Now you can protect trademark in Myanmar. The Myanmar Trademark Law was passed by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Assembly of the Union) on January 30, 2019. Following the enactment of Trademark Law, the Government of Myanmar is making numerous efforts to launch the new Trademark system to replace its current one where trademarks registered under Deeds of Trademark Ownership Declaration with the Office of the Registration of Deeds (ORD) with 02 stages as below:
- Soft opening period: The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of Myanmar has commenced a “soft-opening” period since October 1, 2020 for ONLY existing trademarks declared trademark ownership to be re-filed.
- Grand opening period: Upon completion of the soft opening period, new trademark applications, which have not ever been endorsed by ORD will be possible after the IPO’s grand opening, the date of which is yet to be announced.
Up to now, the soft opening period has not been closed. Thus, at this time, in order to protect trademark in Myanmar, you should proceed with the following actions:
- Re-file your trademarks declared under the old law or actually used in Myanmar in the Soft-opening period; or
- File a Declaration of Trademark Ownership with the ORD under the old law and then, re-file it with the IPO after recorded by the ORD.
1. RE-FILING A TRADEMARK DURING SOFT- OPENING PERIOD
In accordance with the new trademark law, you can re-file your marks based on the ground of recorded Declaration of Trademark Ownership or genuinely used in Myanmar.
1.1. Requirements to protect trademark in Myanmar
- Specimen of the trademark in JPG. file with resolution at least 600DPI;
- A list of goods and/or services in accordance with the International Classification;
- Scanned copy of Recorded Declaration of Trademark Ownership;
- Proof of the Trademark Notice posted in Newspapers or made known to the general public;
- Proof of the Trademark being genuinely used within the State’s markets;
- Proof of the marketing and promotion for such Trademark;
- Tax receipts or payment receipts;
- Other evidence;
- Company registration number and Legal Entity Type of the applicant;
- If the current Trademark owner is not the original person that registered at Deeds and Documents Registration Office, proof of the Transfer of Rights or name change of the Trademark owner is required;
- If the trademark contains any words other than English or Burmese language, their transliteration and translation are required
The IPO of Myanmar is still finalizing its decision pertaining to two matters below:
- The use and execution requirements of an Appointment of Representative form (Form TM2);
The official government fees.
Protect trademark in Myanmar
1.2. Examination procedure
According to the new trademark law in Myanmar, a mark will be examined as to formality and absolute ground. After that, if it meets fulfilled requirement as to formality and absolute ground, it will be published for opposition within 60 days. If there is no opposition, the IPO will issue a certificate of trademark registration. On the contrary, in case there is an opposition request, the mark will be re-examined as to both absolute and relative grounds. However, up till now, the Soft-opening period has still opened and re-filed trademarks have not yet been examined.
1.3. Cost
The official fees for re-filing the trademark application in Myanmar under soft-opening have not been announced by the Government.
2. FILING A DECLARATION OF TRADEMARK OWNERSHIP UNDER OLD LAW
2.1. Requirements
For filing the Declaration of trademark ownership in Myanmar, the following documents are required:
- A Power of Attorney, which must be executed by legal representative person of applicant, then certified by a Notary Public, then legalized by the Myanmar Embassy or Consulate in country of the applicant;
- A Declaration of Ownership, which must be executed by legal representative person of applicant, then certified by a Notary Public (the same person, who signed on the POA is recommended);
- Specimen of the trademark in JPG. file with resolution at least 600DPI.
Note the item “Signature of the witness”: Under current practice in Myanmar, it is not expressly required the attendance of a witness and his signature, where it depends on case by case.
Please kindly be noted that the original documents must be submitted at the time of the filing application.
2.2. Time frame
The average time from filing up to the endorsement will be about 2 – 3 months.
More information about trademark protection in Myanmar can be found HERE.
In case you require more information or require advice to protect trademark in Myanmar , Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia as well as other IP matters, please do not hesitate to contact us via email: info@ageless.vn
