Anyone who claims ownership of a trademark being used or that intends to be used in Israel may request the registration of the trademark in Israel.
The process of trademark registration is regulated in the 1972 Trademark Ordinance and the 1940 Trademark Regulations.
Other legal sources relating to the regulation of trademarks include:
- Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
- Madrid Agreement for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods
- International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification)
- Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration
Israel is a signatory to all the above treaties.
Publication of the Request for Objection
In the event that the registrar determines that the trademark is able to be registered, the request is published in the national trademark ledger. From that moment on, anyone wishing to contest the registration of the trademark may do so within three months of publication.
Contesting Request for a Trademark
Contesting a request for a trademark must include detailed reasoning for contest. The complete procedure of contesting is detailed in the Trademark Ordinance and it is comperable to a regular court proceeding (including evidence procedures, whitness testimonies, summations, and a detailed ruling similar to a court ruling).
Registration of International Trademarks
In accordance with the Paris Convention, a person who requests a registration of a trademark in a sigantory country has the right to receive a premiere date for international registration of the same trademark for the same goods. A request for a premiere date as stated above must be submitted within six minths of the registration request in the signatory country.
Because Israel is a sinatory of the convention, any owner of a registeres trademark, or one who requested the registration of a trademark may rely on said request or existing trademark in order to fill out a single form to request the registration of the same trademark for the same goods in all countries signatory to the treaty.
Process of Submission of Request for Registration of a Trademark
Submission of a request to register a trademark must be edited in the appropriate form. You may request the registration of one trademark per form, however you may request trademark protection for a number of goods or services in a single form. You must specify the types of goods you would like to protect in the form and specify said goods under each type.
The fee for submissions is calculated by the number of types of goods in the request, as laid out by the ordinance. The fee for the first type is fixed and decreases with each additional type.
The request is then processed to determine whether the trademark has a destinctive character and whether it can be registered according to the regulations of the Trademark Ordinance.
Speedy Examination of Trademark Registration Request
According to regulation 22 of the Trademark Regulations, in certain instances there is a possibility to preform a speedy examination of a trademark registration request. In order for the registrar to approve a speedy examination, a special request must be sent detailing the reason why a speedy examination is necessary, allong with supporting evidence and an additional fee as detailed in the Ordinance.
One of the most commenly used reasons for the request for a speedy examination is the fear that someone is/will be using the trademark.
