Trademark registration in Lithuania. Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Lithuania is a developed country, with a high-income advanced economy; ranking very high in the Human Development Index. It ranks favorably in terms of civil liberties, press freedom, and internet freedom. 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 Lithuania.
Required documents for trademark registration in Lithuania
Required documents for trademark registration in Lithuania include:
- Detailed information of the applicant (name, address, nationality, etc.);
- Trademark sample;
- List of goods and/or services in accordance with the international classification;
- Certified copy of priority document (if any);
- Signed Power of Attorney (POA).
The procedure of trademark registration in Lithuania
As Lithuania is a country that follows the “first to file” principle, the applicant needs to file for trademark registration in Lithuania to have their trademark protected in this country.
Accordingly, after preparing the necessary documents, the applicant needs to submit the application to the State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania (VPB).
After receiving the application, the examiner will conduct a detailed examination on the application to check if there are any errors in formality and content.
If the application is valid, it will be published in the Official Gazette. After the publication of the trademark, any third parties will have a 3 months opposition period to file for the opposition of the registration of the mark.
If no opposition is filed, the applicant will be granted the trademark registration certificate and the protected trademark will have a validity period of 10 years.
In order to extend the protection period of the trademark, the trademark owner needs to file for renewal of the trademark 12 months before the deadline or 6 months after the deadline upon payment of the late renewal fee.
Reinstatement of a lapsed trademark (after expiration of a grace period) is not possible.
Note:
Foreign applicants must be represented before the Trademark Office of Lithuania by a registered Lithuanian trademark attorney.
The entire procedure of trademark registration in Lithuania takes approximately 6-7 months.
Lithuania is a member state of the Madrid Protocol. Therefore, the applicant can also register their trademark through the Madrid System.
Furthermore, the applicant can also register their trademark by filing a European Union Trademarks (EUTM) which grants protection in the whole European Union.
Use requirement of trademark registration in Lithuania
As Lithuania is a first-to-file country, the applicant doesn’t need to use the trademark in order to register that trademark.
However, after successful registration of the trademark, it must be in use for periods of five years or it will become vulnerable to cancellation actions based on lack of use of the trademark. The amount of use must be on a commercial scale.
You can see a list of Lithuania IP firms here.