The Macau Jin Lei intellectual property team specializes in providing Macao trademark application agency services.

In accordance with the relevant intellectual property laws and regulations of Macau, the procedure for applying for a trademark in Macau is as follows:

Submission of application-Formal review (instantaneous)-Acceptance (without formal defects)-Registration of application notice (two months for opposition period)-Substantive examination-Grant-Publication of approval notice (One month)-Receive the certificate, the whole process is about 8 months ...

As Macau is a Special Administrative Region and has its own legislative power, the intellectual property system is also different from that of Mainland China and Hong Kong. Macau law has its roots in Portuguese law, and the intellectual property legal system is also affected by the Paris Convention. According to Macau law, some of the questions that customers are more concerned about during the trademark registration application process are as follows:

1. Can the trademark be used without registration?
Answer: The current laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region do not stipulate that a trademark must be registered before it can be used on related products or services.
Users of unregistered trademarks do not have the exclusive right to use or prohibit others from using it.

2. What protection can I get after trademark registration?
Answer: Regardless of whether a trademark is registered or not, any trademark holder can protect its trademark in accordance with the 'Unfair Competition Litigation' in the Commercial Code. An 'unfair competition suit' must prove that the trademark enjoys a reputation and that the trademark holder has suffered losses.
If a trademark is registered under the 'Industrial Property Legal System', the trademark holder has the right to prohibit a third party from using his trademark or an approximate similarity mark for registration-related purposes without obtaining his consent Products or services, or similar products or services.
Therefore, the trademark exclusive rights granted by registration are easier to establish than the rights of the Commercial Code.

3. How long does it usually take to register a Macao trademark?
A: In the case of complete information and no third party to raise a statement of objection, trademark registration generally takes about six to eight months.

4. Is advertising a method of trademark use?
Answer: Yes, the purpose of advertising is to allow consumers to accept a certain product from the intrinsic quality and appearance of the product, and to establish a link between the product and a specific trademark or manufacturer in the minds of consumers.

5. After the death of the trademark owner, who owns the exclusive right to the trademark?
Answer: After the death of the trademark owner, the exclusive right of the registered trademark is owned by its legal heir, and relevant procedures shall be completed.

6. How should the trademark to be registered be colored in the trademark application?
Answer: Since the announcement published in the Bulletin of the Macao Special Administrative Region is black and white, when applying for registration of a colored trademark, the color and related description should be stated in the application form.

7. What are the benefits of early retrieval?
A: Early search allows trademark applicants to access information on trademark applications that have been applied for in Macao, minimizing obstacles to registration that are similar to registered trademarks.
The Economic Services Bureau has launched an online trademark registration inquiry service since February 1, 2005, which provides convenience to people from all walks of life and shortens the time for trademark registration.

8. During the trademark search, I found that there is a registered text mark that is the same as the text of the mixed mark to be registered. Can the mixed mark still be applied for trademark registration?
Answer: For the combination of text and graphics, both the overall comparison and the main part of the trademark must be compared, because the text pronunciation, meaning, overall structure, number of words, arrangement, and graphics or text in the trademark are included in the trademark. Whether it is a significant part, etc., are taken into consideration. Therefore, whether a trademark registration can be obtained depends on the specific situation, and the purpose is not to mislead or confuse consumers.

9. What words, marks or logos does the trademark applicant not have exclusive rights to use?
Answer: If a trademark includes marks that can indicate the type, quality, use, value, place of origin, etc. of a product or service, or modern languages, or marks or signs commonly used in business practice, these marks or signs are not considered It is used exclusively by the applicant, that is, the applicant does not have 'exclusive right to use' for it.
For example: if the applicant applies for registration of 'XX Bank' and 'XX Bakery', the applicant does not have the exclusive right to use the 'Bank' and 'Bakery'.

10. Can trademarks be protected outside the Macao Special Administrative Region?
Answer: The Macao Special Administrative Region's trademark registration system is territorial, and trademark laws only protect trademarks granted in Macao. If you want to be protected in another country or region, you must apply separately in those countries or regions.

