Summary
The Kingdom of Bahrain is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Starting June 2007, claiming priority has become possible.
The International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks under the Nice Agreement is followed in Bahrain and the revision of class 42 with the creation of classes 43 to 45 has been adopted as of July 1, 2005.
A separate application is to be filed for each class of goods or services. Once a trade/service mark application is filed, the trademark is examined as to its registrability. Trademark applications accepted by the Registrar are published in the Official Gazette. There is a 60-day period open for filing an opposition by any interested party.
An opposition to the registration of a trademark should be prosecuted before the Registrar by an authorized agent or the proprietors themselves within the prescribed period as of the date of publication. Such an opposition case should be settled by the Registrar. In the absence of an opposition, a published trademark is registered, and the certificate of registration will be issued.
Trademark rights are acquired by registration. However, a trademark application can be opposed successfully upon producing sufficient proof of the prior use of the mark in Bahrain and elsewhere in the world.
A trademark registration is valid for 10 years as of the date of filing the application, and it can be renewed for periods of 10 years each. The trademark law provides for a 3-month grace period for late renewal of a trademark. If a trademark is not renewed, the law does not allow third parties to register the trademark, unless after the lapse of 3 years from the date of cancellation.
The assignment and the authorized user of a trademark can be recorded once the trademark is registered. Such a recordal is published in the Official Gazette. The assignment of a trademark can be accepted only with the goodwill and the business’ concern together. All other changes can be recorded after the registration of a trademark.
Use of trademarks in Bahrain is not compulsory, neither for filing applications for registration nor for maintaining trademark registrations in force. However, a trademark is subject to cancellation by any interested party, who can establish that the trademark has not been actually used during the 5 years preceding the application for cancellation, or that there was no bona fide intention of using the trademark on the goods in respect of which the trademark was registered.
Unauthorized use of a trademark registered under the law or an imitation of such trademark applied on goods of the same class, or sale, storing for the purpose of sale, or exhibiting for sale of goods bearing a counterfeit mark, or using a mark duly registered under the law by another person to serve the purpose of unauthorized promotion of goods of the same class, are offenses penalized under the law in Bahrain.