Trademark registration in Iraq | Registrar of Trademarks

In briefAn application to enter a mark on the federal register is presented to the Registrar of Trademarks. Article 2 of Trademarks and Trade Descriptions Law No. 21 of 1957, after Law No. 9 of 2010, places that register at the Ministry of Industry and Minerals. Once the mark is accepted in principle it is announced, and an interested person has ninety days from the last announcement in which to object. The entry, if completed, lasts ten years and may be renewed.

A company's trade name, and a drawing used in the market without a filing, are not the same thing as a mark entered on the federal register. In Iraq the statute that governs that entry, and the protection that follows from it, is Trademarks and Trade Descriptions Law No. 21 of 1957, read after the amendments that followed, among them Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 80 of 2004 and Law No. 9 of 2010, published in Official Gazette issue 4144 on 15 February 2010.

The Law Office of Ali Barakat, from its seat in Baghdad, al-Yarmouk, follows an application to enter a mark, an objection to that application, and a dispute about imitation or unlawful use. This page sets out the framework: where the register is kept, who may apply, which signs are refused, and how long an entry remains in force. The stages of a single application are described on the path from filing to the certificate. Objection and imitation are described on opposition and infringement. Filing connected with the Kurdistan Region is described on filing in the Kurdistan Region.

Where the federal register is kept

After Law No. 9 of 2010, article 2 provides that a register is kept at the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, in the charge of the Registrar. Marks and trade descriptions are entered in it, together with the names and addresses of their owners and a description of the goods. Anyone may inspect the register and obtain a certified extract once the scheduled charge has been paid. Those figures are read from the text in force.

In the Law's definitions, the Registrar is the Registrar of Trademarks. The directorate that now carries on this work — the designation recorded in the office's glossary of Iraqi terms, taken from announcements of the Ministry of Industry and Minerals — is the Directorate of Trademark and Commercial Data Registration, at that Ministry. It is not a unit of the Ministry of Trade, and it is not the Companies Registration Department.

The word "Minister" in article 1 of the original text referred historically to the Minister of Economy. After the register was moved, the Minister concerned is understood to be the Minister of Industry and Minerals, unless a later text provides otherwise.

Who may present an application, and what the Law treats as a mark

Any natural person, and any legal person, may apply to have a mark entered, on the conditions the Law sets out. An Iraqi applicant and a foreign applicant stand on the same footing in that respect, without prejudice to the rules on representation before the Registrar.

A mark, in the statutory sense, is a sign — or a combination of signs — that distinguishes the goods or services of one undertaking from those of another. It may be a word, a name, a letter, a number, a shape, a colour or a combination of these, and other signs the text accepts, provided they are capable of being represented in a manner that allows the Registrar and third parties to determine the subject of the protection clearly.

A trade name chosen for a company at the Companies Registration Department is a different matter. So is a domain name. Entry of a mark does not, by itself, replace those other steps, and those other steps do not, by themselves, place a sign on the trademarks register.

Signs the register will not accept

The Law lists grounds on which a mark is refused. Among them are signs that lack distinctive character; signs that are descriptive of the goods or of their quality, quantity or geographical origin in a way the text does not allow; signs that are contrary to public order or morals; signs that reproduce official emblems, flags or hallmarks, or a religious symbol, in the circumstances the statute forbids; and signs that are liable to mislead the public or to create confusion with a mark already entered, or with a well-known mark.

The list in the statute is read in the file, not reduced to a short slogan. A refusal, or an acceptance that is made subject to a condition, is notified to the applicant in writing with the reasons. The path page explains what follows if the condition is not met within the period the Law fixes, and how a decision of the Registrar may be taken to the Court of First Instance (محكمة البداءة).

How goods and services are grouped

The application identifies the goods or the services for which protection is sought. Where more than one class is requested, the goods and services are set out under the international classification to which the Law refers. A distinct certificate is issued for each mark.

If two or more applicants present, at the same time and before announcement, requests for the same mark, or for similar marks, in one class, the applications may be held until one of them is withdrawn in an authenticated form, or until a final decision is reached.

The Registrar may also require a disclaimer of an element that is not, by itself, registrable, or the applicant may offer such a disclaimer, under article 8 bis, without losing a later claim if that element later becomes distinctive.

Marks already known abroad, and a claim of earlier filing

A well-known mark enjoys protection in Iraq even if it has not been entered on the Iraqi register, within the limits of article 4 bis. That protection is not a substitute for filing where the owner wishes to rely on a local entry, and it is not an automatic extension of every foreign registration.

