Trade and Service Marks

– Law on Industrial Property, No. 9947, dated July 7, 2008, in force since February 15, 2009.
– Law No. 10/2013, dated February 2, 2013, on Amendments and Additions to the Law No. 9947, aligning with EU Directives.
– Law No. 55/2014, dated May 29, 2014, on Amendments and Additions to the Law No. 9947, aligning with EU Directives.
– Law No. 17/2017, dated February 2, 2017, on Amendments and Additions to the Law No. 9947, in force since March 25, 2017.
– Law No. 96/2021, dated July 7, 2021, on Amendments and Additions to the Law No. 9947, in force since August 22, 2021.

Membership in International Conventions

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since June 30, 1992.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since October 4, 1995.
– Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, since October 4, 1995.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since September 8, 2000.
– Madrid Protocol, since July 30, 2003.
– Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, Geneva Act, since September 19, 2003.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since May 9, 2004.
– Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks, since January 16, 2019.
– Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration, Stockholm Act since May 8, 2019, and Geneva Act since February 26, 2020.

Filing

Applicant: any individual or legal entity.

Foreigners: must appoint a representative.

Notion of trademarks: a trademark may be any sign, in particular words, including personal names or designs, letters, numbers, colors, the form of goods or their packaging, or sounds, provided that those signs are capable of (a) distinguishing the goods or services of a natural or legal person from those of another natural or legal person; (b) being represented in the Register in such a way as to enable the competent authorities and the public to determine clearly and accurately the object of protection recognized to its owner.

Non-registrable marks: those which have no distinctive nature; or consist exclusively of elements or indicators that may serve in the market to show the kind, quality, amount, purpose, value, geographical origin or time of production of the goods or the performance of the services, or other characteristics of the goods or services; or consist of elements that tend to disorient the public about the nature, quality, geographical or commercial origin of goods and/or services that they have the purpose of distinguishing; or consist exclusively of elements or indicators that have become customary in daily language or have turned into fixed practices in commerce; or consist of forms or lines imposed by the very nature of the goods or services; or consist of forms that give a fundamental value to the goods; or consist of elements that violate public interests or are in conflict with public morals and order; or are identical or similar to already registered trademarks or commercial names.

Surnames, portraits, pseudonyms of persons well-known by the public are not registrable if not authorized by the owner.

State names or emblems: are not registrable.

Certification and collective marks: are registrable.

Well-known marks: are protected (Paris Convention).

Classification: international.

Note: an application can contain several classes.

Priority: according to the Convention of Paris.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney (notarization only in absence of the company seal);
2. 10 specimens of the mark (even for word marks);
3. If priority is claimed: a declaration including all pertinent data;
4. For a collective/certification mark: a certified copy of the regulation.

Electronic filing: available.

Electronic signatures: are not accepted (only wet signatures).

For renewal: 
1. Power of attorney (notarization only in absence of the company seal).

For a change of name or address:
1. A document certifying the change of name/address (must be notarized);
2. Power of attorney (notarization only in absence of the company seal).

Examination

Examination: a preliminary examination is carried out within one week to determine the formal conformity of the application with the requirements of the law. An examination as to defects (but not as to prior registrations) is then carried out and a filling certificate is granted immediately.

Examination order: by numerical order as per submission of the application, but the examination can be expedited against filing a request and payment of the respective fee.

Publication: after the formal examination and the examination on absolute bases are completed, the application is published for opposition within a three-month period.

Disclaimers: available via a request by third parties (observations) regarding violation of relative grounds (Article 143 of Albanian Law); can be submitted to the Chamber for the examination of oppositions and against payment of the respective fee. An appeal against a decision made by the Chamber for the examination of oppositions may be submitted to the Board of Appeal within one month from the date of receipt of notification and by paying the respective fee.

Letters of consent: can be accepted to overcome an objection based on an older registration.

Opposition: an opposition to a published trademark can be deposited in the Chamber for examination of oppositions of the GDIP within a three-month period from the date of publication against payment of the respective fee.

Objections of the GDIP have to be answered within three months from publication.

Appeals to overcome a decision to reject the application can be submitted to the Chamber for cancellation/invalidation of the GDIP within one month after receipt of the notification and against payment of the fee. An appeal against the decision taken by the Chamber for cancellation/invalidation can be submitted to the Board of Appeals within one month from the date of receipt of the notification and against payment of the respective fee. Decisions of the Board of Appeals can be brought before the court within forty-five days from the date of decision, with the exception of decisions concerning absolute grounds for refusal which are final.

Division: possible, by filing a request before a decision is taken on the registration of the mark and paying the related fee.

Granting

Beginning of protection: date of registration.

Delivery of document: the trademark certificate is issued in paper format only.

Duration: ten years counted from the filing date.

Renewals: for same periods.

Late renewal: six-month grace period.

Marking: not compulsory.

Assignment: may be effected with or without the goodwill of the business, and must be recorded at the GDIP; notarized assignment deed with power of attorney executed by the assignee must be furnished.

Licenses: must be recorded at the GDIP. The licensor must insure effective control of the quality of the goods or services.

Use: a registration may be revoked on request of an interested party if the mark has not been used during a period of five years without good reasons. A mark may be used in a slightly modified manner which does not affect the distinctiveness. Use of the mark in publicity and business correspondence is considered as sufficient to prevent an action of revocation.

Change of name/address – transfer of ownership: must be recorded in the Patent Register.

Pledge/guarantee of patent: must be recorded in the Patent Register via deposit at the GDIP of the signed contract of guarantee or pledge, accompanied by payment of the respective fee.

Levy of execution procedures: must be recorded in the Patent Register at the request of one of the parties to the contract, accompanied by payment of the respective fee; an enforcement action is registered in the Register and published in the Bulletin of the GDIP.

Cancellation of a mark: may be requested by any person and at any time, against payment of the respective fee, in the Chamber for cancellation/invalidation or in court if the registration of the mark was done in violation of the provisions of absolute and relative grounds or the application for registration was made in bad faith.

Protection

User rights: the owner of a registered mark has the right to prevent a third party from using it.

Exhaustion of the right: import of original goods bearing the mark is allowed if the public is not misled.

Infringement proceedings: can be instituted by the owner of a registered mark against any infringement before the court. The court may allow compensation. The court may grant an injunction to prevent further infringement as destroying illegally used marks tools that could be used to manufacture the goods and the goods themselves in the absence of the possibility of removing any illegal mark from such goods.

Invalidation: may be made by any person through a request for invalidation of a registered mark against payment of the respective fee in the Chamber for cancellation/invalidation or in court, if the registration of the mark was done in violation of the provisions: (1) its owner has not used the mark for the goods or services for which it was registered for an uninterrupted period of five years; (2) the mark has become an ordinary name in the market for the goods or services for which it was registered.