The current trademark regulations in Laos are mainly based on the Intellectual Property Law, which came into effect on January 16, 2012. The Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Science and Technology is responsible for managing trademark affairs, and the official languages are Lao and English. Trademark exclusive rights need to be obtained through registration. Trademark registration is not mandatory, but in order to protect the trademark or renew it, it must be registered in accordance with the law. The trademark registration in Laos adopts the principle of "application first". Laos is a signatory to international intellectual property treaties such as the Paris Convention and the WIPO Convention, and a member of the Madrid Protocol. Therefore, trademark registration can be processed through "single country registration" or "Madrid International Registration".
The trademark registration in Laos is valid for 10 years, starting from the date of application; Renewal can be processed within 6 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. Violating relevant laws and regulations; 2. Malicious registration; 3.If a trademark has not been actually used in that country for five consecutive years after registration, anyone may apply for revocation; Except for force majeure.
At present, Laos adopts the Nice Classification 11th edition of product and service descriptions, and began accepting applications for multiple categories on February 1, 2016. The elements that can be registered as trademarks in Laos include: text, graphics, letters, numbers, etc. If the applicant does not reside in Laos, they must entrust a specialized agent in their home country to handle the matter. The basic materials required for trademark application are: 1. Trademark design; 2. Specific categories and product/service items; 3. Name and address of the applicant; 4.If priority is declared, proof of priority must be provided; 5. The power of attorney needs to be notarized. The main process for applying for registration of a trademark in Laos is: application acceptance formal examination announcement substantive examination approval issuance announcement. The application will be accepted within 1-2 weeks after submission. The examiner will first conduct a formal examination, mainly examining whether the application requirements and classification information comply with regulations. After the examination is completed, an announcement will be arranged, and the 60 day objection period will be from the announcement date. Any interested party or prior right holder may raise objections, and 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 registration; 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 examiner will then conduct substantive examination of the trademark, including examination of the distinctiveness of the trademark, whether it violates the prohibition and prohibition clauses, and whether it conflicts with the prior trademark. After passing the review, the registration can be approved and a registration certificate will be issued, and an announcement will be arranged at the same time; 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. In a smooth situation, trademark registration in Laos takes about one year; If things don't go smoothly and there is a rejection midway, the time will be greatly extended.
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