A circular from Lysaght & Co (St Helier, Jersey) informs Afro Leo that Uganda has adopted the Ninth Edition of the Nice Classification for trade marks, as of 9 June 2009. Apparently there is a question as to whether this move is of legal effect in the country, since the change in practice with regard to the classification of services in Classes 35 to 45 has not been accompanied by any change in the domestic legislation. It appears, however, that the Registry is accepting applications for service marks and prospective applicants are advised to take advantage of this facility.
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Nice in practice ...
Jeremy
5 comments
Write commentsIt has been confirmed with the Ugandan Authorities that the law has not yet been amended to provide for service marks and accordingly the Registry is not open for filing of service mark applications. See link:
Replyhttp://www.spoor.com/Publications/Articles/Trademarks/Pages/UGANDATradeMarks-Adoptionof9thEdition,NiceClassification-StillNoServiceMarkProtection.aspx
Craig Kahn
Spoor & Fisher
I also saw another misleading article here http://www.ag-ip-news.com/GetArticle.asp?Art_ID=7229&lang=en . There are some administrative efforts to enable the registration of marks but nothing concrete has been decided. In the meantime, service marks are not registrable.
ReplyThis exact situation applies to Nigeria, where the registry accepts applications in classes 35-45 for service marks and the enabling law for its operation has not been signed into law.
ReplyBe that as it may,it is important to note that in the case of Nigeria there is a regulation issued by the Honourable Minister of Commerce and Industry extending the classisfication and allowing the registration of service marks in Nigeria...this regulation has since also been submitted to the Federal Government Printer for Gazetting.
ReplyThis is different from the fiat that obtains in UGANDA!!!
Lysaght's clarification: "Having issued a directive last week stating that the Ninth Edition of the Nice Classification is now fully operative in Uganda, including service classes, the Registry has issued a "clarification" of its previous statement. The Ninth Edition will enter into force in Uganda when the Trade Marks Bill which is currently before Parliament has been passed, and a new Trade Marks Law enters into effect. So, regrettably, service marks cannot be registered as yet, although as indicated in our earlier posting, the law would have to be changed in order to give validity to such an announcement."
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