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The average time frame for the registration approval is 4 months, if no objections or oppositions arise.
No. The territorial limit of your registration will be Iceland only.
Yes. Trademark application requires a signed power of attorney.
Yes. You may benefit from pre-filing use in several ways:
- Show distinct characteristic of the mark
- Defeat opposition to trademark application based on non-distinctiveness
- Establish rights if you can prove pre-filing use
Yes. Non-use is a potential ground for cancellation of registration.
If you can graphically reproduce a sign and if it adds more distinct characteristic to your good/service, then you may register your mark. Marks that are allowed by law to be registered:
- Words,
- Slogans,
- Names,
- Colors,
- Sounds
- Smells,
- Shapes (three dimensions),
- Devices,
- Trade dress,
- Collective marks,
- Holograms
There are three phases of trademark application in Iceland namely: examination, registration and publication.
- Examination - The trademark office will examine the application in terms of: classification, clarity, formalities, conflict with other applications, descriptiveness, and distinctiveness.
- Registration - Once the examiners passed the application, the trademark office will then issue the registration grant.
- Publication - The public will have access to the application details and third parties will have a chance to oppose after the following details are published: mark, applicant name, applicant's address, filing date, goods and services, representation and priority claim.
You cannot register any mark that contradicts Iceland’s standards of moral or any mark that poses a threat to public order. Terms that have a common or broad meaning are also non-registrable. Names/symbols/flags of states/nations/international organization are prohibited for registration. Any mark that is non-distinct and any mark that functions primarily as a geographical location is non-registrable.
Yes. Nice Classification is effective in Iceland. Only one application is necessary for trademarks that cover multiple classes of good/service.
Yes, but the applicant must meet the following requirements:
- Applicant’s country of origin is a member of Paris Convention
- Application in home country was filed within the past 6 months
If these requirements are met, the filing date in the home country can be claimed as the filing date in Iceland.
Use your trademark five years from the date of registration. The courts in Iceland reserve the rights to define the details of the user requirements (trade, commerce, marketing, advertising, etc.). However, the law mandates owners to use their trademark within the jurisdiction of Iceland.
Validity of a registered trademark will last 10 years.
Count 10 years from the date the registration was granted.
Yes. You may legally use your unregistered trademark for selling goods/services.
There is no need for registration in order to obtain rights to a trademark. Prior use or the first party to file the registration gets the right.
You can access the web address of the trademark national office by clicking this link: http://www.els.is/
Intent to use or actual use of trademark is not mandatory for registration.
Application for trademark registration can be opposed if:
- proprietary rights are violated,
- the mark is descriptive, non-distinctive, deceptive, misleading, disparaging, or causing confusion
- there is breach of copyright
- the mark is confusingly similar with an existing registered mark
- the mark uses any protected emblem or insignia
- rights to a business/company name or personal name are violated
- the word has broad or generic meaning
- there is violation in a registered design
- rights of a famous mark are violated
- the mark is indicative of a geographical location
- public policy or moral standards are violated
Anyone who is interested may oppose the registration.
Yes. Even if your trademark is already registered, cancellation is still possible on the grounds of:
- Violation of proprietary rights
- Breach of copyright
- Mark is proven to not meet the standards in terms of distinctiveness
- Mark is proven to be descriptive, deceptive, misleading, or disparaging
- Mark is proven to violate rights in company name, personal name, registered design, or notorious mark
- Mark is proven to contradict public order and moral principles
- Mark is proven to cause confusion with respect to the product type, origin or condition
- Mark is proven to look almost or exactly like a mark which is internationally registered
- Mark is to be confused with a mark that was registered earlier in another country
- Mark has been inactive or failure to use the mark according to the requirements of Trade Mark Act Article 25
Yes. Having a registered right will help the owner establish the following rights:
- Exclusive right to use the mark
- Right to oppose and request an action to cancel any conflicting later applications/registrations
- Right to give license to other businesses to use the mark
- Right to file an infringement case against companies that use similar-looking marks
- Right to obtain damages from the infringing party
- Right to complain at ISNICS regarding unauthorized use of domain name
- Right to apply for seizure or confiscation of fake goods
The opposition period will start on the date the mark was published and will end two months after the publication date.
Yes. Iceland is a Madrid Protocol member.
No. Periodic statements of use or any file that will set forth the use of trademark are not needed.
Renewal should be done every 10 years.
Count 10 years from the date the registration was granted.
If the renewal will be prepared by the same attorney that processed the registration, no documentation is necessary. Otherwise, you will be required to submit a power of attorney.
After the trademark has expired, you still have 6 months to process the renewal. Another 2-month extension is granted to those who are willing to pay penalties.