Sierra Leone is located on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, and its current trademark regulations are mainly based on the 2018 revised Trademark Law. The General Administration for Administration and Registration is responsible for trademark affairs, and the official language is English. Trademark exclusive rights need to be obtained through registration. The trademark registration in Sierra Leone follows the principle of "application first". Sierra Leone is a party to international intellectual property treaties such as the Paris Convention, the WIPO Convention, and the TRIPS Agreement, and is a member of the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol. Therefore, trademark protection can be handled through both "single country registration" and "Madrid international registration" methods. Sierra Leone is also a member state of the African Regional Industrial Property Organization.
According to the Trademark Law, for Sierra Leone trademarks newly applied for and approved before January 15, 2018, they are valid for 14 years after registration, starting from the date of application; Trademarks newly applied for before January 15, 2018, but approved after January 15, 2018, are valid for 10 years after registration, starting from the date of application; New applications submitted after January 15, 2018 are valid for 10 years after registration, starting from the date of application.
Currently, Sierra Leone officially adopts the Nice Classification 11th edition for product and service descriptions. The country does not accept multiple types of applications with one form. The elements that can be registered as trademarks in Sierra Leone include: text, name, graphics, numbers, letters, and combinations of the above elements. If the applicant does not reside in Sierra Leone, 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 goods and service items; 3. Name and address of the applicant; 4. Power of attorney. The main process for applying for registration of a trademark in Sierra Leone 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 trademark's distinctiveness, whether it violates the prohibitions and prohibitions, 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 within 3 months from the date of the initial review announcement (which can be extended to a maximum of 6 months with official consent). Any interested party 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 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 Sierra Leone takes 3-5 years; 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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