All you need to know for a trademark registration in Qatar

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 120 days (opposition period).

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

After filing a trademark at the trademark office, and settling official fees relating to filing the trademark examiners at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Qatar to examine trademark applications, the examination process takes place on two levels:

Formal examinations of trademarks in Qatar - are examinations that take into account regulatory, formal, or documentary aspects of the trademark filing requirements. In other words, an examiner will look at, whether all the required documents for filing have been submitted, whether these documents have been properly authenticated (legalized or locally legalized), whether the fees have been settled, whether the applicant is entitled to register a trademark locally, whether the classes designated are available locally, and whether priority documents are included or not.

Substantive examinations of trademarks in Qatar- are conducted by examiners at the trademark office within the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Qatar.

Costs relating to trademark registration are both official and professional. Official fees are fees paid to the government for processing your trademark registration and are required to be paid for each phase of the process.

Protection of a trademark in Qatar starts from the filing date. In other words, a trademark owner does not have to wait until a trademark is registered in Qatar to have protection. This protection starts immediately when the trademark is filed (lodged at the trademark office).

A Power of Attorney

• If you are not a resident of Qatar, then a legalized power of attorney is required for trademark registration in Qatar, and a copy of your trade license and its translation if not in Arabic will be sufficient to file the trademark in Qatar. A legalized power of attorney means that the power should be stamped at Qatar’s embassy by the applicant is from to be enforceable locally within Qatar. 
• If you are a resident or a national of Qatar living in Qatar, the power of attorney should be notarized and a copy of your trade license or Qatar ID will be sufficient to file the trademark locally. 
• The power of attorney can be submitted within 180 days of filing a trademark in Qatar. You can file your trademark in Qatar without a legalized power of attorney and submit it later on within 180 days calculated from the filing date.

Trade License / Commercial Certificate / Certificate of Good Standing:

• If you are a local entity, then a trade license is required, and a simple copy of the license as long as it is valid.
• If you are an international company, a simple copy of the license or a certificate of good standing is required, along with its translation is required at filing.