Responding to trademark refusal in Laos – Some takeaways

Under Laos IP Law, a mark cannot be merely descriptive. The idea behind preventing people from obtaining trademark protection for descriptive marks is that that individuals or commercial entities should not be allowed to claim exclusive trademark rights in descriptive words that competitors may need to use when describing their own goods/services. As a result, trademarks that comprise commonly descriptive (or generic) words are usually prohibited from being registered by the Laos IP Office. In practice, there are not uncommon instances where trademark applications face refusal/rejection based on an alleged descriptiveness of goods/services. However, those marks are not, in fact,...

20 August

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Questions on trademark opposition/cancellation in Laos

Posted by KENFOX IP

in Laos

KENFOX: Yes, it is possible for a third party file an opposition in Laos. The New IP Law No. 38/NA of 2017 introduces an opposition procedure in Laos. Previously, when a trademark owner registered his/her trademark, there was no publication procedure available to inform and allow interested third parties to oppose to a pending trademark. The interested third party was only able to file a cancelation request with the Department of Intellectual Property of Laos (“DIP”), once the trademark certificate was issued and the trademark was registered with the DIP. Under the old IP Law of Laos, it was only...

25 May

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