Libya - Trade Mark Office - what is really happening

Further to an earlier post here about what may or may not be happening, an excellent summary has been received today by email from good friends Spoor & Fisher setting out what they have been able to find out about what is really happening at the Trade Mark Office in Libya. For those not lucky enough to be on the mailing list the update is:

Libya – Trade Marks Office – Current Situation
There have been recent reports that the Trade Marks Office in Libya is once again functioning following its closure earlier this year. We have investigated these rumours and can confirm that the Registry is currently under the control of the Fajr Libya militia. They have appointed a Registrar and are stating that the Registry is open and able to process matters. Meanwhile, the Libyan Government and Parliament has moved out of Tripoli and is attempting to operate from the city of Al-Beyda. The situation is extremely volatile and liable to change with little warning.
At this time it is not possible to establish how long the militia will retain their position, or when and if the Government will re-establish control. Whilst it appears that matters can be filed at the Registry it is not certain whether any such matters will be considered valid should the political situation change.
For the time being we are taking an extremely cautious approach but if clients wish to proceed then we will act upon those instructions.

Further information will be reported as it becomes available and meanwhile questions will be welcomed by your normal contact at Spoor & Fisher Jersey, or may be directed to info@spoor.co.uk

This part of the Empty Quarter is grateful to Spoor & Fisher for sharing this useful information.

Syria - increase in official fees

News from good friends SMAS by email today that official fees for publication and searches have increased in Syria, but no information by how much or to what. The email reads:

"Dear Sirs,

Please be advised that the Syrian Ministry of Interior Trade and Consumer Protection has issued Decision No. 1999 on 13 November 2014, stipulating that the official publication fees and search fees of all Intellectual Property Matters will be increased as from 1st of January 2015.

We would like also to draw your attention that our own charges shall remain intact while our tariff will be amended in accordance to the official fees stipulated in the aforementioned decision.

Should you need any further assistance and/or information in respect of the above matter, please do not hesitate to contact us at syria@smas-ip.com"

Syria - legalisation of documents - an update with some good news

Further to earlier posts here and here setting out the difficulties of having documents destined for Syria legalised while there are an ever decreasing number of Syrian Embassies available around the world for legalisation here is some good news. 

This part of the Empty Quarter has recently seen documents from a western country, clearly destined for Syria, legalised to the UAE Embassy, then legalised to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE, then legalised to the Syria Embassy in the UAE. They are now on the way to Syria for legalisation there. 

The solution may not be elegant and it is not cheap but it has the distinct advantage of, for the moment, working.

UAE - Trade Mark Office issues notices on practice for oppositions/rejections and registration certificates

This post was update on 5 January 2015.....

The Trade Mark Office in the UAE does not publish practice guidelines on the Ministry of Commerce website. However, it does, from time to time, send emails to all agents telling them what to do. At the end of November the Trade Mark Office issued two such notices.

The first, issued on 23 November 2014, relates to oppositions and rejections and states that:

• All appeals will be heard by the Trade Mark Committee pursuant to the Trade Mark Law.
• All agents must provide the Trade Mark Office with a list of all pending appeals setting out the issues.
• From now on all supporting documents must be filed with the appeal to avoid matters coming to the Committee without them. All documents must be notarised (local) or legalised (from overseas).

The second, issued on 25 November 2014, relates to registration certificates and states that:

• Registration certificates for agents in Dubai will be issued from the Trade Mark Office branch in Dubai and those for agents in Abu Dhabi from the main Trade Mark Office in Abu Dhabi. Any certificates needing correction must go to the correct location.
• The Trade Mark Office disclaims responsibility for any final registration forms or fees sent by mail or handed to the customer services centre in Abu Dhabi.

This part of the Empty Quarter dreamt on the National Day holiday that the Trade Mark Office was:

• no longer bound to have documents legalised (but knows this is not an issue for the Trade Mark Office but for the Federal government). 
• fully staffed so that there is no backlog of issues to deal with.
• accurate in the capture of data so that publication takes place for and certificates can be issued showing the data as applied for.