Trademark registration in Maldives

A registered trademark grants exclusive nationwide use: Registering your trademark grants you protection and the exclusive right to use your trademark in connection to the products and services for which you have registered in a determined country or territory. As a registered trademark owner you can take legal action against anyone who uses your brand without your permission, including counterfeiters.

A registered trademark serves as a deterrent against third parties that would otherwise use identical or confusingly similar trademarks for identical or similar goods or services. In most countries the prior existence of a considerably similar registered trademark is grounds for government offices to refuse a subsequent registration. Furthermore, trademark owners have the right to oppose similar trademarks from being registered. 

A registered trademark grants one the right to use the ® Symbol: Upon registration you will be able to use this symbol in order to demonstrate that your trademark has been registered and is enforceable by law. It also serves as notice to competitors that you are serious about protecting your trademark rights. Such right is limited to the countries in which the trademark is registered.

It is illegal and punishable by law to use this symbol if your trademark has not been registered; fines and penalties vary depending on the jurisdiction. The use of the ® symbol in some countries is also obligatory if a trademark has been registered in order to be able to present legal actions or remedies against a third party that uses a trademark without the owner’s consent.

A registered trademark is necessary to enlist help from countries’ Customs Service (Customs and Border Patrol): if a trademark has been registered, actions can be taken in order to request local customs services to prevent the entering or exportation of goods that use an identical or confusingly similar trademark.

Priority for subsequent applications: The first application for a trademark will grant the holder the right to subsequently claim priority when applying for an identical trademark in the vast majority of countries in the world, for a period of 6 months. If priority is claimed inside the period of 6 months from the first application, the subsequent applications will be considered as having been presented on the same date as the application in the first country. This is important in case there are conflicting trademarks that were filed after the first application.

For more information regarding Priority please visit our General FAQs

If you are investing time and money in order to differentiate yourself and your products or services from other traders, make sure that other trademarks that may take advantage of your market placement are not admitted for registration.

The first step to do so is to stay alert. Our Watch Service will have experts continually monitoring newly published trademarks, alerting you if any of them may eventually affect your rights. Being alerted on time will allow you as a trademark owner to decide whether or not opposition actions should be presented.

Our trademark watch services can be ordered on a yearly basis for a specific country, region or even worldwide.

Trademark Watch Alerts will be sent to your email, including information of the conflicting trademark, such as the trademark itself, the class for which it is being registered, the details of the applicant and the deadline to present legal actions intended to stop the trademark from being registered.

Different countries have different requirements and time frames when it comes to trademarks. When working with iGERENT, a trademark consultant will be assigned specifically to you, and will assist you with whatever trademark related services you require. Along with advising you, your consultant will continuously monitor your trademark processes, keeping you up to date with any developments. Regardless of the amount of countries in which you have services being processed, you will be able to monitor any advances through your online account, or by contacting your assigned trademark consultant directly.

Regardless of which country or countries you are ordering trademark services for, all payments will be made through our online portal. Our online portal allows easy and safe payment to be made via PayPal, by major credit cards such as Visa, American Express, MasterCard and Discover, and even Bitcoin. If you like, you may also pay directly via wire transfer* (bank transfer) to our US bank account.

*Clients that pay via wire transfer (bank transfer) are eligible to receive a 5% discount.