Trade Marks and Designs

Information for Applicants

Trade mark proceeding shall start with filing a trade mark application with the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic in Banská Bystrica ("the Office"). Registration procedure is regulated by the Act No. 506/2009 Coll. on Trade Marks and by Decree No. 567/2009 Coll. implementing the Act No. 506/2009.

An application shall be filed for one sign only. Any natural or legal person may file an application. Collective trade mark is a trade mark filed capable of distinguishing goods or services of members or an association of natural or legal persons with legal identity from goods or services of other persons.

An application shall contain a request for the entry of a sign as a trade mark into the Register; identification data of an applicant; wording or graphical presentation of a sign; in case of a three-dimensional sign its surface presentation, list of goods or services in respect of which the registration is requested. Goods or services included in the list shall be classified in accordance with the international treaty (Nice Agreement).

Conditions of using the collective trade mark including sanctions for infringement of rights shall be laid down in a written agreement on using the collective trade mark concluded among all members of the association. An application shall contain also the list of all members of the association with addresses of their seats.

Trade mark application may also contain: proofs of distinctiveness of a sign for relevant goods or services. If an application contains other sign than a word in a common typeface, the sign has to be reproduced in details in a size of maximum 8 cm x 8 cm. If an applicant is being represented by an agent, an authorisation has to be enclosed to the application.

An applicant shall enjoy the priority right by filing a trade mark application. An applicant shall claim the priority right pursuant to an international convention in the application and within the period of three months from the filing date. He/she shall prove this right otherwise it shall not be taken into the consideration. The priority right may be claimed from the first application within the period of six months from the date of filing of the first application. If an applicant claims the priority right of more than one application, he/she has to state for each goods or services from which application the priority right is being claimed.

The Office shall perform an examination on a trade mark application. Prior to the entry of a trade mark into the Register an applicant shall be entitled to divide an application containing more than one kind of goods or services. If requirements laid down for registration of a sing as a trade mark in the Register by the Act are fulfilled, the Office shall enter the trade mark into the Register.

A trade mark proprietor shall have an exclusive right to use his trade mark in relation to his goods or services for which it is registered. The proprietor shall be entitled to prevent all third parties not having his consent from using in the course of trade  

• any sign which is identical with a trade mark in relation to goods or services which are identical with those for which the trade mark is registered;
• any sign where, because of its identity with, or similarity to, the trade mark and the identity or similarity of goods or services covered by the trade mark and the sign, there exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public; the likelihood of confusion includes the likelihood of association a trade mark;
• any sign which is identical with or similar to a trade mark with a reputation in the territory of the Slovak Republic not registered for similar goods or services if the use of that sign without due case takes unfair advantage of, or is detrimental to, the distinctive character or the repute of the trade mark.

A trade mark proprietor shall be entitled to authorise third parties to use a trade mark, to transfer a trade mark or to lien a trade mark.

The term of protection of a registered trade mark shall be 10 years from filing date of an application with the Office. The registration of a trade mark shall be renewed upon the request of a trade mark proprietor or of a pledge creditor for further period of 10 years. Filing a request for a trade mark renewal shall be subject to an administrative fee.

Applicants without adequate trade mark and legal knowledge or skills shall be represented by patent representatives or commercial lawyers who are entitled to act before the Office. The list of patent representatives shall be available at the Office.

Request for entry of a trade mark into the Register shall be subject to an administrative fee. Administrative fees are defined in the Act No. 145/1995 (PDF, 110,9 kB) Coll. on Administrative fees. The administrative fees shall be paid in advance, otherwise the required act is not performed.

Administrative fee for filing the request for the entry of the trade mark in the Register is due within 15 day from notification of trade mark's application number assignment.

Administrative fees shall be paid in Euro. Payment may be effected by money order or transfer to the bank account of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic kept in the State Treasury.  

Payment order shall state:

Name of the account: Depozitný účet ÚPV SR BB
IBAN code:                   SK49 8180 0000 0070 0006 0750
BIC code:                     SPSRSKBA
Constant Symbol:       0558

Variable symbol identifies the payment. It is created by the 10-digits numerical code as follows: 6 plus 9-digits application number assigned by the Office.  

(e.g. 6002581999 is variable symbol for the trade mark application no. POZ 258-99, 6015582003 is a variable symbol for trade mark application no. POZ 1558-2003)  

Detailed information about structure of a variable symbol. (PDF, 41,7 kB)