Trademark registration in Qatar. Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country located in Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. In the 21st century, Qatar emerged as a significant power in the Arab world through its resource-wealth, as well as its globally expanding media group. For its size, Qatar wields disproportionate influence in the world and has been identified as a middle power. 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 Qatar.
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Qatar
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Qatar include:
- Detailed information of the applicant (name, address, nationality, etc.);
- List of goods and/or services along with the Nice Classification;
- A description of the mark;
- Power of attorney (POA);
- Priority documents (If any);
- Other required documents.
Besides the normal forbidden elements in trademark application in general in the entire world, the applicant should also check and take into consideration the Qatar Law to verify if the mark complies with the requirement in this country.
Specifically, the trademark should not go against the policies and morals of the country. For instance, trademark applications in Qatar can not cover alcoholic beverages or pork products.
The principle of trademark registration in Qatar
As Qatar follows the ‘first to file’ principle, the applicant needs to file for trademark registration in order to obtain trademark protection in Qatar.
Only in some exceptional cases can an unregistered trademark be protected, namely well-known marks.
The procedure of trademark registration in Qatar
The applicant submits the trademark application to Qatar along with the company extract to the Intellectual Property Department – Trademark Office at the Ministry of Economy.
In the case of a foreign company, the company extract needs to be certified.
If there are no errors detected in the trademark application, the IP Office of Qatar will publish the application in the trademark gazette.
After the publication, there will be a 4 months opposition period in which any third parties may file for the opposition of the registration of the mark.
The probabilities of success for an opposition will vary in each case depending on the circumstances.
The validity period and use requirement of a trademark in Qatar
After registration, the trademark will have a protection period of 10 years. This period of protection can be renewable for periods of 10 years. There is also a 6 month grace period in which the trademark owner may file for renewal along with the payment of a late filing fee.
The use of trademarks in Qatar is not compulsory for filing trademark applications.
However, after registration, the trademark owner must use the mark on a commercial scale for 5 consecutive years from the date of the registration, or else it might be vulnerable to cancellation actions filed by third parties.
The cancellation action for non-use of a registered trademark cannot be accepted unless the trademark owner is given a one-month notice that his/her trademark is subject to cancellation for non-use.
You can see a list of Qatar IP firms here.