3 out of 10 trademark applications get rejected due to conflicts with existing marks. Avoid costly mistakes — check yours now
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In ARIPO, there is a final publication/certificate fee when your mark is accepted to registration or publication. We will inform you when the payment can be submitted.
This fee is obligatory in order to complete the registration process. All legal and official payments are included.
Learn more about our services & prices in ARIPO
If registration is required in several countries, please go to TRADEMARK REGISTRATION PAGE
TRADEMARK STUDY Check if your trademark is available for registration.
The results will resolve any doubts regarding your mark and give you confidence in the outcome of the registration process.
TRADEMARK MONITORING Our AI search will constantly monitor Trademark Registers for any similar marks.
We'll manually check the results and regularly deliver reports of any conflicting marks allowing you to enforce your rights.
TRADEMARK RENEWAL Request a cost-effective trademark renewal in 150+ countries, don’t let your trademark expire.
Contact us for our online renewal process.
Submit an online form in order to request your trademark registration in ARIPO. You can pay later or have your personal consultant check your form first.
Filing a trademark in Africa can be risky in some countries due to unstable laws and political issues.
In places like Libya and Tunisia, trademark systems have stopped working during times of conflict.
This makes it hard to know if your brand is truly protected.
This video explains why keeping your trademark certificate safe and organized is very important.
It also covers what to watch out for when registering a trademark in African countries and how to avoid losing your rights.
Types of Trademarks in ARIPO
We recommend choosing a wordmark as your first mark. It gives the broadest scope of protection and wordmarks are rarely changed, unlike logos.
Logo is recommended if the mark you are trying to register is considered weak (descriptive, for example).
A combined mark is a solid choice in many countries. But you must use your mark as it was registered at least sometimes. Therefore, a wordmark is still preferred as it remains the best value for money.
The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), formerly African Regional Industrial Property Organization, is an intergovernmental organization for cooperation among African states in patent and other intellectual property matters. Its 19 member states are mostly English-speaking countries; however, only 13 states are covered by the ARIPO trademark registration (1) Botswana, (2) Cape Verde, (3) Kingdom of Eswatini, (4) Gambia (5)Kingdom of Lesotho, (6) Liberia, (7) Malawi, (8) Mozambique, (9) Namibia, (10) Sao Tome and Principe, (11) Tanzania, (12) Uganda, and (13) Zimbabwe
Filing your trademark in ARIPO is the best option to cover these countries. At the same time, it is still possible to file your trademark country by country.
The Trademark Office applies the current version of the Nice Classification, you can find acceptable goods and services in this link. However, in Malawi and Uganda service marks are not approved.
Any questions? Contact us at [email protected]
A mark must be associated with products and/or services. These products/services are divided into 45 classes. The names of the products and services are determined either by the Trademark Office of ARIPO (Name of the office) or by the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). The main list of acceptable terms is the Nice classification, but each country might have its variations.
Actual classification: Nice classification, 11th edition
If you already have a trademark anywhere, you can send us the details and we might be able to use the same list of goods. In any case we will check if the products are acceptable and help you create a description according to the local standards.
Some trademarks can’t be registered. In short, those are descriptive, misleading, offensive or generic marks (this is not the full list). Descriptive marks describe your products or services, generic are the names of your product, etc. Some cases are not straightforward and it’s hard to determine if a mark is descriptive right away.
Some marks are weaker than others, even if the marks can be registered. There are suggestive marks like Microsoft, dictionary words with no direct association with the products or services such as Apple and made-up words or fanciful marks, i.e. Xerox.
The strongest marks are fanciful or made-up words, but from the marketing point of view, a suggestive mark might be more preferable.
If there are similar marks in ARIPO your mark might be refused or might receive an opposition. Similar doesn’t mean identical. They can sound similar, mean similar things or look similar. There is no 100% algorithm to determine similar marks, each case is different and we rely on the experience of our attorneys.
During our study we check if your mark is registrable and search for similar marks. Once you get the results and our recommendations any uncertainty is removed and the process outcome becomes clearer.
