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Amendments to Trademark Laws

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Mrz 06, 2025 (Newsletter Issue 3/25)
Namibia
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Provisional refusals for IR trademarks


When designating Namibia through an IR application, the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) has 12 months to issue an examination report reflecting acceptance or provisional refusal.

If BIPA misses this deadline and issues the office action after the 12-month period, applicants can argue that the IR must be automatically accepted, and BIPA should issue a registration certificate. However, while legally sound, BIPA strongly resists this approach. Instead, they consistently state that they will only issue a registration certificate if the International Registration was published locally in Namibia. On the other hand, If BIPA issues the office action within the 12-month window, applicants must respond, arrange for the IR to be published, and then request registration.

The major hurdle currently is that BIPA lacks a system to generate registration certificates for IRs. They do not have a template, so despite fulfilling all requirements, no IRs are being registered at present.

Source: www.jahcoip.com