Formal Examination Criteria of Trademarks in Jordan

Introduction to the Jordanian trademark law

Trademark law is the set of laws and legal regulations that are set up to protect trademarks. The first Trademark law in Jordan was established in 1952. It comprises the process of trademark registration and renewal in Jordan. Certain modifications have been made to this law to meet new standards. In order to protect a trademark, unlike certain situations where protection is granted regardless of registration, the trademark should be registered in Jordan. The trademark registration process takes around 12-16 months to be completed in Jordan. The registration process is divided in to 4 basic phases such as filing, examination, publication and registration.

What does trademark examination mean in Jordan?

Trademark examination means that the examiner at the trademark office oversees the trademark application and check if it complies with the formality requirements and regulations. There are two types of examination in Jordan such as formal and the substantive.

What is formal trademark examination in Jordan?

The formal examination represents the second phase in registration process where the examiner check whether the trademark application complies with formal requirements as certain documents must have submitted to the office such as the sub-legalized power of attorney and Certified copy of the priority document if it was claimed at the time of filing. However, the trademark office in Jordan permits applicants to submit the required documents after the formal examination has been completed. Therefore, If the mentioned documents were not submitted within the application at the time of filing the trademark office will issue an office action after formally examined the application asking the local agents to submit the missing documents within 30 days. On another note, the purpose of the formal examination is to check the availability of the required documents in the file of the trademark applications.

What happens after formal examination of trademarks in Jordan?

As a result of formal examination, the TMO issue its decision to accept or reject or to issue an office action against the application. If the trademark complied to all the formalities, it will be accepted. However, if the application is missing some documents then the Trademark office will issue an office action asking to submit these documents. In addition, if the examiner found that the application doesn’t comply with the formalities and regulations mentioned by the law a rejection will be issued giving the applicant the right to appeal within 30 days from the notification date. An Extension of time can also be applied for an additional period to submit the documents in case of the office action or to appeal in case of the rejection. The main reason behind the formal rejection of a trademark application is the noncompliance with formal requirements which comprise submitting required documents. In other words, in order to obtain positive results, the applicant shall comply with certain requirements and requests imposed by the examiner or else the application is deemed rejected. Formal examination reports are usually issued by the examiner at the trademark office who decide whether the application is formally acceptable or not. Thus, in the examination phase certain objections might arise from the trademark office given the applicants the chance to amend their related trademarks to comply with all the formality requirements and finally accepted. In order to overcome these objections, the applicant has the right to respond within 30 days either by complying to the examiner’s requests or by challenging the decision.

Trademark examinations in Jordan – Concluding thoughts

Trademark registration process is smooth and easy, yet detailed and delicate. One should keep in mind that in order to obtain a successful trademark registration, he should comply with all TMO’s instructions whether related to formal requirements or substantive ones.