FAQs

A Trademark is a mark which consists of points based on graphic appearance. It may include words, including the name of a person, images, letters, numbers, the shape of the product or the package or any combination of these, which can distinguish the product or services of an enterprise from the corresponding ones of other enterprises, provided that the mark is used or is intended to be used for such distinction purposes.

For further details, please refer to the page About Trade Mark.

It cannot be registered as a Trademark, a mark which is not compliant with the provisions of articles 11(1), 13 and 14 of the Trademarks Law Cap. 268. A Trademark cannot be registered if:

• It does not fall within the interpretation of the definition of a Trademark, which is contained in Article 2 of the Trademarks Law;
• Lacks distinctive character;
• Comprises exclusively of points that show they type, quality, quantity, destination, value, geographic origin or manufacturing time of the good;
• May be misleading as to the nature, quality or geographic origin of the good or service;
• Includes a symbol of large value and particularly a religious symbol;
• The application for registration was made in bad faith by the applicant.
• Opposes public order or good morals;
• Is identical, or similar to an already registered Trademark, in the national, community or international register, regarding identical or similar goods or services.

There are the following types of Trademarks:

• Word: Word Trademarks contain words and/or letters in fixed characters;
• Figurative: Figurative Trademarks contain images and/or graphics. They do not contain words and/or letters;
• Combined (Word with figure): Combined trademarks contain words and/or letters in combination with images and/or graphics, even images and/or graphics that contain words and/or letters. Combined Trademarks are also considered to be those containing non-Latin characters and letters with special manners of writing;
• Three-dimensional: Three-dimensional trademarks include at least thee sides of the Trademark.

For further details follow the page Types of Trademarks.

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The registration procedure of a trademark begins with the filing of an application by an authorised lawyer with the form Ε.Σ. Αρ.2. The application is filed as a pending application, a relevant number is given and an examination is followed for any omissions or mistakes.

Following the submission, the application is examined accrording Article 14 in relation to identical/similar pre-registered national, community and international trademarks based in Cyprus and according Article 11, which concerns registrability and distinctiveness of the trademark. The Registrar of Trademarks issues a decision which can be an absolute acceptance, objection, or conditional or restricted acceptance.

In case of objection, or conditional or restricted acceptance, a comprehensive written reply and/or a request for hearing before the Registrar of Trademarks can be filed. In case of absolute acceptance, or conditional or restricted acceptance whose terms where accepted by the applicant, the fees for publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic are paid.

Within two months from the publication date, a notice of objection to the registration of the trademark can be filed by any person by the submission of form Ε.Σ.αρ.5, stating the objection reasons. If there is no objection, form Ε.Σ. Αρ.9f is paid for the issue of registration certificate. If this fee is not paid within the specified deadline, form Ε.Σ. Αρ.8 is sent, whereby final notice is given to the applicant for the payment of the relevant fee within a period of one month.

For further details follow the page Registration of National Trade Mark.

The application available through efling is form Ε.Σ. Αρ.2 (Application for Trademark Registration).

The benefits for online submissions are very important because it is not compulsory to be accompanied by a power of attorney and a priority is given for the examination.

To obtain access and use the e-filing system of trademarks, you must first register to the government gateway portal “ARIADNI”, if you are not already registered, as a law firm user or as an authorised user of law firm or as natural person (registered lawyer).

Following the registration, the user’s profile will be activated by the Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property Section, provided that the appropriate form is completed according to the guidance. All the guidance as well as forms are available on the webpage of the Intellectual Property Section. Our office must verify the user’s details before the activation of user's profile in the system. If it deems necessary, the Registrar may request the submission of additional documents before the activation of the users profile. 

For more details, pleases refer to the page Obtain access to e-filing.

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Two months before the expiration of the trademark, a notice is sent to the owner for the filing of a renewal. If the form Ε.Σ. Αρ.32 ,relating the has already been submitted, then one month before the expiry of the trademark, a second notice is sent to this address. If the relevant renewal fee is filed with form Ε.Σ. Αρ.11, the trademark is renewed and a relevant certificate is issued. If the renewal fee is not paid, then the trademark is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus under the category “Unpaid Renewal Fees”.

Within two months from the publication date, additional fees for the renewal can be submitted with form Ε.Σ. Αρ.11 together with form Ε.Σ. Αρ.12. After the expiration of two months, the trademark is strike off from the register. A trademark that is strike off, can be restored with the submission of the renewal fees with form Ε.Σ. Αρ.13 accompanied with an affidavit stating the the reasons of non-renewal.

For more details, please refer to the page Trade mark renewal.

If the trademark covers different classes of goods/services, then separate applications must be submitted for each class. 

Following the European court decision in realation to the “IP Translator” case and within the context of the European convergence program “Class heading”, the Registrar of Trademarks decided that from 01/01/2013 in national applications, the phrase “all goods/services of the class” shall not be acceptable for Trademark registration. Instead of this phrase, you can use “commonly accepted set of general classification terms covering all products or services of a given class at a given time”. This set of general terms is called “application fields of classes” and is available in TMClass tool.

