A trademark is a distinctive sign that identifies certain goods or services produced or provided by an individual or a company from those of other enterprises.
A Trademark may consist of any word, symbol, design, slogan, logo, sound, smell, colour, label, name, signature, letter, numeral, or any combination of them and should be capable of being represented graphically.
A trademark can be registered by both individuals and business entities, with the first term of protection spanning to 7 years and renewable for indefinite 10 years intervals.
The Trademark has to be distinctive, non-descriptive, and not likely to cause confusion. The Trademark owner has the exclusive rights to prevent others from using the same or confusingly similar mark.
The Ugandan trademark regime recognises tow kinds of applications from either local applicants or foreign applicants
- It all starts with appointing a trademark agent to represent you, especially where the applicant is a foreign entity wishing to have its trademark registered in Uganda.
- Conducting a trademark search on the register, to ascertain that, your proposed trademark is not already registered by another person or entity. This step determines the next action, either to challenge the registration of the already existing trademark or to register your proposed trademark.
- Knowing the classification of your trademark using the Nice Classification of trademarks, with 35 classes for goods and 11 classes for services, is extremely important, some countries and jurisdictions are not governed by the Nice Classification.
- Engage and appoint your trademark agent to monitor any breaches of your trademark, file any oppositions to the registration of any similar trademarks, and take action against any persons and entities breaching the trademark, especially from imported goods.