Registration of a trade mark in Ireland

  A trade mark is a sign created to distinguish the products of an undertaking from those of competitors and, at the same time, identify the source of said products.
For a trade mark to be considered valid it is required that the sign possesses at least the requirements of veracity, originality, novelty and lawfulness.

The holder of the trade mark is also the one who has the exclusive rights over it. However, to avoid problems related to the registration of the sign itself by a third party, it is advisable to protect oneself. How? By filing an application to register before the trade mark is used in the course of trade.

Steps to register a trade mark in Ireland

3 steps need to be completed in order to obtain the registration of one’s own undertaking’s trade mark in Ireland:  

• subsistence of all the necessary legal requirements;
• filing of the application to register;
• publication of the application.

  4 to 6 months are usually required to obtain the registration of a sign as a trade mark, but the important thing is that the protection thereof begins on the date when the application is filed.
The latter, moreover, may be made by both individuals and companies.

Types of registrable trade marks

Registrable trade marks in Ireland are of 3 types:  

• certification marks;
• product marks;
• service marks.

  For certification marks it is required that the owner does not have any current commercial interests in relation to the product the sign relates to.

  For further information concerning the registration of a trade mark in Ireland, please call + 39 02 36 63 86 10