Myanmar’s 2019 Trademark Law Will Be Enforced Beginning In March 2023

Myanmar’s Trademark Law, passed in 2019, will go into effect in March 2023, according to a statement made by the country’s Intellectual Property Department (IPD) on January 12, 2023. This significant official statement by the IPD signals the impending implementation of the new trademark framework and notifies trademark owners to make the necessary preparations to obtain trademark protection in Myanmar under the new legal system, even though an official notification stating the effective date of the Trademark Law has not yet been issued.

The statement clarifies that once the Trademark Law takes effect, trademark registrations will begin as well as the processes for accepting fees (assuming there is no significant change from the IPD). Based on this statement from the IPD and the Ministry of Commerce’s decision (No. 63/2020) to launch the “soft opening” phase, it is anticipated that the costs for trademark registration will be released soon, via a separate notification, before the Trademark Law takes effect.

Then, until the conclusion of the IPD’s soft opening phase (i.e., the IPD’s “grand opening”) is announced by officials, applicants may resubmit their previous trademarks (recorded under Myanmar’s old system or utilized in the country), along with payment. Existing marks may be re-filed with the IPD during this timeframe either in person by the mark owner or online by a local representative who has received IPD certification. All mark owners who have previously submitted their existing marks during the soft opening period are now required to pay the requisite fees for their applications after the publication of the fees and payment procedures for trademark registration.

Owners of trademarks that are eligible to be filed during the IPD’s soft opening phase should strongly consider refiling the trademarks with the IPD as soon as possible—if they haven’t already—to reserve the earliest filing date under the new Trademark Law’s first-to-file system. Subsequent announcements will provide more information on how to proceed specifically.

In order to be ready to file new trademark applications after the Trademark Law Law takes effect and the IPD starts its operations, trademark owners who intend to file their marks under the Trademark Law (because, for instance, the marks have never been registered or used in Myanmar) should now assess their trademark portfolios.

*** Other Articles***

– You could visit here to see the Procedure for Myanmar Trademark Registration.

– You could see the full new Myanmar Trademark law here

– You could visit here to see the Procedure of Myanmar Trademark Registration (effective soon).

– You could visit here to check the required documents for filing a trademark in Myanmar

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