Trade marks and designs

In order to obtain a trademark, it is necessary to file with the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic a duly completed trademark application on a form (tlačive) which may be filed by a natural or legal person and, in the case of a collective trademark, also by an association of natural or legal persons (hereinafter referred to as the applicant).

The application shall contain a request for registration of the trade mark in the Register with particulars enabling the applicant to be identified, the wording or expression of the sign applied for enabling the subject-matter of the protection afforded to the proprietor of the trade mark to be clearly and precisely identified, a list of the goods and services for which the sign is to be registered as a trade mark in the Register, and the signature of the applicant or his representative. The list shall indicate the goods or services in the classification according to the International Convention (Nice Agreement).

The applicant for a collective trade mark shall enclose with the application for a collective trade mark a written agreement on the use of the collective trade mark, including the conditions of membership of the association, the conditions of use of the collective trade mark as well as the penalties for breach thereof, and a list of the members of the association, including their identification data.

The filing of the application shall confer on the applicant a right of priority. The right of priority arising from an international convention must be asserted by the applicant in the application and must be proved by proof of priority within three months of filing, otherwise it shall be disregarded. The right of priority may be claimed from the first application, subject to a period of six months from the date of the first filing from which the right of priority is claimed. If the applicant claims priority from several applications, he must indicate for each good or service from which application he claims priority.

The Office shall examine whether the application complies with the conditions laid down in Act No 506/2009 Coll. on Trade Marks, as amended. Third parties may submit written comments on the registration of a trade mark on the grounds that the conditions of Section 5 of the Act on Trade Marks, as amended, have been fulfilled, which the Office shall take into account when deciding on the registration of the trade mark in the Register. A person who has filed observations shall not become a party to the proceedings. If all the conditions laid down are fulfilled, the Office shall publish the application in the Bulletin of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as the 'Bulletin'). If no objections to the registration of the sign in the Register are filed within three months from the date of publication, the Office shall register the sign applied for.

The objection proceedings are an institute of trade mark law which creates a scope for the protection of the rights of third parties who might be affected by the registration of the mark applied for. After publication of the application in the Bulletine, the person referred to in Section 7 of the Trade Marks Act may file an opposition with the Office within three months of the publication.

On the basis of the reasoned objections to which the applicant has made representations, the Office shall examine whether the registration of the sign in the Register is precluded by any of the grounds invoked pursuant to Section 7 of the Trade Marks Act. If the Office finds that the registration of the sign in the Register is prevented by any of the grounds invoked, it shall refuse the application.

The registration of a trade mark shall be valid for ten years from the date of filing of the application with the Office, and upon application for renewal of the registration by the proprietor of the trade mark or the pledgee, the Office shall renew the registration of the trade mark for a further period of ten years.

The proprietor of the trade mark shall have the exclusive right to use the trade mark in connection with the goods or services for which it is registered.

The proprietor of the trade mark shall be entitled to use the ® mark in conjunction with the trade mark.

No person may use a sign identical to the trade mark for identical goods or services or a sign if, by reason of its identity or similarity to the trade mark and the identity or similarity of the goods or services, there is a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public, or a sign identical or similar to the trade mark, without the consent of the proprietor of the trade mark, which has a reputation in the territory of the Slovak Republic, if the use of that sign in connection with goods or services which are identical or dissimilar to those for which the trade mark is registered would, without due cause, take unfair advantage of the distinctive character or the reputation of the trade mark or would be detrimental to the distinctive character or the reputation of the trade mark.

The proprietor of a trade mark may require the publisher of a dictionary, encyclopaedia or similar reference work in which the trade mark is reproduced in such a way as to give the impression that it is a generic name of goods or services to publish, in the next edition of the work at the latest, particulars showing that the trade mark is reproduced in the work.

Where there has been an unauthorised interference with trade mark rights, the proprietor of the trade mark shall have the right to have the infringement or threatened interference prohibited and the consequences of the interference remedied; he may claim damages or appropriate relief, which may include monetary compensation. The right to the recovery of unjust enrichment and the right to damages shall not be affected.

The proprietor of a trade mark may transfer the trade mark by written contract to another natural person or legal entity for all or some of the goods or services for which it is registered (application for transfer of a trade mark). The proprietor of the trade mark may grant another person the right to use the trade mark for some or all of the goods or services for which the trade mark is registered by means of a licence agreement. A licence agreement may also grant an authorisation to use the sign which is the subject of the trade mark application. The trade mark, as well as the application, may be subject to a pledge. A pledgee or a pledgee may apply for registration of a pledge over a trade mark. An association of natural or legal persons may, as an applicant, file an application for registration of a sign as a collective trade mark together with a contract for the use of the collective trade mark. Persons who do not have their permanent residence or registered office in the Slovak Republic must be represented in trade mark proceedings by authorised representatives (Act No 344/2004 Coll. on patent attorneys; Act No 586/2003 Coll. on advocacy), whereas the mandatory representation does not apply to parties to the proceedings coming from a contracting party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Such parties shall be obliged to notify the Office of their address for service in the territory of a State which is a Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.