Advice Before Initiating Trademark Application Procedure

Prior to filing a trademark application, it is recommended that a trademark is searched for identity and similarity in order to avoid conflicts in the registration process or in the market with some previously registered or applied for trademarks. Search can be done in two ways:

The first is by submitting a search request to the Institute with the payment of the appropriate procedural and administrative fees. - sample search request

Another way is to independently search in relevant databases:

1. NATIONAL REGISTER OF TRADEMARKS - Register of Trademarks of the Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which contains all applied for or registered trademarks directly in the Institute (updated on a daily basis). - link: http://reg.ipr.gov.ba - currently only the English version is available

2. Madrid Monitor - The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) trademark database containing internationally registered trademarks in Bosnia and Herzegovina (updated on a daily basis). - link: http://www.wipo.int/madrid/monitor/en/ (when searching, first select Advanced search and in the Designation field type BA. Continue to follow instructions on the page)

Timely knowledge of possible obstacles to the registration of a trademark or of the conflict in the marketplace allows for timely taking certain legal actions or business moves.

In the process of examining the trademark application, the Institute investigates the existence of obstacles for trademark registration. Where a trademark application is filed for an identical and/or similar sign for identical or similar goods and/or services of an earlier trademark holder, it may give rise to the infringement of the rights of earlier trademark holders, in particular if the applicant had used such sign in commerce.