On 14 February 2024, the Libyan Ministry of Economy & Trade has posted an official circular highlighting the followings:
- The validity of POA for trademark prosecution actions is 1 year from the signing date.
- All documents legalized abroad must be locally attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Collaboration to authenticate consulates legalization.
- It is mandatory to submit extract of the entry of the applicant company in the commercial register, or certificate of incorporation, or any document proving the legal existence of the applicant company for filing new trademark applications which should be issued within less than 1 year from initiating the trademark action along with its Arabic translation.
- Trademark assignment and other post-registration recordal actions applications must be accompanied with the original required documents along with their Arabic translation.
Kindly note that the above updates will be effectively applied as from 01 May 2024. Until then, it is highly recommended that all trademark owners who already have powers of attorney and trade license with the trademarks office to make use of them, especially if they have been executed before 01/05/2023; otherwise, they will be obliged to execute fresh set of documents as mentioned above.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.