11. Are Mainland registered trademarks protected in Macau?
Answer: Because of the territoriality of the trademark registration system in the Macao Special Administrative Region, Macao's trademark laws only protect trademarks granted in this region. Therefore, trademarks registered outside the Macao SAR must be re-applied in accordance with the regulations of the Macao SAR in order to be protected in Macao.

12. How to classify products or services?
Answer: Applicants may refer to the 'Nice Classification' established by the World Intellectual Property Organization to classify products or services using trademarks.

13. How should I apply for a trademark to be used in many different types of products or services?
Answer: According to the 'Singleness of Registration Application and Trademark Registration' stipulated in Article 204 of the 'Legal System of Industrial Property', one application can only fill in a single category of products or services. Services, multiple applications are required. For example, to register a trademark in a clothing and beauty salon, two applications are required.

14. When is it necessary to submit a power of attorney when registering a Macao trademark?
Answer: If the applicant is not a resident of the Macao SAR or a legal person (ie a company, association, etc.) established in the Macao SAR, the following persons must be appointed as their agents and a valid power of attorney should be submitted:
A lawyer registered with the Macao Bar Association; or
Macau SAR residents; or
A legal person established under the laws of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
If the power of attorney is not in the official language of the region, a translation in any of the official languages ​​(Chinese or Portuguese) must be submitted.

15. How much denomination stamp should be affixed to the power of attorney and its translation?
A: The first page of the power of attorney must be affixed with a MOP 25 stamp, and each page must be affixed with a MOP 5 stamp. The first page of the translation of the power of attorney must be affixed with a stamp of MOP15, and each subsequent page must be stamped with MOP5.

16. How to fill out and submit the application form for registration of Macao trademark?
Answer: The applicant must complete the 'Trademark Registration Application Form' and submit it to the Intellectual Property Office together with the power of attorney, priority document, other license certification documents and its Chinese or Portuguese translations as required.

17. Can the payment period be extended?
Answer: The applicant should pay the relevant fees within eight working days after the application form is numbered. Since the application date is calculated based on the payment date, the payment period cannot be extended.

18. How do I go through the formalities of changing application information?
Answer: Trademark applicants must fill in the 'Application for Other Acts', together with the required documents, submit the application as required and pay the corresponding fees.

19. How can I view a trademark notice?
Answer: The notice of protection of industrial property rights published in the 'Macao Special Administrative Region Gazette' can be consulted through the 'Protection of Trademark Registration' on the website of the Printing Bureau.
Website: http://www.imprensa.macau.gov.mo/

20. How to file a trademark objection?
Answer: Within two months from the date of the publication of the trademark application announcement in the 'Gazette of the Macao Special Administrative Region', anyone can raise a written objection to the Intellectual Property Office regarding the application for registration of the trademark.

21. How to handle the procedure of trademark transfer?
A: Registered trademarks can be accompanied by the original certification of transfer and the “Trademark Registration Certificate”, fill out the “Application for Other Acts”, submit and pay corresponding fees to the Intellectual Property Office, and only need to complete the trademarks that are still in the application stage 'Application for Other Acts' and accompanying transfer documents, and pay related fees.

22. What changes should be made after the company name or address is changed?
Answer: After the company's name or address is changed, it is necessary to fill in the 'Other Behavior Application Form' and submit the application as required.

23. How to handle trademark renewal application?
Answer: The trademark registration is valid for seven years from the date of approval and can be renewed an unlimited number of times for the same period.
Applications for renewal of registered trademarks should be submitted within the last six months of the validity period. The trademark holder must submit and pay the renewal fee to the Intellectual Property Office by filling in the “Application for Other Acts” and attaching the original “Trademark Registration Certificate”.
Six months after the expiry of the trademark, the renewal fee can still be paid together with additional costs. If the validity period exceeds six months, the trademark will be invalidated. If you want to protect it, you need to re-apply the relevant application.
24. What can I do if my application for trademark registration in Macau is rejected?

Answer: The instructions for approval or rejection of registration are published in the 'Macao Special Administrative Region Gazette'. According to the provisions of Article 275 (a) of the 'Legal System of Industrial Property', all decisions conferred can be submitted to the ordinary courts The court of first instance) filed an appeal, and in accordance with Article 277 of the same legal system, the appeal period was filed within one month from the date of its publication in the Gazette of the Macao Special Administrative Region.