The Israeli Trademark Protection System
In Israel, a trademark refers to a letter, number, word, number, sound, or combination thereof used by a manufacturer or service provider to mark their goods or services for easy identification by consumers. Trademark registration grants its owner unique trademark usage rights in the goods and/or services it registers, enabling the owner to establish a reputation for themselves and differentiate themselves from competitors. In addition, trademark registration also serves consumers and avoids misleading information.
ILPO The Israeli Patent Office
The Israel Patent Office (ILPO) is a government agency under the Israeli Ministry of Justice. ILPO positions itself as an innovative institution, utilizing its professional technical, legal, and business knowledge to provide support for innovative enterprises and the future development of Israel.
website:www.gov.il/en/departments/ilpo
Telephone:+972-73-3927290(Trademark Department)
Fax:+972-2-6467026
address:Agudat Sport Hapoel St. 1, Jerusalem, 9695101, Israel
Email:Trademarks@justice.gov.il
Introduction to Israeli Trademark Registration
3.1 Trademark and its types
A trademark is a means of linking goods or services to their origin to prevent deception, allowing consumers to know that specific goods are manufactured by specific manufacturers or specific services are provided by specific suppliers rather than from others. After trademark registration, only the trademark owner can use the trademark on goods or services, resulting in differentiation.
In Israel, business names and their products or services can be protected by registering trademarks. In this case, attention should be paid to the difference between registering a company in the company registry and registering its name as a trademark, as registering a company does not provide trademark protection for that name.
A trademark can consist of one or more words, letters, or numbers, all of which can be registered with or without artistic design. In addition, a trademark can be composed of graphics, drawings, or images, which may also contain text or numbers. In addition to these two-dimensional logos, trademarks can also be three-dimensional graphics or audible sounds – that is, some notes or short melodies, such as the sound heard when starting an Intel computer.
In Israel, certification trademarks and collective trademarks can also be registered. Prove that a trademark is a trademark that marks the composition, nature, production method, quality, or other attributes of goods or services, and its owner allows parties who meet certain conditions to use the trademark. A collective trademark refers to a trademark owned by a group of people (rather than an individual) who have an interest in a particular product or service, such as the “טוこהשדה (Good Farm)” trademark registered under the name of the Israeli Organic Agriculture Organization, which allows all entities of the organization to use it.
3.2 Conditions for Trademark Registration
When selecting the logo to be registered, two main criteria need to be considered:
1.Trademarks must be unique and cannot describe goods/services, so that the text describing the goods remains open for public use.
The applicant should not choose words or terms commonly used in transactions in the required field as trademarks. For example, if the goods that the applicant wants to protect are powders used to make chocolate drinks, they cannot request the registration of the “chocolate” trademark because it describes the product and the right to use the word cannot be requisitioned from anyone who produces or trades similar products. If the applicant chooses a logo designed in a special way that includes the word ‘chocolate’, and if the design is truly unique and gives the logo a distinctive feature, it may be possible to obtain registration. However, the protected trademark is for that specific design, not the word ‘chocolate’.
Therefore, the most likely thing to be registered as a trademark is the created logo, or if the logo is a word with a known meaning, the meaning of the word must not be related to the goods/services that will use the trademark, such as registering the “pineapple” trademark for clothing products.
2.Signs that are similar to another trademark cannot be registered in a way that may cause observers to confuse them with other trademarks. This requirement exists regardless of whether other trademarks are registered trademarks or applications still awaiting examination. The logo does not need to be exactly the same, as long as there are similarities in appearance, or the logo sounds similar, or has the same meaning – even if different languages are used.
In addition, the applicant must also consider goods and/or services protected by similar trademarks. If the trademarks are similar but the goods and/or services using the trademarks belong to completely different fields, the likelihood of obtaining registration will increase due to the lower risk of confusion.
