– Montenegrin Trademark Law, passed on November 30, 2010, published in the Official Gazette of Montenegro No. 72/2010 of December 8, 2010, in force since December 16, 2010, with amendments published in the Official Gazette No. 44/2012 of August 9, 2012, No. 18/2014 of April 11, 2014, No. 40/2016 of June 30, 2016, amendments published in the Official Gazette No. 02/2017 of January 10, 2017, in force since July 1, 2017, and amendments published in the Official Gazette No. 3/2023 of January 10, 2023, in force since January 18, 2023.
– Decree on Ensurance of IP Protection, published in the Official Gazette of Montenegro No. 61/2007 of October 12, 2007, in force since October 20, 2007, with amendments published in the Official Gazette of Montenegro No. 70/2008. Officially this Decree and the by-laws below are still in force, but they are not used since the adoption of the Regulation in 2011.
– By-laws regulating application of the Trademark Law will be adopted within six months from the date of coming into force of the Trademark Law. Until then, the by-laws adopted on the basis of the previous Trademark Law (Official Gazette of Serbia and Montenegro No. 61/04 and 07/05) shall continue to be applied, unless they are contrary to the current Trademark Law.
– Regulation on the Procedure for Recognition, Changes, Renewal of the Validity and International Registration of Trademarks, published in the Official Gazette of Montenegro No. 50/2011 dated October 21, 2011.

– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since January 24, 1965, continues in Montenegro as of June 3, 2006.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since June 3, 2006.
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since June 3, 2006.
– Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, Stockholm Act, since June 3, 2006.
– Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement, since June 3, 2006.
– Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services, Geneva Act, since February 16, 2013.
– Trademark Law Treaty, since June 3, 2006.
– Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration, Stockholm Act, since June 3, 2006.
– Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks, as of March 9, 2012.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since April 29, 2012.
– Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, since July 24, 2023.

Applicant: individuals or legal entities.

Foreigners and nationals not living in the country: must have a local attorney.

Trademarks of foreigners: the same rights as nationals in accordance with conventions or agreements, or on the basis of reciprocity.

Kinds of protection: individual and collective trademarks.

Marks for services: protection is provided for.

Novelty: examination of identity and similarity.

Registrability: a trademark is granted to a sign which serves to distinguish goods and services in commercial circulation, such as: words, slogans, letters, numbers, pictures, drawings, colors, color combinations, three-dimensional marks, combinations of these marks as well as musical phrases.

Not registrable (absolute grounds): a trademark that is not distinctive, that consists exclusively of marks or information that serve in trade to designate the kind, quality, quantity of the goods and services, that consist exclusively of marks that serve in trade to designate the geographical origin of the goods or services, that consist exclusively of marks that have become usual in speech, or have been adopted in business practice in good faith, that consists exclusively of a shape that is a result of the nature of the goods themselves, or of a shape necessary for achieving a technical result or of a shape that gives products essential value, marks which are contrary to public interest and moral, which are of such nature as to mislead the public, especially in respect of the nature, quality or geographical origin of the goods or services, which cannot be registered in accordance with Article 6ter of the Paris Convention, which represents a religious or national symbol, which contains official signs or stamps for control or guarantee of quality, which cannot be registered in accordance with the law of the European Union or the regulations in Montenegro or international agreements in which the European Union or Montenegro is a member, and which ensure the protection of: - designation of origin and designation of geographical origin, or - traditional terms for wines, or - guaranteed traditional specialties, which consists of the earlier denomination of the plant variety or reproduces it in its essential elements and which is registered in Montenegro, in accordance with the law, and which provide protection of rights to the plant variety and which refer to plant varieties of the same or closely related species, which consists of an earlier denomination of a plant variety or reproduces it in its essential elements, which is registered in accordance with the law of the European Union or international agreements to which the European Union is a member, which provide protection of plant variety rights and which refer to plant varieties same or closely related species; (relative grounds): on the basis of an opposition, a trademark will not be registered that is identical to an earlier registered trademark for identical goods and services, a trademark that is identical or similar to an earlier registered trademark for the same or similar kind of goods or services if there is likelihood of confusion, a trademark that is identical or similar to an earlier mark that enjoys a reputation in Montenegro, regardless of the kind of goods or services, a trademark applied for protection by a trade agent or representative without authorization from the trademark holder unless the trade agent or representative can justify their actions, a trademark containing a personal name or portrait, which infringes copyright or other industrial property rights, a trademark that can be replaced with an earlier trademark registered in another country, provided that at the time of filing the trademark application, the applicant did not act in good faith, if the application for the registration of a designation of origin or a designation of geographical origin has already been submitted in accordance with the law, before the date of submission of the application for registration of the trademark or the priority date claimed in the application, provided that the designation of origin or designation of geographical origin be registered, and gives the person authorized in accordance with the law the right to prohibit the use of a later trademark; if the application for registration of the designation of origin or designation of geographical origin has already been submitted in accordance with the law of the European Union which prescribes the protection of designations of origin or designations of geographical origin, provided that the application for registration of the designation of origin or designation of geographical origin has already been submitted in accordance with the law of the European Union before the date of submission of the application for registration of the trademark or the date of priority requested in the application, that it is later registered, and that the mark of origin or the mark of geographical origin gives the person authorized in accordance with the law the right to prohibit the use of a later trademark.

Association (collective) marks: registrable.

Certification marks: not registrable.

Priorities: in general, from the filing date of the trademark application; union priority: six months, must be claimed in the application; exhibition priority: six months, must be claimed in the application.

Classification: Nice Classification.

Territory covered: Montenegro.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. 3 prints (except for word marks); size: min. length 1.5 cm, max. size 8 x 8 cm, or electronic sample;
2. List of goods and services, grouped according to the International Classification;
3. Priority document, if priority is requested;
4. Power of attorney, simply signed; no notarization or legalization is required (can be filed subsequently).

