trade name rights
- Registration under representative’s name instead of the proprietor
- Use of protected armorial bearings, state emblems or flags
- Well-known mark rights
- Breach of copyright
- Proprietary rights
- Functional, misleading, disparaging, deceptive or descriptive marks
Interested party, owner of an earlier right, and a licensee can oppose the registration.
Yes. A registration may be cancelled on these grounds:
- Unsatisfied use requirements under Section VIII.A
- Bad faith
- Prohibited marks
- Use of mark in deceptive manner
- Inclusion of a protected emblem or badge
- Conflict with morality or public order
- Geographical indication
- Generic mark
- Conflict with a personal name
- Conflict with a registered design
- Conflict with trade names
- Registration under a different name such as agent or representative of the proprietor
- Conflict with a notorious mark
- Breach of copyright
- Functional, misleading, deceptive, disparaging, not distinctive, or descriptive mark
- Proprietary rights
Yes. Registration is the only way to secure these rights:
- Exclusive right to use the mark
- Right to oppose later conflicting applications
- Right to request for an action to cancel later conflicting registrations
- Right to take a legal action against third parties for infringing the mark
- Right to take payment from third parties due to infringement
- Right to authorize or license third parties to use the mark
- Right to request for seizure of counterfeit goods bearing the mark
- Right to request for a judicial order restraining third parties to use the mark
The opposition period starts on the publication date and ends 30 days after that date. The challenger may request for a 30-day up to a 90-day extension period from the publication date.
Yes. The Philippines is a Madrid Protocol member.
Yes. Periodic statements of use are mandatory. The owner is mandated to submit a DAU (declaration of actual use) within 3 years from the date when the application was filed. Failure to do so will result to automatic cancellation.
The mark must be renewed every 10 years.
The first renewal will take place 10 years from the date when the registration was granted.
Yes. These documentations are required:
- DAU (declaration of use)
- Power of attorney
- Petition for renewal (with signature)
The mark is still renewable within six months after its expiration date.