New intellectual property legislations and fee schedules implemented worldwide
Argentina
The Argentinian Patent and Trademark Office (INPI) issued a resolution on July 23, 2024 outlining and implementing modifications to the trademark opposition procedure in the jurisdiction, a move which is hoped to address the backlog of pending trademark cases before the INPI.
As per the resolution, a new fee has been introduced with regard to trademark oppositions. As such, any applicants who receive a third-party opposition against their trademark application are obligated to pay a fee of 8,900 ARS within a period of 15 working days, calculated from the date of notification of the opposition.
This fee is only payable once per trademark application, meaning that the cost will cover the overall opposition procedure regardless of how many oppositions are received. As payment of this fee is mandatory, any applications with outstanding oppositions for which the fee has not been paid within the prescribed time period will be automatically denied without any prior notice.
In addition to applying to all new cases of trademark application oppositions, the resolution will also have a retroactive effect on cases whereby the applicant has not yet responded to any and all third-party oppositions.
As part of the transitional measures for the implementation of the resolution, the Argentine INPI will notify all applicants for which the opposition fee is due and owing, inclusive of those with outstanding oppositions in relation to applications filed prior to the introduction of the resolution.
Rwanda
As of July 31, 2024, a new and reformed version of the Law on the Protection of Intellectual Property (IP) entered into force in Rwanda.
The new legislation introduced a multitude of legal and procedural amendments to the IP field in the country, including establishing a more streamlined foundation for the protection of IP rights.
As per the legislative reforms, the requirements in relation to the registration of trademarks have been further codified, introducing clarified grounds upon which a trademark can be refused. These grounds for refusal include if the trademark is found to be descriptive, made in bad faith, as an act of unfair competition, too similar to a well-known trademark or previously registered mark, is likely to cause confusion to consumers, or is misleading to consumers.
Further, the new law also clarifies that in instances where the formal requirements for the registration of a trademark haven't been met, the Rwandan IP authority will issue a formal notice to the trademark applicant advising them that they have a total of 14 days from the date of notification to bring their application into line with said requirements. In cases whereby said formality requirements are then met by the applicant, the trademark application will be assigned a filing date as of the date of compliance with the requirements. If these requirements are not met within the 14-day period, the trademark application will be withdrawn.
Moreover, the amended IP law also further clarified particular elements of the procedures regarding the registration of international trademarks by way of the Madrid System. As per the new legislation, it is stated that the IP Registry of Rwanda is obligated to notify applicants through the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) of any provisional refusals within a period of 12 months. If such a decision of refusal is not reached within this prescribed time, the trademark application will be deemed accepted by the IP Office.
Another prominent amendment to the IP law of Rwanda is the reformation detailing that any owner of a canceled international trademark will henceforth be permitted to submit a request for conversion of the exact same mark to a national one in Rwanda. If such an application is submitted, the national trademark application will have the same priority date as the previously refused international application.
In order for the conversion of an international trademark to a Rwandan national mark be successful, the application should comply with all national requirements, be filed within a period of 3-months from the cancellation date of the international mark, and should detail the same goods and services contained within the international application.
Qatar
Qatar recently revised several intellectual property directives with regard to patent annuity fees, which initially stipulated that the Qatar IPO would allow applicants to opt out of paying the yearly fees in cases whereby a patent application had remained pending for a period of up to three years. This was later revised to stipulate that the Qatar IPO was not able to accept payment of the yearly fees in any instance, unless the patent had been granted.
On September 15, 2024, however, the Qatar IPO issued a further update to this policy confirming that the requirement of payment of patent annuities has been reinstated for all patent applications, meaning that applicants are now obliged to pay any and all outstanding annuity fees from the 2nd annuity onwards, regardless of whether the patent has been granted or not.
Further amendments to the IP system of Qatar have been introduced, including the implementation of new requirements relating to Powers of Attorney (POA) in the jurisdiction. As such, all POAs must henceforth be locally attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar in order to be effective.
Moreover, any POAs that were not originally drafted in the Arabic language must be translated and certified prior to being submitted. The translated version of the POA must then be filed alongside the original document in order to facilitate a more efficient process for IP protection. Additionally, any POAs that have been in effect for three years or more following their date of issuance are now required to obtain a stamp of validation by the Qatar Ministry of Justice in order to continue being valid.
A further amendment to the Qatar IP system entered into effect with regard to the fees charged in relation to Madrid Protocol filings. As per the amendments, in cases whereby Qatar has been designated in a trademark application filed via the Madrid System, the fees due will be paid directly by way of an individual designation fee as opposed to the previous system whereby the country would receive a share of the standard fees through the Madrid Protocol. As such, a fee of 1,127 CHF per each class of goods or services for trademark designations will be due, as well as 876 CHF per class for renewal, for example. The new fees in relation to Madrid trademarks in Qatar entered into effect as of August 3, 2024.
Several other fees in relation to IP matters have seen significant reductions in relation to Qatar with discounts of up to 90% now applicable on services related to business and IP matters. Such discounts have been implemented with the aim of encouraging foreign investment in the country and strengthening the business landscape.
Libya
Following a recent period of time in which the jurisdiction of Libya ceased to be able to accept new trademark applications, the Libyan Trademark Office announced that it resumed its acceptance of new trademark applications as of September 2, 2024.