- African
1. Lesotho is located in southeastern Africa, on the western slope of the Drakensberg Mountains on the eastern edge of the South African Plateau. As a landlocked country, it is known as "China" because its territory is completely surrounded by South Africa. It is the world's largest country within a country, with a land area of 30344 square kilometers and a population of 2.3 million (2022). The vast majority of the population belongs to the Basutu and Zulu ethnic groups of the Bantu language family. Its capital is Maseru, and the country has 10 administrative districts.
2. The intellectual property regulations in Lesotho were first promulgated in 1989 as the Industrial Property Law No. 5, and the Industrial Property Regulations were promulgated in the same year, which came into effect on January 15, 1990. The current law regulating trademarks is the Industrial Property Law No. 22 of 1993;
3. The Trademark Registry is responsible for managing trademark affairs, and the official language is English.
4. The acquisition of trademark rights is based on the principle of prior application, and the types of trademarks that can be registered are commodity trademarks and service trademarks;
5. Goods and services are classified according to the International Classification of Goods and Services, which can be used to label multiple categories;
Lesotho is a party to international intellectual property treaties such as the Paris Convention, the WIPO Convention, the Madrid Agreement, and the Madrid Protocol; As a member state of the Madrid Agreement and Madrid Protocol, trademark registration can be handled through "single country registration" or "Madrid international registration".
The validity period of a trademark in Lesotho is 10 years from the date of registration. If it needs to be continued to be used after the expiration of the registration validity period, an application for renewal registration should be made 12 months before the expiration of the registration validity period. Each renewal registration is valid for 10 years.
1. Trademark design;
2. Specific categories and products/services;
3. Name and address of the applicant;
4. If priority is declared, priority proof documents and corresponding English translations must be provided.
After the application is submitted, the Trademark Office conducts a legality review of the submitted application documents, trademark designs, power of attorney, and other related documents; Those who meet the requirements will be granted the application date and application number. (It will take approximately 1-2 months)
Review whether the trademark has the ability to be registered and whether it violates the prohibited clauses of the Trademark Law according to the law. For trademarks that fail substantive examination, the examiner will notify the applicant in writing and inform them of the reasons for rejection. The applicant may submit a re examination within the time limit from the date of receiving the rejection notice. Otherwise, the application will be deemed abandoned, and the application date and number will not be retained.
After the trademark is reviewed, the applicant will be informed that the trademark application has been accepted and published in the trademark announcement. Anyone can raise objections within the 3-month announcement period, stating their reasons and submitting relevant evidence.
Trademarks that have been ruled to be eligible for registration after opposition, or trademarks that have been published without opposition, will be granted registration and a registration certificate will be issued. The entire smooth application process (if there are no rejections, objections, etc.) will take approximately 18-24 months.
