Trademark registration in Timor Lester (East Timor). Timor Lester (East Timor), also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of East Timor is a country in Southeast Asia. Before and during colonial times, Timor-Leste was most famous for sandalwood. The country has a large and potential coffee industry, which often sells coffee to many Fair Trade retailers and on the open market. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of trademark registration in Timor-Leste.
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Timor Lester (East Timor)
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Timor-Leste include:
- The application for trademark registration in Timor-Leste;
- Detailed information of the applicant (name, nationality, and address, etc.);
- Detailed information of the representative or attorney (name, nationality, and address, etc.);
- Classification of goods and/or services;
- Trademark sample;
- Priority documents (If any);
- The prescribed fee;
- Other necessary documents.
Prohibited elements in an international trademark application in Timor-Leste
Prohibited elements in an international trademark application in Timor-Leste include:
- Celebrity names or quotes without the subject’s written consent.
- Details on the logo that is offensive to any group/ethnicity.
- Unethical elements on labels, including those that are rejected by a large portion of the world’s population.
- Calls for illegal activities that are displayed on the label.
The procedure for trademark registration in Timor-Leste
As a new country, Timor-Leste is still in the process of drafting laws in various areas including the area of Intellectual Property Rights. Accordingly, the country currently does not have any formal regulations on intellectual property. The best way to get trademark protection in Timor-Leste is to publish a warning notice (Cautionary Notice) in the applicant’s local newspapers claiming trademark ownership and declaring the use of the mark.
Notes in the trademark registration process in Timor-Leste
Timor-Leste has a very small population, which means that the country does not have many businesses. This significantly reduces the competition in this market, which in turn makes it much easier to own a unique logo.
Accordingly, if the business does intend to register a trademark in Timor-Leste, they will find out that they won’t have many competitors and can acquire the trademark registration pretty quickly.
The official currency of Timor-Leste is USD. With this international standard currency, financial transactions will be greatly simplified. In addition, applicants will not need to pay additional currency conversion fees.
International treaties on IP
Like the countries of Suriname, Somalia, Eritrea, or the Maldives, Timor-Leste has no specific legislation regarding intellectual property law. As a result, Timor-Leste is not currently a party to any international treaties on intellectual property.
Note:
The jurisdiction of the Madrid Agreement does not apply to Timor-Leste. Consequently, only domestic trademark applications can be registered in Timor-Leste.
Timor-Leste is not yet a party to the Paris Convention, so all new trademark rights will be governed exclusively by local law.
You can see a list of Timor-Leste IP firms here.