Trademark Registration Myanmar

Trademark Registration in Myanmar

With this assignment you can order a trademark registration in Myanmar. We will take care of everything that is necessary for the professional preparation of the trademark registration in Myanmar, submission of the trademark application in Myanmarand send the trademark certificate to you.

The price for trademark registration in Myanmar includes our professional fees as well as the official trademark office fees for the trademark registration in Myanmar without opposition.

The trademark registration order for Myanmarincludes the following tasks:

First, we check whether the trademark being registered is entitled to protection in Myanmar (absolute grounds of refusal). Not all trademarks can be registered as trademarks. For instance, merely descriptive terms for the respective goods and services may not be registered as a trademark.

To avoid collisions between your trademark registration in Myanmar and older trademarks we recommend to conduct a trademark search in Myanmar which must be ordered separately.

We will e-mail you the prepared trademark registration documents for Myanmar for your approval and file it then.

Once the trademark was registered in Myanmar we send you the certificate.

Details about trademark law in Myanmar

Myanmar’s new Trademark Law has been effectuated from  April 01, 2023 and the Ministry of Commerce has notified the finalised Trademark Rules along with the schedule of fees.
 
The Myanmar Intellectual Property Department (MIPD) declared the commencement of the Second Phase of the Soft opening period from April 03, 2023.

End of the first phase of the Soft Opening Period 

The first phase of the Soft Opening Period commenced on October 01, 2020 and ended on March 31, 2023. During this phase, all trademarks which were earlier registered under the old law or used in Myanmar prior to March 31, 2023 were eligible for re-registration under the new law. However, since the Trademark Rules had not been notified until then, the Applicant’s were unable to submit FORM TM-2 for appointment of the resident agent and submit the official fee.

As per a recent notification, dated May 16, 2023, issued by the Myanmar Intellectual Property Department (MIPD), the deadline for submitting the notarized FORM TM-2 for appointment of the resident agent along with the payment of the official filing fees for marks already re-filed under the first phase of the soft opening period (from October 01, 2020 till March 31, 2023) has been extended by one month, i.e., until June 30, 2023.

Additionally, the MIPD has also extended the deadline for the second phase of the soft opening period for all the Applicants’ who had earlier registered their marks under the old law or used them in Myanmar prior to March 31, 2023 but had not yet re-filed them under the New Law. The Applicants may re-file their mark within six months starting from the commencement of the Grand-Opening phase, i.e., until October 26, 2023.

Second Phase of the Soft opening Period (April 01, 2023 onwards)

With the commencement of the  second phase of the Soft Opening Period, the Applicants shall now be allowed to:
 
1.   Re-file the applications for the marks registered under the old law/ used in Myanmar prior to March 31, 2023;
2.   Pay the official fee for the marks re-filed during the soft opening period;
3.   Submit the notarized FORM TM-2 for appointment of the resident agent.
 
Moreover, all trademark applications filed during the second phase will bear the "common filing date", i.e. the first day of the grand opening period which is yet to be announced.

Once the official fee at the application stage is paid, the re-filed marks will undergo examination under the new Trademark Law and this process is expected to take about 10-12 months. Once the examination is complete, the registration fee shall become payable.

Recommendations

1. Marks registered under the old raw/ used in Myanmar until March 31, 2023 but not yet re-filed under the new law: Re-file the marks under the ongoing second phase of the soft-opening period.
 
2. Re-filed Marks: Proceed with the payment of the official fees along with the submission of the scanned copy of the notarised FORM TM-2 at the earliest.
 
3. New Applications: Wait until the announcement of the Grand Opening Period.

Myanmar Trademark Law Overview

I. Required documents

PoA duly notarized

Apart from the duly notarised POA, the Company registration number, in case the Applicant is a Company or the Passport Number, in case the Applicant is an individual, will also be needed.

II. Application Procedure

processing time from first filing to registration is about 10-12 months, provided that no objections are raised or oppositions filed

Please note that currently there is neither a specific provision/regulation nor a guideline from the Myanmar IPD regarding the timeframe for smooth trademark registration under the New Trademark Law. However, as per the timelines provided under the rules and regulations under the New Trademark Law, it is estimated that it may take approximately 9-12 months for registrations to be granted, in case of no Opposition being filed. 

application process includes a formal examination and an examination of distinctiveness, no similarity check with prior marks

order of process is: examination, publication, registration

III. Classification

Nice Classification

multi-class applications allowed

IV. Opposition

opposition period is xxx months from the date of publication of the trademark application- 60 days from the date of publication.

V. Use requirements

trademark has to be used within 3 years from the date of the publication of the registration. The mark shall become vulnerable to non-use cancellation if not used within 3 years from the date of registration.

VI. Duration Period

10 years from date of application

VII. Renewal

renewable for periods of 10 years

grace period: 6 months from the expiration date of the mark

additional fees to be paid for late renewal