Electronic filing: not available. 

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

Examination: formal examination: as to completeness and formal requirements, i.e. absolute grounds for registration. 

Disclaimers: not available.  

Letters of consent: not accepted.

Opposition: within a term of ninety days from the date of publication of the application, any interested party may submit to the IP Office a justified written opinion on absolute grounds for refusal of registration of the trademark, including the owner of an earlier trademark or licensee.

Registration: after having established that the mark fulfills the conditions for trademark protection, the IP Office asks the applicant to pay the fee for the first ten years of trademark protection, the publication costs, and issue fee. Upon the payment, the IP Office registers the trademark, publishes the same in the Official Journal and issues the certificate of registration in paper format.

Amendment of application: it is not possible to make a substantial modification to the mark, or to add goods or services to the list (transcription of a word mark in stylized letters is not considered a substantial modification).

Division of application: possible.

Urgent procedure: provided for (1) in cases of court proceedings, inspectorate supervision or customs proceedings, at the request of the court, market inspection or customs authorities; (2) at the request of the applicant, if necessary in order to achieve Convention or exhibition priority abroad; (3) in cases where other laws require urgent registration (for example for pharmaceuticals).

Restoration: possible by continuation of procedure and restitution into former state –restitutio in integrum. The request for continuation of procedure has to be filed within a term of sixty days from the date of expiry of the term wherein the action should have been performed (this request is not allowed in case of failure to submit the request for renewal of the trademark within the deadline). A request for restitution into former state has to be filed within a deadline of eight days from the date of cease of the reason for omission, and cannot be filed after thirty days has expired from the date of omission. In the request for restitution, the applicant must explain the circumstances causing the omission.

Appeals: the decision of the IP Office cannot be appealed, but it is possible to initiate an administrative lawsuit with the Administrative Court (within twenty days from receipt of the decision).

Delivery of document: approximately two years after filing in paper format.

Beginning of protection: from the date of filing the application, i.e. priority date if applicable.

Duration: ten years from the filing date of the application.

Renewals: every ten years. A trademark can be renewed an unlimited number of times. 

Latest term for renewal: the last day of protection for which the fees have been paid.

Term of grace for renewal: six months, with 50% fine.

Owner’s rights: exclusive right to use the registered trademark and to prohibit unauthorized use by a third party, except if the trademark is a third party’s company name obtained in good faith before the priority date of the trademark, or it is a personal name or address, indication of the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin, the time of production or other characteristics of goods or services, or a mark the use of which is necessary to indicate the purpose of the goods, i.e. services, especially in case of spare parts or accessories. The trademark owner cannot prevent a third party to use an earlier right in commerce, which is used only in one specific locality of Montenegro, if such right is recognized in accordance with the regulations of Montenegro and within the boundaries of the area in which it is recognized.

Trademark exhaustion: national.

Obligation to use: the holder of the trademark has to use the registered trademark. If he does not use it without justified reason, in an uninterrupted period of five years from the registration date or from the date of last use, the trademark can be cancelled at the request of an interested party. Use in a slightly altered form and use on goods solely for export, constitute trademark use. The use in advertising of goods/services covered by the trademark satisfies the use requirement only if the goods can be purchased on the domestic market.

Marking of registered goods: compulsory.

Text of marking: not provided for.

Modification of the mark after registration: not possible.

Changes in the list of goods: possible, only if the list is restricted.

Corrections: possible to correct typographical errors.

Licenses: provided for trademarks and trademark applications; can be exclusive or not exclusive; contract must be in a written form and registered to take effect vis-à-vis third parties.

Assignment: provided for trademarks and trademark applications; contract must be in written form and registered to take effect vis-à-vis third parties.

Rights of prior user: any interested legal entity or natural person may file a request with the IP Office for invalidation of a trademark if such registration is contrary to the provisions concerning absolute grounds for refusal of registration. If the registration is contrary to the provisions concerning relative grounds, a request may be filed by the owner of the previously registered trademark or the person who’s rights have been infringed. A request may be filed throughout the period of validity of the trademark and even after the trademark is no longer valid.

“Challenge of trademark rights”: a request for cancellation on the grounds of non-use may be filed with the IP Office by any interested party if the trademark owner has not used his trademark for designating goods, i.e. services on the domestic market for a continuous five-year period, calculated from the date of registration, i.e. date of last use, without justified reason for non-use. The burden of proof in these proceedings lies on the trademark owner.

Compulsory license: not provided for.

Validation of lapsed marks: not provided for.

Infringement and penalties: the court can be requested to prohibit activities which constitute infringement, to order the destruction of the infringing goods and/or equipment for production of infringing goods, to grant indemnification, to order the publication of the judgment at the expense of the infringer, and to order the infringer to provide information about third parties which participated in infringing activities. In case of willful infringement, a plaintiff can request up to triple the amount of royalties he would normally receive if the trademark was licensed. The lawsuit has to be filed within a period of five years from the date of infringement. Preliminary injunctions and measures to secure evidence are provided for (can be requested in a lawsuit, exceptionally even earlier, but the lawsuit must be filed within twenty working days or thirty-one calendar days, depending on which term expires later, from the execution of the injunctions/request for securing of evidence). The court is obliged to grant a preliminary injunction in cases where the infringing mark is identical or essentially similar. Fines may be imposed both on a company and company officials. Challenge of trademark is possible on the grounds of breach of the agreement, if the trademark application was filed or the trademark was registered in bad faith and if the trademark was registered against the provisions of Article 6bis of the Paris Convention. A lawsuit may be filed throughout the period of validity of the trademark and even after the trademark is no longer valid.