Trademark Registration in the Czech Republic

General Information

A trademark is a designation capable to be graphically represented, consisting especially of the words, letters, numbers, colours, drawings or the product shapes or the packages, serving for distinguishing goods or services on the market. The application for trademark registration can be filed with the Industrial Property Office (the “Office”) by any natural person or legal entity.

The Office carries out a formal examination to find out whether the application has all the necessary particulars stipulated by the law and then the substantive examination to find out whether the designation applied for is not of such character that has no qualification to be registered. This incapability means for instance whether it is not identical to already registered trademark or whether it is not generic name or descriptive denomination, misleading or false indication and alike.

Should the required conditions been fulfilled, the Office shall publish the application in the Official Journal (this could last from app. one month to more than a year when a dispute between the applicant and the Office arises).

As the application is published in the Official Journal, third parties may file opposition within three months following the publication of the application. The opposition proceedings then starts, and the trademark can not be registered until the opposition proceedings is finished.

Should the application meet the requirements, no opposition is filed or it is refused, the Office shall register the trademark. The usual period for such registration is 6 months.

With the registration in trademark register the owner of the trademark acquires an exclusive right to use this trademark. The term of protection is ten years. The duration of protection can be renewed for another ten years on request of the trademark owner. The renewal fee is required.

The application has to contain

1. Firm or first name and surname and residence of the applicant
2. Wording and/or representation of the filed mark
3. The list of concrete goods or services filed for protection including the indication of classes
4. Power of Attorney, if the applicant is represented by an attorney. Please note that a person/entity with no address in the Czech Republic must be represented by a Czech attorney.

Wording or representation

If the applicant has no claims for specific graphic form, states, that he claims the entry of the trademark in common form of writing (verbal trademark). In this case, the applicant has not to attach the photocopy of the filed mark to the application.

Goods and services list

The goods and services must be indicated according to international classification (class 1 – 45). Each group of goods and services has to be marked by the class number, to which it belongs.

The application filling is subjected to administrative fee

The administrative fee for application filling is payable within 1 month since the application filling; if the administrative fee is not paid in the fixed term, the application is considered not to be filed.

• The current administrative fees are as follows:

Filling an application for an individual mark not exceeding three classes of goods and services: CZK 5.000 (app. EUR 180). Filling an application for an collective mark not exceeding three classes of goods and services: CZK 10.000 (app. EUR 360). The fee for each class of goods exceeding three classes: CZK 500 (app. EUR 18).

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We do highly believe that you find the aforesaid of interest. Triska & Zak law firm is ready to take care of the whole process of your trademark registration, both to take care of any other of your intellectual property rights.

Should you have any questions or need more information on our law firm or services that we provide please do not hesitate to contact us on a no obligation basis.