News Archive (2)Aug 21, 2024 (Newsletter Issue 8/24)
IP Office reopens under new management
Haiti’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI), responsible for the management of Haitian industrial property rights, resumed all intellectual property services as of June 4, 2024. The Ministry had been closed since February 29, 2024 due to ongoing civil unrest in the country.
All IP deadlines falling during the closure (February 29 – June 3) were extended until July 4, 2024. Nevertheless, delays should be expected due to the downtime, to add to an existing backlog. We are working to ensure that no active client cases drop off the IP Office’s radar following this hiatus.
Haiti also installed a new Minister of Commerce and Industry, James Monazard, on June 13th. This is a particularly significant development for IP in Haiti, since Monazard has a legal background and spent close to five years as Head of Industrial Property within MCI’s Legal Affairs Directorate. He previously served as the Director General of the MCI, and in taking the top position at the Ministry, he will be overseeing all Haiti’s trade and industrial policies which by extension includes control of the IPO.
Source: www.caribbean-ip.com
Jun 25, 2024 (Newsletter Issue 5/24)
Ministry of Commerce Resumed Services
Services provided by the Ministry of Commerce (MCI) in Haiti were interrupted effective 29 February 2024 due to an extended period of civil unrest. Services have now resumed effective 4 June 2024. On 3 June 2024 the MCI advised in an official statement that all deadlines relating to the protection and maintenance of IP rights (including trademarks) that fell due within the interrupted period have been extended by one month to 4 July 2024. A new government has been formed in Haiti, but gang violence is still prevalent which may cause further closures and delays.
Directive 03/DAJ/MCI concerning the examination of applications for the registration of trademarks for goods or services was issued by the Legal Affairs Directorate in September 2023 and stipulated some new requirements for Authorised Representatives in Haiti, including the requirement for Powers of Attorney / appointments of Authorised Representatives to be legalised before the Haitian Consulate when executed outside of Haiti. Haiti is not party to the Hague Convention so documents cannot be legalised by apostille for submission in Haiti. The Directive also calls for the legalisation of assignment contracts when executed outside of Haiti.
It is understood that the MCI is currently reevaluating the requirement for consular legalisation and it is hoped that this formality will be retracted in the near future.
Source: www.ogier.com
The legal basis is the Law of July 17th, 1954 as amended in 1956, 1960, 1965, 1967, 1970; Decree of June 18th, 1964 on the registration at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
References of the laws’ publications/official Gazette: Le Moniteur No. 70 dated August 16, 1954, No. 90 dated August 23, 1956, No. 81 dated September 9, 1960, No. 87 dated September 16, 1965, No. 91 dated October 16, 1967, No. 96 dated November 23, 1970; No. 59 dated June 19, 1964.
The following international treaties/conventions apply: Panamerican Convention; Paris Convention; Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration; TRIPS but as part of LDC, the transition period has been extended to July 1st, 2021, or when a country ceases to be a member of LDC.
Haiti is not a member of the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol.
Trademark protection is obtained by registration. First-to-file jurisdiction.
ClassificationAlthough Haiti is not a party to the Nice Agreement, it is currently using the Nice classification.
Registration is mandatory for pharmaceutical products (class 5). They cannot be sold if the trademark is not registered.
What is Registrable as a TrademarkRegistrable as a trademark are names in a distinctive form, emblems, impressions, stamps, cachets, vignettes, relief’s, letters, ciphers, monograms, labels, particular combinations of colors, signatures, ornamental designs, fabricated words or names, portraits in general, all special signs or appellations adopted or applied by said manufacturers, industrialists, merchants or companies to their products with the object of indicating their industrial, commercial, or agricultural activity, and of distinguishing it from others of the same kind.
Non-traditional marks (like sound marks, olfactory marks, or three-dimensional forms) are registrable, but there is no precedent of any registration of sound and olfactory marks in Haiti, although they’re not expressly excluded by the law. Due to a lack of adequate support, sounds and olfactory marks cannot be registered. Three-dimensional marks have been registered.
The following trademark types are registrable: trademarks, service marks, and collective marks. Tradenames can also be registered.
Registration ProceedingsThe application is filed at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Multiple classes can be filed on one application but will be treated separately.
Foreign applicants need a local agent.
A power of attorney (simply signed) is needed for registrations and renewals.
Foreign applicants do not need a domestic registration of the corporation or entity proprietor of the mark.
The processing time from first filing to registration is 12 to 16 months if there are no oppositions. Prior to registration, trademark applications are published in the National Gazette “LE MONITEUR” for opposition purposes.
Opposition PeriodNational:
The opposition period is 2 months from the publication date of the application.
Trademark DurationTrademark registration is valid for 10 years from the date of expiration of the opposition period. Proof of Use or Affidavit of Non-Use
must be filed during the first three months of the sixth year of the registration or renewal. If a Declaration of use or a legitimate excuse for non-use has not been filed within the time limit indicated above, the registration becomes invalid. However, after the registration has lapsed, the owner of the lapsed registration has a period of priority of three months for refiling the same mark.
The registration is renewable for periods of 10 years.
Grace Period for Trademark RenewalPractical details on grace periods for trademark renewals are available in our publication
herePractical details on trademark use requirements are available in our publication
hereThe official fee for filing a trademark application in one class is HTG 2,000. The publication fee for a word trademark is HTG 2,970 for one class and HTG 2,970 for each additional class. The publication fee for device, design, and logo trademark is HTG 7,700 for one class and HTG 7,700 for each additional class. The registration fee is HTG 152 for each class (plus additional costs for certified check (HTG 1,000 to 2,000), stamps (HTG 150) and registration at Chamber of Commerce (HTG 225).
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More in-depth details are available for the following aspects:
General Trademark Regulations
Trademark Use Requirements
Grace Period for Trademark Renewal
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Dec 17, 2024
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