Trademark registration in Honduras. Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The World Bank categorizes Honduras as a low-middle-income nation. Nonetheless, economic growth in the last few years in Honduras has averaged 7% a year, one of the highest rates in Latin America and this shows great prospects for the future of Honduras as a potential business partner. 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 Honduras.
Signs registrable as a trademark in Honduras
The signs registrable as a trademark in Honduras include names, pseudonyms, commercial slogans, shapes, portraits, letters, figures, monograms, labels, coats of arms, cotton prints, vignettes, fringes, lines, stripes, combinations, and arrangements of colors.
Furthermore, the trademark may also include the form, presentation, or conditioning of the products or their packing or wrapping, or from the means or places of expenditure of the corresponding products or services.
Multi-class applications are not allowed in Honduras.
Honduras adopted the eleventh edition of the Nice Classification of Goods and Services so business from other countries who used the previous edition of the Nice Classification needs to adapt to the change and research in detail about the differences between the editions.
Required documents for trademark registration in Honduras
The required documents for trademark registration in Honduras are:
- A legalized power of attorney (POA) by the apostille or nearest Honduran consulate;
- A wordmark or design mark;
- A detailed list of goods or services;
- The country and filing date of the priority application (if any).
It should be noted that electronic filing is not available in Honduras.
The procedure of trademark registration in Honduras
After receiving the application, the examiner at Honduras IP Office will perform a formal examination and an examination of distinctiveness on the application.
Before the registration, the trademark application is published in the daily “La Gaceta“ 3 times with 10 days interval between the separate publications.
The opposition period is 1 month from the publication date of the application. During the opposition period, any related parties who feel like their rights are violated may file an opposition to the registration of the trademark.
If the IP office of Honduras rejects the registration of the trademark, the applicant may request reconsideration from the Honduras IP office along with the filing of evidence in support of all arguments in the form of documentary evidence (affidavits), expert witness declarations, and inspections performed (at the request of the petitioner) by officers of the IP office of Honduras.
If the request is denied, the applicant may file an appeal to the Directorate of Intellectual Property.
If the appeal is denied again, the applicant may file a further appeal to the highest administrative office, the Superintendence of Intellectual Property. The decision of this body is final.
Note:
It usually takes between 8 to 12 months to secure a trademark registration in Honduras. This time has included the issuance of the certificate of registration.
Trademark registration in Honduras is valid for 10 years from the registration date. The registration is renewable for indefinite periods of 10 years.
The trademark owner may file for renewal in Honduras up to one year before its expiration date. Once a trademark expires, the trademark owner may still file for renewal during the grace period of 6 months after the expiration date upon payment of extra fees (surcharge for late renewal).
Use requirement for the trademark in Honduras
According to the Honduran Industrial Property Law, if the trademark owner hasn’t used the registered trademarks in Honduras for 3 years or more from the registration date, the trademark may be subject to cancellation on the grounds of non-use.
You can see a list of Honduras IP firms here.