Getting your Trademark Registration in Bahrain

With the fastest growing economy in the Arab World, Bahrain is making its global presence in the world. It has the freest economy in the Middle East and as per reports in Index of Economic Freedom published by The Wall Street Journal ranked Bahrain as the 12^th freest economy in the world.

In the last decade, City of London’s global Financial Centres Index ranked Bahrain as the world’s fastest growing financial centre. With the boom in demand of oil, Bahrain’s banking and financial sector has been greatly benefitted from the same with more impetus on the Islamic Banking. Petroleum production and processing is Bahrain's most exported product, accounting for 60% of export receipts, 70% of government revenues, and 11% of GDP. Aluminium production is the second-most exported product, followed by finance and construction materials.

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Moreover, the communication and transport facilities being one of the best in the world, Bahrain is home to number of multinational firms and construction proceeds on several major industrial projects. Also, with the major influx and shift in the geopolitical economic condition, Bahrain entered into the US as a part of Free Trade Agreement reducing certain trade barriers thereby giving more room to the economy.

Trademark in Bahrain

​​​​​​​​​A trademark is a sign or form used to distinguish the goods, products, or services of one establishment from those of other establishments. In addition, a mark of sound or smell can be considered a trademark. A trademark application is submitted to the Trademark Office at the Industrial Property Directorate by the applicant if he is a national or resident in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Foreign applicants who are not resident in the Kingdom must apply through IP Registration Agents or law firms authorised by the Industrial Property Directorate.

The protection period of a trademark is 10 years from the date of application in the Kingdom of Bahrain. If the proprietor wish​ to continue with protection for several similar periods, a renewal application can be filed during the last year of each protection period. The GCC Trademark Law was ratified in the Kingdom of Bahrain on 27 February 2014 by Law 6/2014 Ratifying the Gulf Cooperation Council Trademark Law (the "Trademark Law") and supplemented by Resolution 65/2016 of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Issuing the Implementing Regulations of the GCC Trademark Law (the "Implementing Regulations").

Things that can be registered in Bahrain

One can get register any visually distinct sign, name, word, letter, number, picture, inscription, symbol, photographic element, packaging, drawing, figure, one colour or more, or a combination thereof, or sign or group of signs, as a trademark in Bahrain. But in all the cases, it is necessary that the marks must distinguish the product and services of one entity from other and moreover, they must be distinctive enough so as to not create any likelihood of confusion. Few examples of things which are cannot be registered are-

• Marks that lack any distinctive character
• Marks that defy public order or morals
• Flags of Kingdom of Bahrain or flags of Arab countries or any other foreign country or international organizations
• Emblems of the Red Crescent or Red Cross
• Marks identical with or similar to emblems of religious significance
• Marks that misguide the public about the source of origin of the products or services

Process of registration

Despite being not mandatory, a trademark search is an important part in the whole process of trademark registration. As a part of our comprehensive service, we conduct searches for the official trademark registry and also on the internet to determine whether or not the potential trademark is identical or confusingly similar to other registered trademarks. This being an important part makes the brand owner avoid any further litigation.

Bahrain does not allow any multi-class application and a separate application needs to be filed. There are two ways for going ahead of trademark registration. Nationals of Bahrain can file at the Industrial Property Directorate in their Trademark Office while the Foreigners can submit through Intellectual Property firm in Bahrain. Everything is online where the proprietor can use the online portal for trademark registration and even for other trademark related prosecution services.

Requirement of Filing

Following documents are needs for Trademark Registration

• An image of the trademark in JPEG format
• A Power of Attorney signed by the applicant and notarized by a Notary Public and it should be legalized
• Certificate of incorporation of the applicant’s company
• Certificate issued by the Registrar of Companies
• Proof for the applicant’s company’s entry in the Commercial Register

Examination Process

After filing for trademark registration, the application will be reviewed by the Trademark Office so as to check whether any same or similar trademark or any marks are not already registered or has previously applied by any other applicant. The trademark office will also review if the application has met all the requirements as per the Trademark Law. In case the requirements are not met, the examining official will raise an objection to the mark. Thereafter, the mark will be accepted for registration and then be published in the Gazette of the Patent and Trademark Office. This way, the trademark office will open up 60-days window for any opposition for any interested party to object the same. In case of no opposition, a registration certificate will be issued by the Industrial Property Directorate of Bahrain. Moving forward, the trademark registration will be valid for 10 years from the date of filing owing to further renewal. Even if, the trademark owner does not renew the trademark, third parties are not allowed to apply till 3 years are lapse from the date of cancellation.

Official Fees (in Bahraini Dinar)

Author: Saransh Chaturvedi (Advocate, LLM (IIT Kharagpur) – an associate at Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney, in case of any queries please write back us via email at support@ipandlegalfilings.com  or contact us at IP And Legal Filings.