Iraq:

Summary:

Iraq is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Registration of trademarks in Iraq is effective under Trademarks and Descriptions Law No. 21 of 1957 and its subsequent amendments.

Order No. 80, issued by the Coalition Provisional Authority on April 26, 2004, amended the trademarks above the law. The law was renamed the “Trademark and Geographical Indications Law.”

The classes of goods are subdivided. The wording of the goods included in the application should conform with the local classification, which is almost identical to the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Registration of Marks under the Nice Agreement. An application can include goods in any number of classes but with additional charges for each additional class.

According to the International Classification, service marks are registrable as of April 29, 2001. The trademark prints should show the Arabic transliteration of the mark in larger lettering on the top of the word in Latin. The images of a trademark covering goods in class 34 should contain the statutory warning in English and Arabic, along with the trademark denomination. They should include the label of the trademark as used.

Once a trademark application is filed, it is examined as to registrability to ensure that no prior identical or similar trademark has been registered. Trademark applications accepted by the Registrar are published in three consecutive issues of the Official Gazette. Any interested party may file a written opposition against the trademark registration within 90 days of the date of the last advertisement. A published trademark is registered without opposition, and the relevant registration certificate will be issued.

Trademark registration is valid for ten years as the application’s filing date ad renewable for similar periods. The trademark law in Iraq does not provide a grace period during which a late renewal application can be filed. However, the Trademark Office may grant, upon request, a grace period of six months so that a trademark renewal may be effective. Alternatively, the trademark will be re-filed with validity extending for ten years as of the expiry date of the registration.

The use of trademarks in Iraq is not compulsory for filing applications for registration or maintaining trademark registrations in force. However, trademark registration is vulnerable to cancellation based on a court decision obtained to this effect by any interested party. A cancellation action relies on establishing sufficient grounds that the trademark in question has not actually been used seriously for three consecutive years. Trademark registration is consequently canceled unless the owner proves that the nonuse of the trademark was for reasonable causes, which the court approves.

The Trademark Office or any party concerned is entitled to demand the cancellation of any trademark registered in bad faith. Any infringement or unauthorized use of a registered trademark is punishable under the provisions of the current trademark law.

NOTE: Erbil is protecting the trademarks in the Kurdistan region for the newly filed applications, but for the already registered trademarks in Iraq/Baghdad, an extension of protection in Kurdistan can be filed at the Iraqi TMO in Baghdad.

It is not possible to file recrodal of assignment for pending trademarks in Iraq

Trademark Application requirements:

1) IRAQ (Baghdad):

1 – Full name and address and nationality of the applicant.

2 – Power of attorney notarized and legalized up to the Iraqi Consulate.

3 – Trademark image.

4 – List of goods/services to be covered by the application.

5 – Certified copy of priority document if claimed (accepted within six months).

2) IRAQ (Kurdistan “Erbil”):

1 – Full name and address and nationality of the applicant.

2 – Power of attorney notarized and legalized up to the Iraqi Consulate.

3 – Home trademark registration certificate and its Arabic translation, notarized and legalized up to the Iraqi Consulate.

4 – Trademark image.

5 – List of goods/services to be covered by the application.

6 – Certified copy of priority document if claimed (accepted within six months).

Note:

1 – In Iraq, classes are subdivided, each covering some sub-classes, and government fees for each additional sub-class are applied.

2 – Prior search is mandatory in both regions. If the search result confirmed that the mark is free for registration, the registrar will allow you 30 days only to file application of registration. If the search result confirms that the mark is not free for registration, in this case we have the option to submit a cancelation action before the court to cancel the conflicting trademark and then submit the search request again along with the court decision for withdrawing the prior trademark.

3 – The legalized POA can be submitted at a later stage within 6 months from the registration application filing date without additional fees.

4 – Super legalization of the POA in Iraq is mandatory.

Trademark Renewal requirements:

1 – Power of attorney notarized and legalized up to the Iraqi Consulate.

2 – Scanned copy of trademark registration certificate.

General information:

Filing System: Single class Filing system – Multi-classes Filing system.

Classification of goods / services: Special classification.

Registrable: trademarks, service marks, collective marks.

Claiming priority: Paris Convention within 6 months.

Time from filing to registration certificate: 16:20 months.

Trademark Search: mandatory before the filing.