- European
2. The current trademark regulations in Montenegro are mainly based on the Trademark Law that came into effect on December 16, 2010.
3. The "Montenegro Intellectual Property Office" is responsible for managing trademark affairs, and the official language is Montenegrin.
4. Trademark exclusive rights need to be obtained through registration. The trademark registration in Montenegro adopts the principle of "application first", but in some cases, trademark rights can also be claimed through "prior use".
Montenegro is a party to international intellectual property treaties such as the Nairobi Treaty, the Paris Convention, the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, the TRIPS Agreement, and the Vienna Agreement. It is also a member of the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol. Therefore, trademark registration in Montenegro can be handled through either the "single country registration" or the "Madrid trademark registration" method.
The Montenegrin trademark is valid for 10 years after registration, starting from the date of application. Renewal can be processed within 6 months before expiration, and the validity period remains 10 years after renewal.
Natural or legal persons who do not have a domicile, main place of business, or a genuine and valid industrial and commercial enterprise in Montenegro must entrust a specialized agent in that country to handle the matter. The basic materials required for trademark registration in Montenegro are:
1. Trademark design;
2. Category and specific product/service items;
3. Name and address of the applicant;
4. Power of attorney;
If priority is declared, proof of priority must be provided.
The application will be accepted within about 2 weeks after submission. The examiner will conduct formal and substantive examinations on the application.
Mainly review whether the application requirements and classification information comply with regulations; The substantive examination includes the examination of the distinctiveness of the trademark and whether it violates the prohibition and prohibition clauses. If the examination fails, a rejection notice will be issued and the applicant will be required to respond within the time limit specified in the rejection notice. If the substantive examination passes, it will be arranged for public announcement.
From the date of announcement, there is a 3-month objection period, during which anyone can raise objections to the registration of the trademark. The main reasons for raising objections are:
1. Conflict with prior trademarks, such as owning a prior registered trademark;
2. The trademark lacks distinctiveness;
3. The trademark has adverse effects;
4. Malicious registration;
5. Conflict with other prior rights, such as trade name rights, design rights, copyrights, personal names, etc.
If no objection is raised or the objection is not valid during the announcement period, registration may be granted and a registration certificate issued. If everything goes smoothly, trademark registration in Montenegro currently takes about 1.5 years; If there is a rejection or objection, the time will be greatly extended.
