Trademark registration in Jordan. Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in Western Asia. Jordan is classified by the World Bank as an “upper-middle-income” country. Jordan’s economy is relatively well-diversified. Trade and finance combined account for nearly one-third of GDP; transportation and communication, public utilities, and construction account for one-fifth, and mining and manufacturing constitute nearly another fifth. 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 Jordan.
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Jordan
Necessary documents for trademark registration in Jordan include:
- A signed, notarized, and legalized Power of Attorney (POA);
- Detailed information about the applicant;
- A list of the goods and the corresponding classes;
- The meaning of the trademark (if available);
- A certified priority document (If any).
The procedure of trademark registration in Jordan
In order to obtain trademark protection in Jordan, the applicant needs to file a trademark application to the Trademark registration section of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Supply of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (MIT).
After receiving the application, the examiner will conduct a formal and substantive examination to ensure that the subject of the application is not similar or identical to a trademark already existing (registered) or the subject of an existing pending application for registration in the same classes of goods or services.
If no errors are detected, the trademark will be published in the Official Gazette.
After the publication, the trademark will enter a 3 month opposition period in which other third parties can file for opposition to the registration of the trademark.
If no opposition is raised, the applicant will be granted a trademark registration certificate and the trademark will have a protection period of 10 years from the date of filing or from the priority date.
The trademark owner may file for renewal of the trademark every 10 years for another 10 years protection period.
It should be noted that the new trademark law of Jordan provides for a one-year period for the late renewal of a trademark.
The owner of a lapsed mark due to non-renewal has the exclusive right to re-file the same trademark within one year from the expiry date. Any other interested party may file the same trademark after the expiry of another year.
Note:
Normally, the time frame for registering a trademark in Jordan is between 10 to 12 months.
Trademarks that have already been filed or registered before December 1, 1999, in Jordan will remain valid according to the old law (7 or 14 years).
It is possible to remove some items from the list of goods and services upon renewal of the trademark in Jordan.
Yearly renewal of trademark is not required, the registration will remain valid as long as the applicant did not apply for its cancellation.
Use requirement of a trademark in Jordan
The applicant doesn’t need to use the trademark prior in order to file for trademark registration in Jordan.
However, prior use is recommended to have a higher claim to the trademark if any future dispute may happen as it can help overcome an objection raised on the grounds of lack of distinctiveness, by proving that the trademark has acquired distinctiveness.
After successful trademark registration in Jordan, the trademark owner needs to use the trademark on a commercial scale for periods of three years or it will become vulnerable to cancellation actions based on lack of use of the trademark.
You can see a list of Jordan IP firms here.