The current trademark regulations in Yemen are mainly based on the Trademark and Geographical Indication Law, which came into effect on February 23, 2011. Yemen is divided into two regions, Sana'a and Aden, which are managed by the Yemen (Sana'a) Trademark Office and the Yemen (Aden) Trademark Office respectively. The official language is Arabic. Trademark exclusive rights need to be obtained through registration. Trademark registration is not mandatory, but in order to protect the trademark or renew it, it must be registered in accordance with the law. The trademark registration in Yemen adopts the principle of "application first", but in some cases, trademark rights can also be claimed based on "prior use".
Yemen is a contracting party to international intellectual property treaties such as the TRIPS Agreement, WIPO Convention, and Paris Convention, and has not yet joined the Madrid System. Therefore, trademark registration can only be processed through the "single country registration" method.
At present, the Yemen Trademark Office adopts the Nice classification for the description of goods and services. Alcoholic goods in categories 33 and 32, as well as pork products in category 29, are not eligible for registration and do not accept applications for multiple categories. The elements that can be registered as trademarks in Yemen include: text, name, graphics, three-dimensional identification, color combination, etc.
If the applicant does not reside in Yemen, they must entrust a specialized agent in their home country to handle the matter. The basic materials required for trademark application are:
1. Trademark design
2. Specific product/service items;
3. Name and address of the applicant;
4. Power of attorney for notarization and authentication;
5. Notarized and authenticated business license;
6.If priority is declared, priority proof documents and corresponding Arabic translations must be provided.
The main process for applying for registration of a trademark in Yemen is: application, examination, announcement, approval, and issuance of a certificate. After about one week of application submission, the application will be accepted. The Yemen Trademark Office will conduct formal and substantive examinations. If the examination fails, a rejection notice will be issued and the applicant will be required to respond within the time limit specified in the rejection notice; Once the review is approved, an announcement will be made, and the 90 day objection period will begin from the announcement date. Any interested party or prior rights holder may raise objections, and the main reasons for raising objections are:
1. Conflict with prior trademarks, such as owning a prior registered trademark;
2. Trademarks are descriptive;
3. The trademark lacks distinctiveness;
4. The trademark has adverse effects;
5. Well known trademark;
6. Malicious registration;
7. Conflict with other prior rights, such as trade name rights, design rights, copyrights, personal names, etc;
8. Common name;
9. Geographical indications;
10. Unauthorized use of logos;
11. Violating public order and good customs.
If there are no objections or objections are not valid during the announcement period, the trademark will be approved for registration. If everything goes smoothly, trademark registration in Yemen will take about one year. If there are any objections or rejections encountered during the process, the time will be extended.
The trademark registration in Yemen is valid for 10 years, starting from the date of application; Renewal can be processed within 6 months of expiration, with a grace period of 12 months; The renewal is valid for 10 years.
The invalidation or revocation application after trademark registration can generally be filed based on the following reasons:
1. Violating relevant laws and regulations;
2.If a trademark has not been actually used in that country for five consecutive years after registration, anyone may apply for revocation; Except for force majeure.