3.3 The benefits of registering a trademark
In Israel, there is no obligation to register a trademark. Even if there is no registered trademark, as long as it does not infringe on the rights of third parties such as others’ trademarks, a certain logo can be used as a trademark. However, registering a trademark can provide users with many significant benefits:
The registered trademark owner is the only person who has the right to use the trademark for the designated category of goods/services registered, or to grant others a license to use the trademark.
Registering a trademark can make it easier to enforce unauthorized use of the trademark in court.
At the stage of submitting a trademark registration application, the application can serve as an announcement of the applicant’s ownership of the trademark and its registration in the trademark database.
Allow customs authorities to prevent goods that infringe trademark rights from entering Israel.
Allow applicants to apply for international trademark registration outside of Israel using the Madrid Protocol.
A trademark is an asset that can be pledged.
3.4 Trademark Protection Period
The protection period of Israeli trademarks is 10 years, starting from the date of application, and can be renewed indefinitely, with each extension of 10 years. ILPO will send renewal reminders to trademark owners.
Israeli Trademark Registration Procedure
Any individual or legal entity – private company, listed company, registered association, etc. – can submit a trademark registration application to ILPO, provided that the applicant has a mailing address in Israel or is represented by a local lawyer.
Applicants can only apply for trademark registration for goods and/or services that have already used or plan to use a certain logo. This protects the public interest from unfair competition by granting the trademark owner the exclusive right to use the trademark in various goods and services that they have not used or will not use.
If the trademark has colors, you can submit a trademark registration application in black and white, as black and white trademarks can protect trademarks of all colors. However, if consumers associate a specific color of the trademark with the applicant’s goods/services and the color of the trademark is important, it is recommended that the applicant consider submitting it as a colored trademark.
4.1 Procedure for directly applying for an Israeli trademark with ILPO
1. Submit an application
Only when submitting a trademark registration application as an individual and without an agent, can the application be submitted to ILPO by mailing paper application documents. In other cases, the applicant (or agent) needs to submit a trademark registration application through ILPO’s online application website and must pay a fee. The online application process includes the following steps:
(1) Log in to ILPO’s online application website( https://trademarksonline.justice.gov.il/ );
(2) Select “כנイסהイםהזדהוイלאומイאוイךכンטイסחכם (login with national ID card or smart card)”, where you can choose between various recognition options;
(3) Enter username and password;
(4) If you do not have a username or password, please select the “Create New User” option and fill in the details;
(5) Select ‘הגשンקשהחדשה (submit new application)’;
(6) During the application submission process, the applicant (or agent) will be required to input detailed information about the trademark; If it is a graphic trademark, it must be prepared in advance JPEG format digital files, and upload them to the submission system as required; Afterwards, you will be required to input the applicant’s detailed information and authorization letter;
(7) At the end of the process, the applicant (or agent) will be redirected to the government payment service and can pay the corresponding service fees there.
(8) The confirmation letter will be sent to the applicant (or agent) via email.
- Further processing of the application
After receiving the application, the system will forward it to the Secretariat of the Trademark Office for processing, and the Secretariat will check the validity of the application.
If necessary, the department will contact the applicant (or agent) to fill in detailed information or request correction.
After the Secretariat completes the processing, the applicant (or agent) will receive confirmation of submitting the application, and the application will be queued for review. During the review period, ILPO will inspect the registration qualifications of the trademark in accordance with the provisions of the Trademark Regulations.
After the review is completed, ILPO will forward the review report to the applicant (or agent).
For more information, please refer to the official ILPO website.
Introduction to Israeli Trademark Office Fees
Pay Service | Amount (New Sikh) |
Application fee, for each category | 1731.00 |
Apply for immediate review of each category | 812.00 |
Objection, correction of registration or application for cancellation of trademark, for each category | 872.00 |
Renewal fee | 3084.00 |
Late payment fee | 78.00 /month |
For more information, please refer to Israel’s electronic payment services. Applicants can choose the payment items according to their actual needs.