On 11 April 2023, the Decision on Trademark No.0436/MOIC ("Decision"), which was issued on 30 March 2023 ("Decision"), was published in the Official Gazette of Lao PDR ("e-Gazette"). The Decision took effect 15 days after its publication in the e-Gazette. It replaces the Decision on Trademarks and Trade Names No.2822/MTC dated 17 December 2019.
The key provisions of the Decision are set out below.
Conditions of Trademark Samples
The Decision provides that trademark samples in the form of drawings, photos or images, three-dimensional images or motion marks must be made in electronic form or in the form of quality paper (non-glossy), with detail and clarity, showing only the mark. It shall not contain other elements that are not part of the mark to be registered.
Conducting Searches of Trademarks
Individuals, legal entities or organisations that intend to find out whether a trademark they want to use has been registered or not, can submit a request for trademark search to the Department of Industry and Commerce ("DIC") of their province or the capital city. They will be notified of the result within 10 working days.
Trademark Registration
Applicants for trademark registration may submit a request for such registration or extension to the DIC of their province or the capital city. This may also be submitted electronically in the same form as the hard copy form by the Department of Intellectual Property.
Representation in Trademark Registration and Other Operations
The following can represent themselves, or an entity or organisation in the trademark registration process and other operations:
- Any person who is jointly designated and appointed as a representative in the case of several joint designs;
- Lawyers;
- Intellectual Property Agent;
- debt collection services; and
- Lao citizens hired by the trademark registration applicants to represent them.
Trademark owners who are based overseas must assign a local trademark representative, which can either be an Intellectual property registration service representative company or a lawyer, in order to register their trademarks in Laos. They must execute a Power of Attorney ("POA") in favour of the representative, specifying the validity period of the POA and the scope of the representative's work.
Term of Protection and Maintenance of Term of Protection
A trademark has a protection period of ten years from the filing date, which can be renewed for another ten years by filing an application for renewal of protection with the DIC of the province or capital, or through electronic means. The application for renewal must be submitted within six months prior to the expiry of the protection period.
A trademark that does not have a term of protection or has expired/has not been renewed will be considered as a public mark.
