PROGRAMA DE FORMAÇÃO INTERNA EM MATÉRIA DE PROPRIEDADE INTELECTUAL - 2ª EDIÇÃO

No seguimento da edição realizada no ano passado, a Baipa iniciou a 29 de Agosto de 2017 a 2ª edição do seu programa de treinamento interno em matéria de Propriedade Intelectual. Os objectivos do programa são os seguintes:

• Consituir um momento de auto-educação dos colaboradores da empresa com vista a impulsionar o seu aperfeiçoamento individual e com reflexos no seu contributo para a equipa de trabalho.
• Permitir aos colaboradores a aquisição de conhecimentos/ habilidades fundamentais, cuja aplicação terá um impacto directo na execução das suas tarefas diárias.
• Dar a conhecer aos colaboradores (no caso dos novos) e/ ou aprofundar (no caso dos mais antigos) a área da propriedade intelectual, em geral, e da propriedade industrial, em particular.
• Desenvolver nos colaboradores a capacidade de análise crítica dos procedimentos usados na tramitação dos processos junto do IPI.
• Criar ou estimular as habilidades de leitura, pesquisa e pensamento crítico sobre as mais diversas matérias relacionadas com a propriedade intelectual.

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INTERNAL TRAINING PROGRAM IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MATTERS - 

2nd EDITION

Following the edition realized last year, Baipa started on 29 August 2017 his edition of its internal training program on Intellectual Property. The program have the following objectives:

• Constituting a moment of self-education of the employees of the company in order to boost their individual improvement and with reflexes in their contribution to the work team.
• Allow employees to acquire fundamental knowledge / skills, whose application will have a direct impact on the execution of their daily tasks.
• To make known to employees (in the case of new ones) and / or to deepen (in the case of the older ones) the area of intellectual property in general and industrial property in particular.
• To develop in the employees the capacity of critical analysis of the procedures used in the processing of the applications at IPI.
• Create or stimulate reading, research and critical thinking skills on a wide range of subjects related to intellectual property.

THE CANCELLATION OF TRADEMARK REGISTRATION DUE TO THE NON-FILING OF THE DIU

The recent incidences of cancellations requested by third parties on trademark registrations in Mozambique due to overdue Declaration of Intent to Use (DIU) is of great concern to trademark owners in Mozambique.

The Intellectual Property Institute of Mozambique (IPI) indicated that local Mozambican companies filed these requests and one could well argue that it was filed in bad faith in an attempt to apply and register well-known trademarks for purposes of profiteering.

In Mozambique it is not possible to request the cancellation of a trademark registration on the grounds of non-use. However, the cancellation may be possible in cases where the holder of the registration did not file a DIU at IPI by the respective due date. This is provided for in Decree No. 47/2015, the IP Code, Article 138 (for national registrations) and 162 (for international registrations).

Unfortunately IPI does not notify the trademark owner on receipt of the cancellation request filed by a third party. The trademark owner therefore does not have an opportunity to oppose the cancellation request. The cancellation request will normally be granted on receipt without further notice to the trademark owner, on condition that the DIU is due and the further grace period of six months has expired.

In terms of Article 138(1) a DIU should be submitted to IPI every five years from the date of registration or renewal. Paragraph 2 provides for a grace period “commencing six months before and ending six months after the expiration of the five-year period”. Paragraph 3 is clear on the consequences of non-submission of the DIU: "a trademark for which no declaration has been made is not binding on third parties, and the termination of the registration will be declared by the General Director at the request of any interested party, or if there is found to be prejudice during proceedings for other registrations."

For international registrations, Article 162(2) provides that the DIU must be submitted every five years from the date of the international registration. Paragraph 3 of the Article clarifies that the date of the international registration is the date of registration of the application for an international registration at the WIPO's Bureau.

This led to some confusion, when the General Director of IPI published notices in the Intellectual Property Bulletin Nos. 92, 93, 94 and 95, stating that “to ensure the standardization of the different dates of international trademarks, IPI announces that it will consider as a base date for counting the term for the presentation of the DIU for international trademarks, the date of the notification of the registration application in Mozambique (‘date de notification’ / ‘date of notification’)”. We are however of the opinion that the procedure in the code should prevail, as it was established by law (in this case Decree No. 47/2015 of December 31) and it should not be changed by way of a notice of the General Director of IPI.

The provisions applicable to national registrations apply to international registrations in respect of the effects of non-submission of a DIU, as well as the grace period of six months.

In summary, a cancellation may be requested by an interested third party on the grounds of an overdue DIU, without granting the trademark owner an opportunity to oppose the cancellation request.

In light of the above we at BRAZ & ASSOCIADOS, LDA strongly advise our clients to file DIU’s timeously to avoid the cancellation of a registered trademark, even if the trademark is in use and well-known in Mozambique.