It is an expanded database, which includes national Trademark registers of all participating offices. It is available to the public 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and in all languages of the participating offices. In case of any additions in new Trademarks or changes to existing Trademarks the register is updated on the following day. Its use is provided free of charge.

The register of trademarks is maintained at the office of the Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property. In regards with the pending applications for trademark registration, these are filed in the list of pending applications until the issue of their certificate of registration, where they will be filed in the national trademarks register.

The change of owner’s name for registered trademarks can be made with form ΕΣ. Αρ. 21. As a requirenment for the change of owner’s name, is the submission of any original or certified copies whereby certifying the relevant change by the competent authority of the owner’s country. Regarding documents from abroad, 2€ (two euro) stamp duty must be attached and a certified translation by an affidavit. Additionally, a form of authorisation with the new owner’s name must be filed.

The change of owner’s address for registered trademarks can be made with form ΕΣ. Αρ. 18. As regards the change of address, no further documents are required. The application for change of owner’s name or address can be submitted for more than one trademarks.

For further details follow the page Amending Trademark's particulars.

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The assignment of a trademark can be completed with form Ε.Σ.16. In order to be able to examine the application, the assignment agreement or certified copies must be submitted. Regarding documents submitted from abroad, a fee of tow (2€) euro stamp duty must be attached and translated in the Greek language by an affidavit, along with the authorisation form by the assignee.The application for the trademark assignment can be submitted for more than one trademarks.

In case where one of the assingment participants, is Cypriot, the agreement must be duly stamped by the Registrar of Stamp Duties.

The registration of the licensee is submitted with form Ε.Σ. 43. A prerequisite for such registration is that the trademark must be registered and renewed.

The form Ε.Σ. 43 must be accompanied by the following:

• statement of case by affidavit: which is a summary of the agreement between the involved parties. In case where it is from abroad, then two (€2) stamp duty must be attached.

It must include:

1. If the licensee is exclusive or not (obligatory information);
2. duration of the right (obligatory information);
3. whether the use involves all or some of the goods/services covered by the mark (obligatory information);
4. other information, e.g. owner’s right of supervision over whether the specifications are included, etc (optional information).

The agreement between the two parties for the right of use is not obligatory to be submitted to the Department. The submssion is compulsory only when it is expressly stated in the statement of case.

It is noted that any attached document from abroad must be translated in Greek, either by an affidavit or by sworn translator of the Republic of Cyprus. The examination of the application follows and the publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic.

The cancellation of a licensee is submitted wiht form Ε.Σ.45. It can be submitted either by the owner of the trademark or by the licensee, or by both of them. In case where the trademark has more than one licensees, a separate cancellation form must be submitted for each one. Cancellation may concern all or some of the marks of the owner.

Form Ε.Σ.45 must be accompanied by:

• Declaration by the owner or the licensee or by both for the cancellation reasons.

It is noted that any attached document from abroad must be translated in Greek, either by an affidavit or by sworn translator of the Republic of Cyprus. The examination of the application follows and the publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic.

In case where the declaration of licence cancellation is made only by the owner, prior notice of the cancellation shall be made in the official gazette of the Republic and, within two months, if there is no objection, we proceed to the completion of the application and its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic.

According to Nice classification, an international classification of goods and services applied the goods or services for which trademarks are submitted, are classified in various categories (classes).Nice classification consists of forty five (45) classes of goods and services. The Nice classification assigns goods from classes 1 to 34, and services from classes 35 to 45.Each class is represented by a class heading, which provides general information on the type of goods or services it represents, and under the heading there is a wide spectrum of product or service terms that fall within the class.

Cyprus follows the Nice classification.

For further information regarding the relevant procedure, you may refer to the page About trade mark.

Vienna classification is an international classification system which was established in 1973 by the Vienna agreement for the classification of figurative elements of Trademarks and is managed by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Vienna classification constitutes an hierarchical which proceeds from general to particular, classifying all figurative elements of trademarks into categories, subdivisions and sections based on their shape.

Cyprus follows the Vienna classification.

For further information regarding the relevant procedure, you may refer to the page About trade mark.

A European trademark may be converted into a national, in the cases where the community application is cancelled/dismissed in the EUIPO:

The applicant within 3 months from the cancellation date has the right to submit to the EUIPO an application for conversion.Upon examination of the the application,EUIPO will decide to accept it or not and will notify accordingly by letter the national offices, accompanied by relevant documents, in order to proceed. Following that, the national office acts appropriately for the authorisation of a lawyer in Cyprus, in order to submit the national application accompanied with all the relevant to the conversion documents translated. In this case, the conversion application is submitted to obtain the submission date of the application to the EUIPO.

Also, within the context of conversion, a possibility of claiming a priority date is given, if with the community application a priority date had been requested on the basis of the trademark application in an previous country. The national office accepts it and examines all related documents.EUIPO, is responsible for a detailed examination of priority documents.Upon the submission of the community trademark,EUIPO decides whether the depositor has the right to claim a priority date. In this way, the time limit of 6 months from the submission date in another country until the submission of the application in Cyprus can be exceeded. Following that, the conversion can be submitted to claim a priority date on the basis of the Paris Convention, after the conversion of the community trademark.

