The current trademark regulations in Croatia are mainly based on the Trademark Law that came into effect on February 15, 2019. The Croatian Intellectual Property Office is responsible for managing trademark affairs and the official language is Croatian. Trademark exclusive rights need to be obtained through registration. Trademark registration is not mandatory, but in order to better protect the trademark or renew it, it must be registered in accordance with the law. Croatian trademark registration adopts the principle of "application first", but in rare cases, trademark rights can also be claimed based on "prior use". Croatia is a party to international intellectual property treaties such as the TRIPS Agreement, Nairobi Treaty, Paris Convention, Nice Agreement, and Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization. It is a member of the Madrid Agreement and Madrid Protocol, as well as a member of the European Union. Therefore, trademark registration can be processed through "single country registration", "EU registration", or "Madrid International Registration".
The Croatian trademark is valid for 10 years after registration, starting from the date of application; Renewal can be processed within 12 months before the expiration date, with a grace period of 6 months; The renewal is valid for 10 years. The invalidation or revocation application after trademark registration can generally be filed based on the following reasons: 1. Without justifiable reasons, the trademark has not been actually used on the goods or services specified at the time of registration for five consecutive years; 2. The trademark has become the common name for the goods or services in the industry; 3. Trademarks are misleading to the public, especially in terms of the nature, quality, or geographical origin of goods or services; 4. Violation of the provisions of the Trademark Law (such as lack of distinctiveness, violation of public order or social morality, etc.); 5. Infringement of prior rights (including prior registered trademarks, well-known trademarks, name rights, etc.); 6. Malicious registration.
At present, the Croatian Patent and Intellectual Property Office adopts the Nice Classification 11th edition for the description of goods and services, and can accept applications for multiple categories in one form. The elements that can be registered as trademarks in Croatia include: text, names, letters, numbers, graphics, colors, three-dimensional shapes, etc. Natural or legal persons who do not have a domicile, main place of business, or a genuine and valid business enterprise in Croatia must entrust a specialized agent in that country to handle the matter. The basic materials required for trademark application are: 1. Trademark design; 2. Category and specific product/service items; 3. Name and address of the applicant; 4. Power of attorney; 5.If priority is declared, proof of priority must be provided. The main process for applying for registration of a Croatian trademark is: application - examination (absolute reasons) - announcement - approval and issuance of certificates. The application will be accepted approximately one month after submission. The examiner will conduct formal and substantive examinations on the application. Formal review mainly examines whether the application requirements and classification information comply with regulations; The substantive examination includes the examination of the distinctiveness of the trademark and whether it violates the prohibition and prohibition clauses. If the review fails, a rejection notice will be issued and the applicant will be required to respond within the time limit specified in the rejection notice; If the substantive examination is passed, an announcement will be arranged. The 3-month period from the date of announcement is the objection period. Any interested party may raise objections to the registration of the trademark with the Intellectual Property Office. The main reasons for raising objections are: 1. Conflict with prior trademarks, such as owning a prior registered trademark; 2. The trademark lacks distinctiveness; 3. The trademark has adverse effects; 4. Malicious application; 5. Conflict with other prior rights, such as trade name rights, design rights, copyrights, personal names, etc. If there are no objections or objections are not established during the announcement period, the trademark can be approved for registration and a registration certificate can be issued. In a smooth situation, trademark registration in Croatia takes about 9-12 months; If things don't go smoothly and there are rejections or objections along the way, the time will be greatly extended.
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