Laos is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since January 1995, of the Paris Convention for Protection of Industrial Property since October 1998 and of the PCT (Patent) since June 2006. In recent years, the Laos’s economy has developed rapidly, which leads to the increasing number of enterprises established in this country. In this post, we shall advise the enterprises on how to protect their trademark (brand) in Laos.
What is trademark in Laos?
According to Law on Intellectual Property 2018 of Laos, “trade mark” means the mark to use with goods or services as well as to distinguish between these goods or services and other goods or services;
The above mark could be any sign, or any combination of signs, capable of distinguishing the goods or services of any individuals, legal entities or organizations which are different from other individuals, legal entities or organizations;
Why you need to register trademarks in Laos?
According to Lao’s law, trademark registration is a compulsory procedure to get the trademark protection certificate. This certificate shall bring the following advantages:
– It provide the sole ownership and national protection of trademark.
– It allows the ownership trademarks to use “Registered Trademark” or other suitable terms or abbreviations to demonstrate the ownership of the trademark.
– It helps to prevent others from unlawfully using the trademark
– It allows the registrant access to bring actions in particular courts;
– It provides a defense to infringement;
– Enforcement of an unregistered trademark is more difficult and costly than enforcement of a registered trademark;
– It confers the ability to recover maximum monetary damages for infringement;
– It encourages licensees and provides the opportunity to generate royalties through licensing.
- Trademark search in Laos
In Laos, conducting a private pre – filling search of trademark is not compulsory but it’s an important step; and we highly recommend the applicant perform this work. Because it can save the applicant the time, effort and cost entailed in developing, adopting and applying to register a trademark in which someone else has prior.