Marks which are not Registrable in GCC States
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Introduction:
Not all trademarks are registrable in GCC states under their respective trademark legislations. In order to qualify to be a trademark, a mark should also pass the test of provisions of Article 3 of GCC Trademark Law No. (6) of 2014 (implemented in Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia) having similar provisions with minor or no variations in other GCC states, which specify certain categories of marks that are not registrable, and the current piece of writing looks into such categories.
What is a Trademark?
Prior to proceeding to the issue in question over here, it’s better to be acquainted with the common ingredients present in the definition of trademark. A trademark is a name, device, logo, word, numeral, letter, character, code, pictorial or graphical representation, signature, seal, signpost, drawing, colour, or any other sign or a group of signs or combination of any of these, which is used in distinguishing the goods or services of one establishment from those of the others or which identifies the goods or services as regards their origin, source, ingredients, quality, quantity, method of manufacture or any other characteristics.
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Are all Trademarks Registrable?
The question now arises, whether all marks are registrable in GCC states under their respective trademark legislations? As mentioned above in the introduction part, Article 3 of GCC Trademark Law No. (6) of 2014 stipulate certain categories of marks which can not be registered as trademarks or service marks, and they are as follows:
- A mark which has no distinctive feature and/or the customary names of goods and services, or known drawings and ordinary pictures of goods.
- Anything which is contrary to religion, morality or public order.
- Flags, public slogans, armorial bearings and other signs or any imitations thereof belonging to any of the followings; a) Kingdom of Bahrain in case of Bahrain and other GCC states in case of others. b) Arab or international organizations or one of their agencies. c) Member states of Paris Convention subject to Article 6ter of the Convention.
- Marks which are identical to the sign of Red Cross or Red Crescent or any imitations thereof.
- Marks identical with, or similar to, the symbols of a purely religious nature.
- Any mark which: a) is likely to mislead/confuse the public, particularly with respect to the source or origin of the goods or services. b) contains a false indication of source or origin of goods or services. c) contains a false, imitated or forged commercial name.
- Name, surname, photograph or logo of a third party unless otherwise permitted in advance from that third party or their heirs.
- Details of honorary/academic degrees which the applicant is not legally entitled to.
- A mark that is: a) similar to, or identical with, a previously registered mark and is used to distinguish all or certain goods or services for which the previous mark was registered. b) likely to create confusion to the public since being similar to a previously registered mark. c) likely to cause diminishing the value of the goods or services distinguished by the previously registered mark.
- Any mark which constitutes a reproduction, imitation or translation of a well known trademark or an essential part of it and which is used to distinguish the similar/identical goods or services as those which are distinguished by the well known trademark.
- Any mark which constitutes a reproduction, imitation or translation of a well known trademark or an essential part thereof, used to distinguish goods or services non-identical with, or non-similar to those as distinguished by the well known mark, if the use of which suggests a close nexus between the goods or services and the well known trademark and such close nexus is likely to cause damage to the interests of the owner of the well known trademark.