Mozambique Accepts Refiling Of Trade Mark Applications

It has always been the practice of the Industrial Property Institute ("IPI") of Mozambique to prohibit the refiling of trade marks that have been finally refused, which has posed a serious obstacle to trade mark applicants who wish to refile their applications in Mozambique for strategic reasons.

Refiling provides the applicant with an opportunity to consider the options available to overcome obstacles posed by earlier trade marks, or refusals based on distinctiveness. A trade mark that exists on the register and poses a bar to the registration of the initial application may have subsequently expired, become vulnerable to removal on the basis of non-use, abandoned or simply withdrawn, and will no longer pose a bar to the applicant's "refiled" application. On 2 September 2016, the IPI of Mozambique issued an official letter in an attempt to provide clarity on the issue of refiling. According to the official notice, applicants will now be allowed to refile trade mark