There is currently no written trademark legal system in Myanmar, and trademark protection is mainly achieved through filing at the registration office and issuing warning notices in local newspapers and magazines. In recent years, there have been rumors that Myanmar will implement a new Trademark Law, but it has not been implemented yet. After years of preparation, the implementation of Myanmar's new Trademark Law has finally taken a big step forward. Following the release of Notice No. 63/2020 by the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce on August 28, 2020, which guided the implementation of the "6-month transition period", it was announced that the new Myanmar Intellectual Property Office would start accepting new applications for the "transition period" from October 1, 2020, and it is expected that this trial operation will last for at least 6 months until the "grand opening". After the end of the "transition period", all officially applied trademarks will be closer to international practices and undergo formal examination, substantive examination, announcement, opposition, and registration stages. At present, the Myanmar Intellectual Property Office is responsible for managing trademark affairs.

Principle of prior application for trademark

The Myanmar trademark is valid for 10 years after registration, starting from the date of application; Renewal can be processed 6 months before the expiration date, with a grace period of 6 months; The renewal is valid for 10 years.

Burmese

The objection period is 60 days 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 a prior registered trademark;
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, copyright, etc.

For a registered trademark, if any third party applies for revocation of the trademark, the trademark needs to be revoked through official procedures. Revoking the program requires the following conditions to be met:
(1) The reason for revocation must be 'clear violation of trademark law';
(2) The reason for revocation must be 'not used for three consecutive years';
(3) The applicant must submit it within the prescribed time;
(4) For the preliminary ruling, the Trademark Office will not issue a written notice to the applicant, and the applicant has 30 days to respond.

Through the interpretation of the new Trademark Law, Myanmar adopts the Nice Classification 11th edition for the description of goods and services and accepts applications for multiple categories. The elements that can be registered as trademarks in Myanmar include: text, name, graphics, color, letters, numbers, etc.

1. In fact, trademarks in Myanmar belong to a common law concept of protection. There is no legal system for relative registration.
2. Myanmar is actually a registration system, not an exclusive right granted by government departments.
3. Trademarks can be registered by issuing a declaration of ownership to the Myanmar Registration Office to protect their legitimate rights and interests.
4. The declaration must include the name, signature of the individual registering the Myanmar trademark, etc. (The declaration of ownership is only unilateral by the declaring party)
5. When registering, authentication from local officials, notaries, or judicial officials is usually required. (Ownership statement is not the final proof of exclusive trademark rights)
6. In the process of criminal or civil litigation, the parties may issue such a registration certificate;
7. Notarization certificate required for trademark registration in Myanmar.