Under the law at present in force,
trademarks/service marks are registered by means of Declaration of
Ownership at the Registration Office here, followed by publication of
Trademark Cautionary Notices.
The practice
in Myanmar regarding trademark/service mark, at the present is:-
1. Registration of the Ownership of the Trademark/service mark with
the Register of Deeds
and Assurances.
2. Issue of Caution Notice in the local newspapers.
3. Renewal of Registration and re-publication in
every three year.
Documents requirement for Trademark/Service Marks registration in Myanmar.
To file for trademark application in Myanmar,
Declaration of Ownership of Trademark/service mark and Power of
Attorney would be needed.
Declaration
of Ownership of Trademark
In the Declaration the name of the owner of the
trademark/service mark, its address and specification of the
goods/services must be stated and the device (or) logo of the mark
must be pasted on it.
To file for trademark application, a separate
Declaration is needed for each trademark/service mark.
Power of Attorney
In the Power of Attorney, you or your company must
appoint the lawyers of our Associates as your attorneys or agents.
One Power of Attorney is sufficient for any numbers
trademark/service mark of the same owner.
DOCUMENTS EXECUTION
PROCEDURE
Both the documents Declaration and Power of
Attorney must be fully authenticated i.e. signed, notarized,
legalized, and endorsed by Myanmar Embassy in the country concerned.
Declaration and Power of Attorney must be signed by
the same authorized signatory on behalf of the owner/applicant’s
company.
The documents must be notarized and Notary Public’s
signature should be legalized.
The signature of the Notary Public on the documents
must be certified by the Myanmar Diplomatic Mission or Consulate in
the country they are executed.
THE TIME OF VALIDITY
OF DOCUMENTS
Any documents, Declaration and Power of Attorney, executed out side
Myanmar have to be filed for registration within (4) months from the
date of documents executed.
Registration
Registration plays one of the most important roles in protecting of
the trademark/service mark. It has a strong protection for the mark
by registration. Registration of a trademark/service mark is a
relevant factor for the purpose of determining the date since which
the owner had intended to claim the mark as his. Registration is
afforded in order to introduce an action against a third party which
has passed off similar goods bearing the offending mark, thereby
misleading the public. Additionally, registration gives an evidential
value in case of dispute at a court. Moreover, apart form evidentiary
value the practice of registering the trademark/service mark has
become necessary to take proceedings in the courts of our country,
especially where no trademark Act has been promulgated.
Publication of
Cautionary Notice
Publication of trademark/service mark cautionary
notice plays a great part of a trademark/service mark. Therefore,
publication of cautionary notice in local newspaper should follow soon
after the completion of registration of a trademark/service mark. The
purpose of publishing a cautionary notice is to keep reminding the
public the ownership of the trademark/service mark and thereby
warding off a potential infirnger or imitation. Publication of
cautionary notice puts weight on the ownership of a trademark/service
mark in case of litigation at a court, if there is any. However, it is
not compulsory nor a stipulation by any law. It is an established
practice in Myanmar. Also, publication of cautionary notice is usually
repeated after every three year. Additionally of course, such a
publication has a definite trade advertising and commercial value.
Renewal of
Registration
In Myanmar, renewal of registration is optional.
Law does not prescribe it. However, it is an established practice to
renew the registration in every (3) year to make the ownership and the
owner’s rights to the trademark/service mark more forceful in case
of litigation at a court, if there is any. Therefore, renewal of
registration is recommended. It is to be said that the owner of the
trademark/service mark has better protection of it by renewal.
Renewal of registration in every three year shows that the owner is
still using its trademark/service mark. So, renewal of trademark/service mark registration in every three years is recommended. In
Myanmar, people choose to renew its registration of trademark/service
mark in every three years. And it becomes an established practice
here.
