Rwanda is located on the south side of the equator in central eastern Africa, and its current trademark regulations are mainly based on the Intellectual Property Protection Act No. 31/2009 issued on December 26, 2009. The General Registration Office of the Rwanda Development Authority is responsible for trademark affairs, and the official languages are Rwandan, French, and English. Trademark exclusive rights need to be obtained through registration; The trademark registration in Rwanda follows the principle of "application first". Rwanda is a party to international intellectual property treaties such as the TRIPS Agreement, Paris Convention, and WIPO Convention, and a member of the Madrid Protocol. Therefore, trademark protection can be handled through both "single country registration" and "Madrid international registration".
The Rwanda trademark is valid for 10 years after registration, 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.
At present, the Rwandan authorities adopt the Nice Classification 11th edition of goods and services descriptions and accept applications for multiple categories in one form. The elements that can be registered as trademarks in Rwanda include visual identification such as text, name, graphics, numbers, letters, color combinations, and combinations of the above elements. If the applicant does not reside in Rwanda, 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 product items; 3. Name and address of the applicant; 4. Notarized power of attorney; 5.If priority is declared, priority proof documents and corresponding English translations must be provided. The main process for applying for registration of a trademark in Ghana is: application, acceptance, examination, announcement, approval, and issuance of a certificate. After the application is submitted, the official first conducts a formal review, mainly examining whether the application materials and classification information comply with the regulations. Generally, it takes about 2 months to complete the acceptance. After acceptance, substantive examination of the trademark will be conducted, including examination of the distinctiveness of the trademark, whether it violates the prohibition and prohibition clauses, and whether it conflicts with the prior trademark. If the examination is passed, it will be announced; 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. The objection period is 60 days from the date of the initial review announcement, and any interested party may raise objections. 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 valid during the announcement period, registration can be approved and a registration certificate can be issued after the objection period ends. In a smooth situation, trademark registration in Rwanda takes about 8 months; If things don't go smoothly and there are objections or rejections along the way, the time will be greatly extended.
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