About Trademark

In order for a trademark to be registered, it must comprise of elements, such as for example words, drawings, numbers, colours, sounds, the shape of the product or of its packaging, which meet certain prerequisites.

Distinctive mark

The proposed mark must:

• be capable of distinguishing the products or services of an enterprise from those of other enterprises;
• determine the object of the protection provided to its beneficiary with clarity and accuracy.

Absolute reasons of rejection

Marks that cannot be registered as trademarks, among others, are those comprising of elements that:

• lack distinctive character; suggest the type, quality, quantity, destination, value, geographical origin or time of production or of service provision or other characteristics of the product or service;
• have become common in the vernacular or the established practice of transactions;
• exclusively comprise of the product's shape or other characteristic imposed by the actual nature of the product or is necessary for the achievement of a technical result or provides substantial value to the product;
• conflict with public order or good morals;
• may mislead the public, as to the nature, quality or geographical origin of the product or service;
• include a coat of arms, flag or other state emblem of countries of the European Union without the licence of competent authorities; include a symbol, emblem, coat of arms or element of great symbolic significance and of special public interest, and particularly religious symbols, representations and words;
• conflict with legislation for the protection of designations of origin and geographical indications, traditional terms of wines, guaranteed traditional speciality products, plant variety rights of the same specie or closely related species;
• the registration's application was made in bad faith by the applicant.

Relative reasons of rejection

Marks that cannot be registered as trademarks, among others, are those comprising of elements which:

• are identical to an earlier registered Trademark (national, European, or international with protection in the Republic of Cyprus) or an application for its registration, and the relevant products or services for which its registration is requested are also identical or similar, to such a degree that there is a risk of confusing the public with those for which the earlier mark is protected;
• are similar to an earlier registered Trademark (national, European, or international with protection in the Republic of Cyprus) or an application for its registration, and the relevant products or services for which its registration is requested are also identical or similar, to such a degree that there is a risk of confusing the public with those for which the earlier mark is protected;
• are identical or similar to an earlier registered Trademark (national, European, or international with protection in the Republic of Cyprus) provided that the earlier mark has acquired reputation in the Republic of Cyprus or, in case of a European trademark, has acquired reputation in the E.U., and the use of the later mark without reasonable cause would bring about unfair benefit from the distinctive character or the reputation of the earlier mark or would harm its distinctive character or reputation;
• are contrary to an earlier application for name of origin or geographical indication, according to the legislation of the Republic of Cyprus or the European Union, whereby the right of prohibition of use of the later mark is conferred;
• are contrary to an earlier non-registered mark or other distinctive element that is used in transactions, which provides to the beneficiary the right of prohibition of use of the later mark;
• their use may be prohibited pursuant to an earlier right over the name, personality, authors' rights or a right of industrial ownership;
• may create confusion with a mark that has been registered and is used within the territory of the Republic of Cyprus at the time of submission of an application for registration, if this was made in bad faith;
• the application for registration was submitted in the name of and without the licence of the beneficiary.

It is noted that, a trademark may be registered in case of submission of written consent by the beneficiary of the earlier mark, unless an apparent risk of misleading the public is caused, particularly as to the nature, quality or geographical origin of the product or service.