You might recall how in the past we announced the issuance of a New Trademark Law for Myanmar (see here).
The first phase of the Soft Opening Period began on October 01, 2020 and ended on March 31, 2023. During this period, all trademarks which were earlier registered under the old law or used in Myanmar prior to March 31, 2023 were eligible for re-registration under the new law. However, due to the lack of the Trademark Rules until then, the applicant's were unable to submit FORM TM-2 for appointment of the resident agent and submit the official fee.
The very-long-awaited day has finally come. With the beginning of the second phase of the Soft Opening Period, from April 1, 2023 the applicants shall now be allowed to:
1. Re-file the applications for the marks registered under the old law/ used in Myanmar prior to March 31, 2023;
2. Pay the official fee for the marks re-filed during the soft opening period;
3. Submit the notarized FORM TM-2 for appointment of the resident agent. Moreover, all trademark applications filed during the second phase will bear the "common filing date", i.e. the first day of the grand opening period which is yet to be announced.
Official Fees
As for the official fees, they have been divided into two stages, the first one due at the application stage (around 75 USD) and the second part to be paid at the registration of the trademark (around 75 USD)
For appointment of the resident agent, a scanned copy of the notarized FORM TM-2 shall be required and the same shall be submitted along with the official fees for the Application Stage. Further, only one FORM TM-2 is required per applicant.
The official deadline to submit the official fees and the notarized FORM TM-2 is yet to be announced.
Commencement of the Grand Opening Period
The date of the Grand Opening Period for filing fresh applications is yet to be announced by the Ministry. However, we estimate the MIPD will make the announcement in the later part of April, 2023.
In the light of the reported news, we can recommend you to proceed in the following ways:
1. Trademarks already registered under the old raw/ used in Myanmar until March 31, 2023 but not yet re-filed under the new law, it is recommended to re-file the marks under the ongoing second phase of the soft-opening period.
2. Re-filed Marks: For these, you can go ahead with the payment of the official fees along with the submission of the scanned copy of the notarized FORM TM-2 at the earliest.
3. New Applications: Wait until the announcement of the Grand Opening Period.
It seems to us that – even slowly – the Myanmar is finally moving to the finalization of the long-awaited trademark System.
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