Clint Fabiosa & Ana Liza Villamor
I.Protect
LAST week, we outlined the procedure for registering trademarks with the Bureau of Trademarks of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). Section 145 of the Intellectual Property Code states that a certificate of trademark registration shall remain in force for 10 years.
However, a mark may be removed from the Trademark Register if it is not maintained by its owner. Maintenance of a mark is done through the filing with the IPO of periodic declarations of actual use and evidence of such use.
Hence, obtaining a registration is not enough: the owner of the mark must use the same and prove such use. Trademark certificates may be renewed for periods of 10 years. Thus, as long as a registered mark is maintained and renewed, its owner can own it perpetually.
(clint.fabiosa@iprotect.ph / analiza.villamor@iprotect.ph)
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