An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Firm
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified Firm
The process of Trade Mark registration in Kuwait is governed by Trademark Law: Articles 61-95 of Trade Law No. 68 of 1980. A trademark is anything which takes a distinctive form whether in words, signatures, letters, figures, drawings, symbols, titles, seals, representations, engravings or any other mark or a combination thereof when used or is intended to be used in distinguishing goods or products for the purpose of indication that they are of the owner of such mark by virtue of manufacture, selection, trading or offering for sale.
The following may not be a trademark and may not be registered as such:
1. Marks devoid of any distinctive character, marks consisting of indications that are the mere denominations in practice of the goods or products, or customary drawings and ordinary pictures of the goods and products.
2. Any expression, drawing or mark against public morals or public order.
3. Public emblems, flags and other symbols pertaining to the state, United Nations or anybody thereof or any state having reciprocity of treatment with Kuwait or any imitation of such emblems.
4. Symbols of the Red Crescent or the Red Cross and other similar symbols as well as marks which are imitations thereof.
5. Marks identical with or resembling symbols of a purely religious nature.
6. Geographical names where the use thereof may cause confusion as to the origin or source of goods.
7. The name, surname, photograph or emblem of a third party, unless his prior approval to use such mark has been obtained.
8. Statements pertaining to titles of honor which the applicant cannot prove that he is lawfully entitled to.
9. Marks which may mislead the public or which contain false indications as to the origin or other characteristics of the products as well as marks embodying an imaginary imitated or forged trade name.
10. Marks which the Boycott of Israel Office decides that it is identical or similar to an Israeli mark, symbol or emblem.
The following documents are necessary for filing for trade mark registration in Kuwait. They are:
The document which will be filed for the registration must contains the copy of the mark along with the applicant info (name, address, and nationality). A comprehensive list of the goods/services to be covered by the application (Classes) should be chosen from the goods and services available locally, translated to Arabic. Power of Attorney (POA): Original should be notarized and legalized at the Kuwaiti embassy and subsequently locally legalized and submitted at filing. As specified above, a copy of the commercial certificate translated to Arabic is required at filing along with the priority document translated to Arabic within 60 days of filing, in case claimed.
In case for Trade Mark Renewal
In case for Trade Mark Assignment
In general, the registration process takes 6 months to be completed but in some cases it might be longer. The application is examined by the Trade Mark Office within a period of 1 month. After the end of the examination period, the TMO will issue a decision. In case of acceptance of the application, the publication fees should be settled, otherwise the application will be considered withdrawn. In case of rejection, the applicant may appeal to the Court of First Instance within thirty days as from the date of serving such decision upon him. The court may confirm, quash or amend the decision. Where the applicant does not appeal against the decision within the prescribed term and does not act according to the conditions of the register within such term, he shall be considered to have abandoned his application.
Any interested third party can oppose the publication of the trademark application within the prescribed time period from the date of publication. The applicant must reply to the opposition within the prescribed time, from the official notification date to file a reply, otherwise the application will be considered withdrawn.
The applicant has 30 days from the end of publication period date to settle the registration fees, otherwise the application will be considered withdrawn.
The certificate of registration is generally issued within 1 week from the date of settlement of registration fees. The trademark's registration is valid for 10 years, starting from the filing date, and renewable for similar consecutive periods.
(Time Limit may vary. Clients are requested to check the official website or be in touch with our attorney)