Trademark registration in the Czech Republic

The official language when registering a trademark at the Czech Intellectual Property Office is Czech.

Multiple trademarks can be registered with one application in the Czech Republic.

An application for registration of a mark in the Czech Republic must contain the following information: the mark to be registered, the request for registration of the mark in the Czech Republic, information on the applicant(s), a list of goods and/ or registration service, priority document (if priority is required), trademark sample, proof of payment of registration fees.

No need to legalize or notarize Power of Attorney (POA). This document must be submitted to the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic upon application or within 2 months from the date of receipt of the notice of submission of the POA. A scanned copy of the signed and dated POA is required when filing a trademark application, but an original POA may be requested at any stage of the proceedings.

Priority information must be submitted with the trademark application; Priority documentation must be submitted within three months of trademark registration. PTO may request the translation of priority documents into Czech.

The time to object to a trademark application is three months from the date of publication of the trademark application.

The application for registration of a mark in the Czech Republic is subjected to a process of examination of form and content, including a test of distinctiveness.

The official fee for the certificate of a trademark registration must be paid within 30 days of the filing date. The term of protection of a trademark registered in the Czech Republic is ten years from the date of filing. The term of protection can be extended many times and each renewal will give the trademark an additional 10 years of validity. Renewal requests may be filed in the last year of the protection period at the earliest but must be prior to the expiration date of the mark. Renewal requests can also be filed within six months after the date the trademark expires; however, there will be an additional charge. If the renewal request is not filed, the trademark will be canceled.

Trademarks will be canceled if not used in the Czech Republic. This can happen if the mark is not used within 5 consecutive years from the date of registration of the mark.

For foreign applicants, a trademark search in the Czech Republic should be carried out through a law firm, or a trademark registration attorney in the Czech Republic.