- African
1. Seychelles is an archipelago country located in the Indian Ocean in eastern Africa, consisting of 115 islands. The Seychelles Trademark Law consists of the 1977 Trademark Law and its implementing regulations. The Trademark Law Amendment, which was promulgated on April 1, 1991 and came into effect in 1992, accepted the registration of service trademarks and abolished the registration of B books.
2. The Judicial Registration Office is responsible for the unified management of trademark affairs, and the official languages used are Creole, French, and English.
3. The emergence of trademark rights is based on the principle of prior use.
4. Registered trademarks include series trademarks, joint trademarks, certification trademarks, defense trademarks, etc.
5. At present, the Seychelles government adopts the Nice Classification 10th edition of goods and services descriptions and does not accept applications for multiple categories in one form. The elements that can be registered as trademarks in Seychelles include text, name, graphics, numbers, letters, and combinations of the above elements.
Seychelles is a signatory to international intellectual property treaties such as the Paris Convention, WIPO Convention, and TRIPs Agreement, but has not joined the Madrid System, so trademark protection can only be handled through "single country registration".
The Seychelles trademark is valid for 10 years after registration, starting from the date of application; Renewal can be processed within 6 months before the expiration date, with a grace period of 6 months; Renewal validity period of 7 years
If the applicant does not reside in Seychelles, they must entrust a specialized agent in their home country to handle the matter. The basic materials required for trademark registration in Seychelles are:
1. Trademark design;
2. Category and specific product/service items;
3. Name and address of the applicant;
4. The power of attorney needs to be notarized;
If priority is declared, priority proof documents and corresponding English translations must be provided.
After the application is submitted, the official first conducts a formal review, which examines whether the application materials and classification information comply with regulations. Generally, it takes about one month to complete the acceptance process.
After acceptance, substantive examination of the trademark will be conducted, including examination of the distinctiveness of the trademark, whether it violates the prohibition and prohibition clauses, and whether it conflicts with the prior trademark. If the examination is passed, it will be announced;
If the review fails, a rejection notice will be issued and the applicant will be required to respond within the time limit specified in the rejection notice.
The initial review has a 60 day objection period from the date of announcement, and any interested party or prior right holder may raise objections. The main reasons for raising objections are:
1. Conflict with prior trademarks, such as owning prior registered trademarks or using prior trademarks (already used 6 months before the application date or priority date, and without malicious intent);
2. The trademark lacks distinctiveness;
3. The trademark has adverse effects;
4. Malicious registration;
5. Conflict with other prior rights, such as trade name rights, design rights, copyrights, personal names, etc.
If there are no objections or objections are not valid during the announcement period, registration can be approved and a registration certificate can be issued after the objection period ends. In a smooth situation, trademark registration in Seychelles currently takes one year; If there are objections or rejections encountered midway, the time will be greatly extended.
