Trademark registration in Monaco. Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera close to the Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe. Monaco has the world’s highest GDP nominal per capita at US$185,742, GDP PPP per capita at $132,571, and GNI per capita at $183,150. In addition, according to the CIA World Factbook, Monaco also has the world’s lowest poverty rate and the highest number of millionaires and billionaires per capita in the world. 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 Monaco.
Signs registrable as a trademark in Monaco
Signs registrable as a trademark in Monaco include distinctive and graphically representable signs, such as words, names, acronyms, letters, numbers, devices, colors, three-dimensional forms, the three-dimensional form of a good or its packaging, and any combination of the mentioned signs.
Sound marks and olfactory marks are not registrable.
The following trademark types are registrable in Monaco: trademarks, service marks, collective marks, certification marks, titles of establishment, and trade names.
The procedure of trademark registration in Monaco
In order to obtain trademark protection in Monaco, the applicant needs to file their trademark application to the Monaco Patent and Trademark Office by a local agent.
The Monaco Patent and Trademark Office will conduct a formal examination and an examination of distinctiveness to ensure that the mark complies with the requirement of the law.
The Monaco Trademark Law does not provide for the opposition period. Accordingly, third parties who feel like their rights are violated may not file for the opposition of the registration of the mark.
Instead, the validity of the trademark in Monaco can only be questioned in the event of a lawsuit at the civil court in Monaco.
Once the examinations have been completed and no errors are detected, the trademark will be registered with no hindrance.
Trademarks registered in Monaco are published black and white in an annex of the quarterly “Journal de Monaco” Intellectual Property Section.
After successful registration of the trademark in Monaco, the trademark will have a protection period of 10 years from the registration date and can be renewed for another period of 10 years indefinitely.
Note:
Normally, the entire process of trademark registration in Monaco takes from 6 to 12 weeks to complete.
The Monaco Patent and Trademark Office does not accept any applications or renewals by fax or mail.
Monaco is a member of the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid protocol. Accordingly, the applicant can file for trademark protection through the Madrid System to obtain trademark protection in Monaco.
You can see a list of Monaco IP firms here.