In order the request for the claim of the submission date at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) or the priority date on the basis of the Paris Convention to be accepted, point (f) of Ε.Σ. 2 must be completed as below:

“The date ……… is claimed, as the date of submission of community application no. …….. to the European Union Intellectual Property Office”

or

“The date …….. is claimed, as the priority date, on the basis of the Paris Convention, following a conversion of community trademark no. ………”

For further information regarding the relevant procedure, you may refer to the page Converting European trademark into national.

The Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks, provides a single procedure for the registration of a Trademark in different countries. It is governed by two treaties, the Madrid agreement and the Protocol relating to the Madrid agreement and is managed by the International Office of WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland.

Some of the advantages of an International Registration are:

Geographic advantages; an applicant using the Madrid system may submit an application for the protection of a trademark in 98 contracting member-states with one application and language,by paying a total fee, instead of submitting separate applications in different offices of the various member-states.

• Following the registration of a Trademark through the Madrid system, the holder of an international registration can extend the geographic scope of the trademark in additional contracting areas in a fast, simple and cost effective way;
• There will be a single expiry date only, despite of how many of the parties have been included in the international registration of a trademark by the use of the Madrid system;. The submission may be renewed in a simple way (and electronically) for all or any of the parties included in the registration;
• The management cost (e.g. translation of the list of goods and services, representative fees) is lower when comparing to various filings in national territories;
• Generally, there are fewer delays due to the single management system.

The Madrid system does not cover all countries internationally. You can find relevant information of the list with the countries of protection at the WIPO website.

All international applications after 31/10/2015 are filed with the submission of form MM2 with the Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property.

Applications claiming protection in the U.S.A. must also submit form MM18.

All applications are available at http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/forms.

Guidance on how to complete the forms can be found in the GUIDE TO THE INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION OF MARKS UNDER THE MADRID AGREEMENT AND THE MADRID PROTOCOL.

For the submission of MM2 form, explanatory notes on how to complete the form are provided at http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/forms.

For further details , please follow the page Registration of International Trade mark (Madrid system).

All applications are available at http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/forms.

The procedure for the assignment, change of name, change of address, change of representative etc., of an International Trademark is available in the GUIDE TO THE INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION OF MARKS UNDER THE MADRID AGREEMENT AND THE MADRID PROTOCOL.

Before the completion of the forms (assignment, change of address etc.) at an International level, a corresponding and relevant change must be submittted in a National level.

Yes, it is a necessary prerequisite.

An international application may be registered , provided that the trademark has been registered or an application for registration has been filed in a national level.

The cost for registration depends on the number of selected parties, the number of classes and on whether the mark is black and white or colour.

The cost for the supplementary registration depends on the number of selected parties and the number of classes.

The cost for renewal depends mainly on the number of selected parties and the number of classes.

The method of payment to the WIPO are the following:

• By charging a current account that has been opened in the International Office;
• By Payment in the bank account of WIPO;
• Through credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express), in cases where electronic payment has been made available by the International Office;
• By payment to the postal account of WIPO (only within Europe).

The fee payment in the case of an international application, supplementary registration or change to an international filing must be made on day on which the application was received by the International Office. If the fees have not been paid, the International Office shall send a notice of irregularity to the applicant, requesting the payment of fees within three months of the date of notification of the irregularity by the International Office.

In case where the fees are not paid through the office of origin, the office is not obliged to check whether payment has been made.

Payment cannot be made in currency other than the Swiss franc (CHF).

Following the submission of an international application with the office of the Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property, within two months of the submission date, all necessary corrections must be made, before sending the application to the International Office. Otherwise, the registration date shall be deemed to be the date of receipt of the application by the International Office.

The International Office (WIPO), after examining if the the application that is compliant with the relevant guidances, registers the trademark into the International Register. It proceeds to inform the Office of origin and sends a certificate of international filing to the trademark holder or to the representative thereof. Also, it informs the parties that have been specified in the application of international registration. The trademark offices parties proceed to examine the trademark and either protect it, or reject, within the time limits specified in the agreement or protocol. The deadline for a party to notify a dismissal is generally one year. According to the protocol, however, a party can declare that this period must be 18 months (or even more).

No.The international application (MM2) must be sent to the International Office through the Origin Office.

An international application may be submitted in English, French or Spanish. However, the Origin Office may limit the choice to one or two of these languages. The Cypriot office has set the English language as the language of registration.

The persons entitled to file an International Trademark are the lawyers who are licenced professionals in Cyprus.

The International Office maintains an online database, so called ROMARIN (Read-Only-Memory of Madrid Active Registry Information) as well as the Madrid Monitor, which are available free of charge.

You may get informed of the status of your trademark in the following links:

• Monitor: Madrid e-Services and
• Madrid Monitor.

Nice classification is a system for the international classification of goods and services.

The trademark shall be protected only for the goods and/or services mentioned in the application. The classification of goods and/or services must be made according to the international classification of goods and services (“Nice classification”).

An international registration, initially is protected for 10 years and the protection can be renewed indefinitely. Each renewal is made for an additional 10 years.