A trademark is a word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, a trademark is a brand name. Trademark rights are used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark.
Intellectual Property rights in Cyprus are modern and comprehensive. Cyprus has harmonized its IPR regime with EU requirement as part of its accession to the EU in 2004. The existing array of local IPR legislation was significantly reinforced with the addition of Law 103/2007, which came into effect on the 12th December 2007, bringing Cyprus in line with EU Directive 29/2005 on unfair commercial practice.
The Intellectual and Industrial Property Section of The Department of the Registrar of Companies deals with trademarks, patents, industrial designs and copyrights.
The registration and protection of trade marks in relation to goods and services in Cyprus is governed by the Trade Marks Law, Cap.268, as amended by Laws 63/62, 69/71, 206/90, 176(I)/2000 and 121(I)/2006 [and by the Regulations of 1951-1992] in conjunction with the Paris International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Laws 63/65 and 66/83).
The Nice Classification is used in Cyprus, under which goods are categorized into 34 classes and services into 11 classes.
To register a trademark in Cyprus the following Procedure is to be followed:
- A preliminary search of the register must first be conducted to ascertain the registrability of the mark.
- The class in which registration will be made has to be determined. The international system of classification is followed in Cyprus and you can find the classification on our website. Click here to view.
- An application [in Greek] is filed which the Registrar examines to ensure that the legal requirements have been complied with. The mark must be distinctive [that is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of the owner from those of another.], it must not deceive [Not be likely to deceive or cause confusion with pre-existing registered or unregistered marks], and it must not resemble marks already registered or whose application is pending. The Registrar can accept the registration of a mark as applied for, accept the registration conditionally or refuse the registration.
- The Registrar’s decision is then communicated to the applicant who has the right to object if the Registrar’s decision is to refuse the registration of a mark or to accept it conditionally.
- If the registration of a mark is accepted it is then published in the Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus. Any person who intends to oppose the registration must file an opposition within a prescribed time period of two months of publication.
The initial period of registration is 7 years which may be renewed on application for 14 years periodically.
As a member of the EU, Cyprus has become a full member of the Office of Harmonization of the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Industrial Designs). Applications for the registration of Community Trade Marks (CTM) may be filed directly with the Registrar, and all CTMs registered or applied for before 1 May 2004 will be extended automatically to Cyprus.
In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the volume of foreign trade mark applications in Cyprus and this trend is expected to continue. For Registration of trade marks in Cyprus the responsibility vests with the Registrar of Trade Marks as set out above.
If you are interested or would like more information on how we can help you please contact us.
The following table shows the statistics for companies registered in Cyprus.