– Industrial Property Law (Decree 12-99-E), effective since February 28, 2000, as amended.

– Pan-American Convention of Washington D.C. (1929).
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since November 15, 1983.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since February 4, 1994.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.
– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), since September 30, 2004.
– Trademark Law Treaty, since April 22, 2008 (not yet ratified).

Right in the mark: is acquired through its registration at the Honduran PTO.

Applicant: may be any nationals or foreign individuals, firms or companies (must appoint local attorney-at-law).

Foreigners: enjoy the same rights as nationals.

Kinds of protection: trademarks, service marks and collective marks.

Not registrable: the usual and ordinary form of the products or containers, or imposed by their very nature or industrial function; forms which give a functional or technical advantage to the product to which they apply; signs or indications that may serve in commerce to describe the characteristics of the products or services to be protected by the mark; those words that in the common language or trade practice of the country have been transformed into a usual or generic designation; an isolated color; marks lacking distinctiveness; those designations contrary to morality and public order; those designations consisting in signs, words or expressions which ridicule or tend to ridicule persons, ideas, religions or national symbols of third countries or international organizations; marks which may deceive the public or induce an incorrect perception as to origin, nature, component, qualities or manufacture procedures of the products or services to be protected; marks identical or confusingly similar to a previously registered and lapsed mark (for any reason) and which were used for the same products/services or for other products/services which may be associated, if filed within one year from the date of the lapsing or within two years in the case of collective marks; reproduction or imitation of an appellation of origin registered in the country or which are a common geographical denomination; marks that reproduce or imitate coins, bank bills, commemorative coins or other national and international official means of payment; marks which include or reproduce awards, medals or other elements which tend to produce the impression that such awards have been obtained by the products/services identified by the mark, unless those awards have really been obtained and a declaration of such was made at the time of filing the application; marks which are identical or confusingly similar (visually, phonetically or grammatically) to a registered mark in Honduras or to a pending application in the country and which cover identical or similar products or services, or even if different, which may be associated to the ones covered by the registered or previously applied mark; a mark which is identical or confusingly similar to a trade name, slogan or emblem used in the country by a third party prior to the date on which the application was filed, if under the circumstances, confusion or error which may be caused; the total or partial reproduction, imitation, translation of a distinctive sign belonging to a third party, used in Honduras and well-known in Honduras by the public and to be applied to any product or service as long as it may be associated with the well-known marks; names, pseudonyms, signatures and portraits of living persons without the consent of the interested parties or if not living, without the consent of their spouse, ascendants or descendants in the nearest degree.

Slogan: may be registered, and renewed as long as the mark with which it is used continues to be valid.

Priority: according to the Paris Convention. Note that priority is granted only if reciprocity exists in the applicant’s country.

Classification: International Classification of Goods and Services in accordance with the 11th Edition of the Nice Agreement.

Multi-class applications: are not permitted.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Name, nationality and address of applicant and all documents relative to the applicant (in case of companies, a legalized copy of the Articles of Incorporation or of the corresponding Certificate of Good Standing);
2. 20 prints of the mark (may be prepared by local agent);
3. Description of the mark, the international class of goods/services intended to be covered;
4. Power of attorney (legalized);
5. Basic registration if priority is to be claimed (legalized only if applicant is not a citizen of a Paris Convention country).

Note: above documents referred to in 1, 4, 5, can be filed within ninety working days of the application date. Legally the POA should be submitted within thirty days from the filing date, however, in practice, such period does not commence until the applicant is officially required to submit the POA which generally gives the interested party more or less ninety days to comply with the requirement. All legends and special remarks included in a mark must be translated into Spanish.

Examination: a formal examination and a complete examination.

Amendments and corrections: possible, at any time during the prosecution of the application. If such amendments and corrections are made after the publication has taken place, a new application is compulsory. 

Letters of consent: acceptable on a case by case basis.

Publication: after the examinations have been carried out, the PTO orders the publication of the mark in the Official Gazette for three consecutive times within intervals of ten days.

Opposition: may be filed by any interested parties within forty-five days from the last publication date. No belated filings are accepted. The PTO resolves oppositions and all decisions may be appealed.

A granting decision is issued after the complete examination has been carried out and publication of the application has taken place, provided that no opposition was filed by a third party.

Appeal: decisions of the PTO may be appealed.

Duration: ten years from the date of registration.

Renewal: may be renewed indefinitely for equal periods of time. Payment of the yearly maintenance fees is a requisite for obtaining the renewal of a registration. No changes may be introduced with the renewal to broaden the scope, but registrant may limit the specification of the registration.

Annuities: have to be paid yearly or just before filing the renewal application for registration (lump sum for trademarks granted after 2000).

Annuity grace period: six months (with surcharge).

Assignment: possible, independently from the transmission of the company or establishment and in relation to all or some of the products/services covered by the mark; recordal of such assignments is compulsory. Partial assignment and co-ownership are possible.

Licenses: possible through a written agreement. Must be recorded at the PTO in order to produce effects against third parties.

Use of a mark: compulsory. The first non-use period starts with the registration date. A mark is considered used when the products/services identified by it can be found in the market in the quantity and regularity which normally correspond to the size of the Honduran market, the nature of the products/services and the form in which such are usually commercialized. Lack of economic resources or insufficient demand are not considered as excuses for non-use. The use of a mark by a licensee will be considered as use by the registrant for all the effects deriving from the law.

Cancellation for non-use: a cancellation action may be filed by any interested parties (a) on the grounds of non-use of a mark, if the mark has not been used in the country for three years or more, by the owner or a duly registered licensee; (b) for failure to pay the rehabilitation taxes. Payment of so-called rehabilitation tax, due yearly and at the end of the non-use period will safeguard a registration against actions and defenses on the grounds of non-use.

Exclusive use of the mark is acquired through its registration.

First-to-file system applies.Trade names used as marks will enjoy protection as long as they have been registered as marks in the classes of interest.

Annulment: when a mark is obtained by a person who did not have the right to do so, the prejudiced party may initiate a court action to claim its right before the competent civil courts.

Damages: can also be claimed.

Loss of right: civil action is no longer possible if not filed within five years from the registration date of the infringing mark or within two years from the date on which the mark has been used for the first time, applying the term which expires later.

Criminal procedures: available. The IP Special Unit of the General Attorney’s Office is fully operative and works closely with the General Directorate of Intellectual Property and the Honduran Customs Authority against counterfeiters.

Seizure of counterfeited goods: possible.

Unfair competition action: possible.