A claim of priority founded on an earlier filing in a state of the Paris Union, or in a member of the World Trade Organization, is available for six months, under article 6 bis, on the conditions that article sets. The date and the country of the earlier filing are shown in the Iraqi application, and the supporting document is produced in the form the Registrar requires.

A licence to use a mark, and a record of that licence, are also provided for in the Law. The record is made at the Registrar's office. The licence is not a commercial-agency licence issued by the Registrar of Companies, and the two paths should not be confused. Where the arrangement is a franchise or a commercial agency, the pages on commercial agency and on company structure for a foreign brand are the place to begin.

How long an entry remains in force

Once the path has been completed, protection runs for ten years. It may be renewed for a further period of the same length, on an application presented in the final year, in the manner the regulations provide, after the scheduled charges have been paid. The owner may still apply during the six months that follow the date of expiry, against the scheduled charges and the additional charges the regulations fix; if that window is missed, the Registrar may remove the mark from the register. Whether the period has been missed is read from article 20 and from the fact of expiry.

Ownership of a mark may be transferred, and the mark may be pledged or attached, together with the business, or with the part of the business connected with its use, under article 17. A request to record the transfer is presented to the Registrar under article 25.

When another person may contest the application or the entry

After the mark is accepted in principle, it is announced. An interested person may lodge a written objection with the Registrar within ninety days, counted from the date of the last announcement. The details of that path, and of a later claim for imitation, are on the related page.

Any interested person may also ask the court to cancel an entry within five years of its date. In some of the cases article 21 describes, a request may be made at any time: among them, where the mark has become a common name, where the entry was obtained by fraud or in breach of the rules, or where the mark has not been used for three continuous years without an excuse the text recognises.

Imitation and unlawful use are both a criminal matter and a civil matter. Article 35 provides a custodial penalty and a fine for the forms it lists, and allows the court to order confiscation of the products and of the means of infringement. The owner may also ask the court for protective measures even before a claim is filed, within the limits of article 37.

The bulletin in which the mark is published

The name of the bulletin in article 11 still refers, in the original wording, to a publication of a former trade directorate. The register today is at the Ministry of Industry and Minerals. In practice the announcement appears in the official bulletin of the directorate that keeps the register. The exact title of the bulletin in force is confirmed at the time of filing; a historical name is not treated as settled current practice.

The schedule of charges and any reduction provided for in article 2 are read from the text in force.

The office has no branch in the Kurdistan Region or in any governorate outside Baghdad. Work connected with a filing in the Region is followed from Baghdad, al-Yarmouk.

Legal basis and sources

Frequently asked questions

Is the trademarks register kept at the Ministry of Trade?

No. After Law No. 9 of 2010, article 2 places the register at the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, in the Registrar's charge. The directorate that carries on the work is the Directorate of Trademark and Commercial Data Registration. The Companies Registration Department, which belongs to the Ministry of Trade, is a different body.

Does use of a logo in the market, without a filing, create the same right as an entry on the register?

Use without a filing is not the same as an entry. A well-known mark has a form of protection even without a local entry, within article 4 bis, but that is a special rule. Anyone who wishes to rely on a local registration still presents an application to the Registrar.

How long does protection last, and what happens if the renewal date passes?

The term is ten years, and it may be renewed for the same length of time. After expiry the owner still has six months in which to apply, against the scheduled charges and the additional charges the regulations fix. If that window is missed, the Registrar may remove the mark.

May a foreign applicant file in Iraq?

Yes, on the conditions the Law sets. A claim of priority based on an earlier filing in a Paris Union state or a World Trade Organization member is available for six months under article 6 bis. Representation before the Registrar follows the rules in force at the time of filing.

Where is an objection to a decision of the Registrar taken?

Decisions of the Registrar — apart from what article 24, paragraph 3, excepts — may be challenged before the Court of First Instance (محكمة البداءة) within thirty days of notification. The path page and the opposition page set out how that challenge sits beside an objection to the announcement itself.

Is a well-known mark protected in Iraq without registration?

Yes, within the limits set by article 4 bis: the owner of a well-known mark enjoys the protection the Law grants even if the mark has not been registered in Iraq. Whether the mark is well known, and how far any resemblance extends, is a matter for the particular file, and that protection does not stand in for a filing if a local entry is sought.

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A mark that distinguishes a product or service