Iraq

Patent Office (IPO)

The Iraqi Authorities had issued new regulations to amend the Patent Law, the main aspect of this amendment are as follows:

1. Extending the period of protection from 15-20 years.

2. Beginning the protection as of filing or priority date as it was from acceptance earlier.

Since the beginning of the war, no Patents’ Letters were issued in favor of any application, however, our office has received the first Patent’s Letter issued under the new regulations.

Trademark Office (ITMO)

ITMO had issued a new requirement relating to the power of attorney in respect of applications under prosecution which were filed before the war, in which it requests to submit a certified/ original power of attorney legalized up to the Iraqi Consulate in order to pursue any pending application.

A new Law will be issued shortly in which the expected changes would be amending the protection period for filing and renewal to be 10 years instead of 15. Service marks from 35-45 are going to be applied instead of 42.

The matter of boycott declaration is still under negotiations, decision has not been issued yet relating thereto.

Moreover, the procedure of re-constitution of files is still open and no deadline had been set off. It is recommended for all trademark proprietors to attend to do so in order to avoid the risk of registration of conflicting or similar new applications.

Libya

Major Developments at Trade Mark Office

We are pleased to announce  that, in an attempt by the Libyan authority to develop and fully activate the trademark office, the Minister of Trade and Commerce has issued a new Ministerial Decree No. 86 dated June 5, 2004, main aspects of which are:

1. Adoption the Niece Classification (8th Edition) in respects of service marks from Class 35 - 45. Accordingly local classifications from Class 101 to 112 are no longer valid. While class 33 of alcohol products in not registrable.

2. Applications which were filed before the close of the Trademark Office and matured to registration can be renewed provided the applicants submit the following documents:

   • Legalized power of attorney.
   • Extract from the commercial register or any equivalent documents duly legalized.
   • Original registration certificates.
   • 10 samples of the mark.
      

3. To reconstitute the files of pending applications the following documents must be submitted:

   • Legalized power of attorney.
   • Legalized Extract from the commercial register or any equivalent document.
   • Original Official payment receipt.
   • 10 prints of the mark.
   • Copy of the application as filed.
   • Official notification of receipt.
      

4. It came to our attention, through our own resources, that a grace period of 6 months, staring as of 1 July to 31 December 2004, is to be given for all trademark proprietors to reconstitute their files, otherwise they will be considered canceled, and this to be announced later.

5. A certified translation of documents must be prepared locally and previous requirement of translation is not valid any more.

6. Only Libyan nationals are allowed to practice as trademark agents.
   In these contents, it is worth mentioning that NJQ & Associates is the only authorized trademark agent, until this moment, to practice in Libya.

7. All service mark applications that were filed, but not published yet, will be revised according to the international classifications 35 to 45.

It is also worth mentioning that nothing has been mentioned in connection of applications filed in the period after closing the Trademark Office until 2002.

Incase further enquires requested you are welcome to contact us at info@qumsieh.com.

Please Circulate