PROCEDURE FOR REGISTERING TRADEMARK IN UGANDA

PROCEDURE FOR REGISTERING TRADEMARK IN UGANDA

Governing laws include

• The constitution of the republic of Uganda 1995 as amended
• The Trademarks Act, 2010.
• The trademarks regulations, 2012.

A trademark is means a sign or mark or combination of signs or marks capable of being represented graphically and capable of distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of another undertaking.
The trademark should not be misleading for it to be registered in Uganda.
A trademark may consist of any word, symbol, design, slogan, logo, colour, label, name, signature, letter, numeral or any combination of them and should be capable of being represented graphically.
Once a trademark is registered it takes a period of seven years to expire and upon expiry, it is renewed for every ten years on application by a registered user/owner.

Below is the procedure for registering a trademark in Uganda

• Reduce the intended trademark in material form i.e. draw it.
• Obtain trade mark search form from Registrar of trademarks at URSB.
• Fill the proposed trade mark details for search at the registry of trademarks (URSB).
• Pay search fee at the bank as advised and pick payment slip.
• Submit your search form with intended mark(s) together with payment receipt to registrar’s office for search.
• You may obtain advice from the registrar as to whether the proposed trademark appears to the registrar to be inherently adapted to distinguish or capable of distinguishing goods or services of the proposed undertaking from those of other undertakings.
• Depending on the registrar’s advice, prepare your application for trade mark registration by filling in accordingly.
• Have your application assessed for application fee at either DTB or URSB offices.
• Pick the assessment slip and pay according application fee as advised.
• On the application attach or fix the proposed mark to be used, the class of goods or services, the applicant’s name, address and the signature.
• The foreign applicant (entity) shall appoint a lawyer as his or her agent for purposes of trade mark registration in Uganda either by granting him or her powers of attorney or instruction letter.
• Submit the application for registration of trade mark together with the PAYMENT receipts to the office of registrar of trade marks at Uganda registration services bureau (URSB) for consideration.
• The registrar will then determine if the trademark is registrable and whether it conflicts with prior existing registrations or applications for trademark registrations.
• If the registrar considers the intended mark registrable (if the registrar accepts the application) he or she shall prepare a 60 days’ notice of the application to be published in Uganda gazette.
• Pick the Notice of the application for trade mark registration from office of the registrar trademarks.
• Proceed to Uganda printing and publishing cooperation with the notice, pay the gazette fee and submit it for publishing in the Uganda gazette.
• After the notice has been published in the gazette pick three copies from UPPC office or their agent and wait for 60 days to expire from the date of publication.
• After 60 days expire, submit copies of Uganda gazette to office of registrar for consideration.
• If there is no opposition after the expiration of sixty days of the advertisement, the Registrar shall upon payment of the necessary registration fees by the applicant enter in the trademark on the register and issue certificate of registration of the trademark.
• If there is opposition the person opposing must file the notice of opposition within the 60days. The person opposing shall file a notice of opposition and statement of grounds with the registrar of trademarks within sixty days from the date of publication of the trademark application.
• The applicant must then be sent a copy of the opposition documents for perusal and a response forthwith.
• The applicant files a counter statement within thirty days
• The counter statement is then sent to the applicant for reply if any and further evidence
• The opposition is then set down for hearing and a decision is made by the registrar.

Any person aggrieved by the decision of the registrar has a right through his or her lawyer to appeal to the High Court of Uganda by filing application challenging registrar of trademarks’ decision .

See

Trademark Application No.2013/48063 Nairobi Java Hose Coffee And No.2013/48062 Java House And Java Sun In Class 43 In The Name Of Nairobi Java House Ltd And Opposition By Mandela Auto Spares Ltd.

Nairobi Java House Ltd Vs Mandela Auto Spares Ltd HIGH COURT OF UGANDA (COMMERCIAL DIVISION) MISC.APPLICATION NO 580 OF 2015 (ARISINGFROM CIVIL APPEAL NO 13 OF 2015

approximate cost of local trade mark . ugx 700,000 as government fees and instruction fees of ugx 2500,000 .

approximate cost of foreign trade mark . USD 800 as government fees and instruction fees of USD  2500  

Author is A regional transactions legal consultant (ADVOCATE) at NOA REGIONAL ASSOCIATED ADVOCATES AND LEGAL CONSULTANTS
Email address: onlinetransactionconsultancy@gmail.com.

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NOTE: whereas the author has made necessary efforts to ensure the accuracy of this post, it is not intended to provide specific legal advice to a particular individual as individual situations may differ.

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