All you need to know for a trademark Registration-filing in Algeria

A smooth trademark registration generally passes through three phases:

Filing – you file the trademark at the TM department.

Publication – if the mark is accepted and not rejected, it will be published for 90 days. 

Registration – after the opposition/publication period ends, you can pay the final registration fees and receive your trademark certificate.

The examination criteria are both on absolute grounds and relative grounds:

Absolute grounds for trademark refusals in Algeria are:

• Trademarks that are devoid of any distinctive character.
• Trademarks exclusively consist of signs regularly used in trade, to refer to a type, kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin, or other characteristics relating to the goods or service the trademark is registered on.
• Trademarks exclusively consist of signs or indications that are used in the normal course of the trade.
• Trademarks that are contrary to public policy.
• Trademarks that are contrary to public morals and ethics.
• Trademarks that deceive the public, as to the nature, quality, or source of the goods or services.
• Trademarks which include public emblems, flags, and other symbols relating to the state, Arab, or international organizations, or one of their institutions, or a foreign state unless so authorized by it, as well as any imitation of such emblems, flags, or symbols.
• Trademarks include symbols of the Red Crescent or Red Cross and other similar imitating symbols.
• Trademarks that are similar to or resemble symbols of a purely religious character.
• Trademarks are geographical names whose protection or use create confusion as to the origin or source of the goods, the products, or the services.
• Trademarks are essentially the name, surname, picture, or emblem of a third party unless prior approval is provided.
• Trademarks which are indications of honorary distinctions that the applicant for registration cannot prove.

Relative grounds for trademark refusals - assess whether a trademark application filed in Algeria may confuse due to the similarity with a previously registered or famous trademark locally. 

It is important to note that the non-use of a trademark for a continuous period of 5 years may result in the cancellation of the trademark registration.