The new Trademark Law of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar shall be officially executed from October 1, 2020 after more than a year of being promulgated (January 2019).
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar shall apply a new registration system, accordingly, the “first to file” rule shall be replaced by the “first to use” rule which has been applied earlier. The trademarks previously granted by the Office of the Registry of Deeds and Underwriters under the “first to use” system shall NOT automatically be protected when the new filing system is in place. This trademark needs to be re-filed and goes through the same registration and examination steps as a newly filed Trademark application.
There are two application steps, including “Soft Opening” and “Grand Opening”.
1. “Soft Opening”: is the priority step for (i) Trademarks that have been registered at the Registry of Deeds and (ii) trademarks have already used in Myanmar that are re-submitted.
The filing date of re-submitted Trademarks in the “Soft Opening” step shall be the first day when the Grand Opening step begins.
2. “Grand Opening” – scheduled to start from April 1, 2021.
The new trademarks can begin submitting applications under the new system when the “Grand Opening” step begins.
Any organizations and individuals wishing to re-file trademark applications in Myanmar can contact Vietthink Law Firm for specific advice.