Bahrain: Summary of the Trademark Registration System in Bahrain

Bahrain is a member to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property as of October 29, 1996; however, claiming priority is not possible at the present moment, until the amendment of the law. The international classification of goods and services for the purpose of registration of marks is followed. A separate application is filed for each class of goods or services.

Once a trade/service mark application is filed, the trademark is examined as to its registrability. Trademark applications accepted by the Registrar are published in the Official Gazette. There is a 60 day period open for filing an opposition by any interested party. An opposition to the registration of a trademark should be prosecuted before the Registrar by an authorized agent or the proprietors themselves within the prescribed period as from the date of publication; such an opposition case should be settled by the Registrar. In the absence of an opposition, a published trademark is registered, and the certificate of registration is issued.

It is noteworthy that trademark rights are acquired by registration. However, a trademark application can be opposed successfully upon producing sufficient proof of the prior use of the mark in Bahrain and elsewhere in the world.

A trademark registration is valid for 10 years as from the date of filing the application. Thereafter, a trademark registration is renewable for periods of 10 years each. The Trademark Law provides for a three-month grace period for late renewal of a trademark. If a trademark is not renewed the law does not allow third parties to register the trademark unless after the lapse of three years from the date of cancellation.

The assignment and the authorized user of a trademark can be recorded once the trademark is registered, but an authorized user can be recorded along with the application for registration at once. Such a recordal is published in the Official Gazette. The assignment of a trademark can be accepted only with the goodwill and the business concern together. All other changes can be recorded after the registration of a trademark.

Use of trademarks in Bahrain is not compulsory for filing applications for registration nor for maintaining trademark registrations in force. However, a trademark is vulnerable to cancellation by any interested party who can establish that the trademark was not actually used during the five years preceding the application for cancellation, or that there was no bona fide intention of using the trademark on the goods in respect of which the trademark was registered.

Unauthorized use of a trademark registered under the law or an imitation of such trademark applied on goods of the same class, or sale, storing for the purpose of sale, or exhibiting for sale of goods bearing a counterfeit mark, or using a mark duly registered under the law by another person to serve the purpose of unauthorized promotion of goods of the same class are offenses punishable under the law in Bahrain.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

For further information you make also like to view the Intellectual Property Bulletins published monthly by Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property - IP Bulletins