Our Study helps to determine the probability of registration of your brand. There might be similar marks you are not aware of and by completing the Study we can give our estimated probability of successful registration. There are a lot of rules regarding what marks can and can’t be registered and our attorneys will make sure that your mark does not contradict those rules.
If you want to have peace of mind that your brand will be registered within this timeframe and you won’t have to pay extra for solving any problems you might order our trademark study.
Your Registration Plan
Applying for your mark (we pay all the government fees and submit the application) – > Formal examination (if the list of goods/services is correct, if other details are correct) -> Substantial examination (if the mark is unique and registrable) -> Publication (allowing the public and other business to object against the mark registration) – > Registration
In ARIPO we will require a simply signed Power of Attorney in order to start the process. We will prepare the document for you.
The entire process in ARIPO takes 12-14 months provided that there are no problems during the examination and publication stages.
The mark is protected for 10 years from the moment of registration/application. The mark can be renewed for periods of 10 years.
You must use the mark in this country as you registered it. If you don’t use your mark for 3-5 years, the mark will become vulnerable to cancellations and others will be able to cancel it if they decide to start this legal procedure.
You have an ownership confirmation and the mark becomes a point of value collection, meaning that whatever you invest into your brand or into its reputation will not disappear, but will “stick” to your trademark. Getting a registration will seal your ownership over this value. That’s similar to buying a land lot to buy a house. Would you like to build a house on a land lot that’s not even yours? Of course not. Ownership matters
When you register your trademark in ARIPO, you’ll be able to:
1. Take legal action against anyone who uses your brand without your permission, including counterfeiters
2. Put the ® symbol next to your brand – to show that it’s yours and warn others against using it
3. Sell and license your brand
Bonamark takes care of more parts of the process than any other company out there. We are not here to just file anything we receive from you. We are here to check everything, prepare the document to avoid the common objections, enhance your product list for the optimal scope of protection and make sure that you don’t have to pay extra and spend more time than you wish.
In ARIPO we file marks since 2016 and work with the most experienced attorneys in this country. We take full responsibility for your success and make sure that everything is done according to your instructions.
Bonamark is one of the most valued trademark registration companies with 4.9/5 rating.
A trademark is registered for 10 years and a hard copy certificate is issued. An example is attached below.
Once registered your mark will be valid for 10 years and can be renewed for periods of 10 years. Bonamark can renew your mark in the country.
The Trademark Office might refuse any similar mark for similar products, but we recommend getting a Trademark Watch in order to track any similar marks independently. This way you will be able to spot any similar marks and submit an opposition during their publication stage in order to prevent those marks from registering.
We offer free delivery of hard copies of registration certificates if those are issued in this country.
You have an obligation to use the mark in commerce. If you stop using the mark for 3-5 consecutive years your mark might be cancelled by anyone who starts the cancellation process
You must keep your details up to date, if the name of your company was changed you should submit the change at the Trademark Office, the same applies to the address. Otherwise, there might be difficulties when you have to enforce your mark and if you decide to sell it.
We offer Change of Address and Change of Name services and will help you to keep your details up to date.
We offer the following services in ARIPO:
If you are interested in any of these services, please do not hesitate to contact us.
You must be represented by a local trademark attorney, our attorney will represent you in this process.
What is registrable as a trademark?
Trademark Registration Fees in African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO)
A trademark is renewable for a period of 10 years and valid from the filing date.
The trademark renewal price is 1249$ for one class. The government fee is included in the price.
Please contact us using the following form in order to request a trademark renewal in ARIPO. The process is rather simple, our attorney will become your representative and will pay the renewal fee.
After the expiration date a grace period of 6 months is provided to the registrant to renew the trademark paying an extra fee (the official grace period renewal fee is 20 USD).
After the end of the grace period the mark expires without any ways of restoration, a new mark must be filed.
Please be informed that the dates are determined to the best of our knowledge and we take no responsibility if the calculations are incorrect. We recommend that you contact us with an actual case in order to determine the renewal date with the highest accuracy possible.
