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ARTICLE · 15 FEBRUARY 2022

Registry's New Requirement On Trademark Searches

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Legal practitioners in the region have advised that the rather vague notice follow the registry's recent notices to practitioners that they must provide authorization from the proprietor of trademarks to conduct...

GhanaIntellectual Property
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On 22 October 2021, the Ghana Industrial Property Office issued an official notice, which mainly states that:

"Request(s) for search (es) in respect of Industrial Property should comply with the requirement (s) for searches states in the Law (s) and or Regulations of the particular Industrial Property".

Legal practitioners in the region have advised that the rather vague notice follow the registry's recent notices to practitioners that they must provide authorization from the proprietor of trademarks to conduct status searches on trademarks. The requirement is a cause for concern, as, in addition to being onerous, will undoubtedly also hamper the prosecution of applications and the running of litigation proceedings.

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