How to Register a Trademark in Mauritius?

Registering a trademark in Mauritius is crucial for differentiating your company's identity from others. To secure exclusive rights to your trademark, it is advisable to register it with the appropriate authorities at the inception of your business. However, if you intend to register a trademark in Mauritius, the following guidelines must be adhered to.

Key Aspects of Trademark Registration in Mauritius

Some of the key aspects of trademark registration in Mauritius that you must be aware of are:

• A trademark can be any word, letter, numeral, drawing, picture, label, or combination of any of these.
• Trademark registration bestows upon you the exclusive rights to stop others from promoting identical or similar products with precisely the same or confusingly similar mark.
• Trademark registration in Mauritius is valid for 10 years and can be renewed every 10 years thereafter upon payment of the applicable fees.
• To search for the trademark you intend to use, a prescribed fee of Rs 210 can be paid to the Mauritius Industrial Property Office to initiate the search.
• If you are a national or your business is incorporated in Mauritius, you do not need to be represented by a legal practitioner who resides and practices law in Mauritius.
• A generic term, descriptive term, deceptive trademark, an offensive mark, a mark that is contrary to public order/morality, official hallmarks, flags, emblems of organizations, and armorial bearings cannot be registered as a trademark.
• By submitting a declaration for withdrawal of the application, you can withdraw your application up to the registration deadline.

How to Register a Trademark in Mauritius?

The registration of a trademark in Mauritius is straightforward and should be done the right way in order to protect your intellectual property in Mauritius.

• Contact the Industrial Property Office in Mauritius for trademark registration.
• The prescribed application form to register a trademark in Mauritius can be obtained from the Industrial Property Office. If you prefer not to deal with the hassle of visiting the office and standing in line to obtain the application form, you can download the prescribed form.
• Before you fill out the application and go to the Industrial Property Office for submission, do a thorough search and make sure that your proposed trademark does not conflict with any other registered trademark or any pending application.
• In the application form, under the heading `representation of trademark`, affix an explicit photograph of your proposed trademark and provide three more copies of it with the application.
• If your trademark is a symbol rather than a word, then it should be clearly depicted so that there are no misrepresentations. If the symbol has a title, it should also be inserted in the application.
• To claim priority when submitting a trademark application, the application should clearly state the following:

• Date and number of the previous application,
• The state in which this previous application was filed, and
• Whether this previous application is provincial or international, specify the office where it was filed. Submit an attested copy within three months of the application date.
• Each application covers only one class. Separate applications are required for multiple classes.
• A stipulated fee must also be submitted along with the application to ensure the process is completed within the usual timeframe.
• If your place of residence or principal place of business is outside the borders of Mauritius, ensure that you are represented by a legal practitioner who resides and practices law in Mauritius.
• Suppose the word or symbol you want to register as a trademark in Mauritius is in a foreign language. In that case, you must also provide a transliteration and/or translation of it, along with the mention of the language to which it belongs.
• A Power of Attorney appointing a legal practitioner or an approved agent must be registered with the Registrar General of Mauritius. You must file this together with the trademark application or within two months from the date of submission of the application.
• Do not forget to sign the trademark application and also state the date in the space provided in the application form.

Henceforth, if you wish to proceed with Mauritius offshore company formation or already have one and need help with trademark registration, please contact us.

At Business Setup Worldwide, a team of seasoned experts can help you with trademark registration, company registration, and company secretarial services in Mauritius. For more details, you can contact us anytime.