HIGHLIGHTS
Gaza Trade Mark Office Gradually Resumes Operations
Bosnia and Herzegovina Enacts New Trade Mark Law with Targeted Procedural Reforms
A new Law on Trade Marks entered into force in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 20 June 2026. It will become fully applicable on 20 June 2027, officially replacing the 2010 Law on Trade Marks and its implementing regulations.
This legislative update explicitly aligns the national IP framework with EU Directive 2015/2436 and the EU Enforcement Directive 2004/48/EC, while preserving the basic structure of national and the Madrid System protection.
Rather than completely overhauling the trade mark ecosystem, this reform introduces targeted evolutionary enhancements. Key provisions from the 2010 framework remain intact, including ex officio examinations of absolute grounds, third-party observations, a three-month relative grounds opposition period, a proof-of-use defence in opposition proceedings, non-use revocation after five years, protection against infringing goods in transit, collective and guarantee marks, international exhaustion, and administrative invalidity and revocation proceedings.
The new law should be primarily assessed through the targeted procedural and substantive changes set out below.
Statutory Opportunity to Cure Defective Oppositions
Before dismissing an opposition, the IP Institute is now required to invite opponents to remedy filing deficiencies within a non-extendable 30-day period. This is expected to resolve the previous procedural uncertainty and reduce automatic dismissals based on correctable technical errors.
Literal Interpretation of Goods and Services
Nice Classification class headings and general descriptions will cover only items falling strictly within their literal meaning. Goods and services are no longer legally deemed similar or dissimilar simply by virtue of being in the same or different classes. Applicants can no longer rely on broad class headings and must draft clear and precise descriptions to guarantee targeted protection.
Expanded Anti-Counterfeiting Measures for Components
Trade mark owners can now prevent unauthorized preparatory actions involving packaging, labels, security tags, and authenticity markings before they are attached to finished products, if there is a risk that they will be used for infringing goods. Proprietors can take separate legal action against the affixing, offering, importing, exporting, or storage of these standalone component items.
Protection Against Generic Usage in Reference Material
If a registered trade mark is printed in a dictionary, encyclopedia, or similar publication in a manner implying it is a generic term, the owner can require the publishers to add a registered trade mark indicator (®) in the next print or electronic edition.
Detailed Framework for Certification Marks
The new law more precisely develops the legal framework for guarantee or certification marks. The mark's proprietor must remain independent from the trade of the certified goods or services and is prohibited from using the mark personally. Rules governing authorized users, oversight mechanisms, and amendments must be filed and made publically available. The law also details new revocation grounds if a proprietor fails to police misleading or unauthorised use of the mark.
Transition Rules and Ongoing Operations
Core mechanisms remain fully intact. The proof-of-use defence, the 2-to-24-month amicable settlement, protection of goods in transit, the 5-year non-use period, international exhaustion, and the Madrid System route remain in place without disruption. Existing registrations remain valid and will become subject to the new Law when it becomes applicable. Any proceedings initiated prior to 20 June 2027 will be completed under the terms of the 2010 Trade Mark Law. The IP Institute is tasked with formally adopting the new implementing regulations ahead of the target application date.
By: Berina Prolaz
REGIONAL UPDATES
Africa
Cape Verde Adopts New Industrial Property Code
The new Industrial Property Code introduced by Legislative Decree No. 2/2025 came into effect in Cape Verde on 2 June 2026, bringing significant reforms to the country's intellectual property framework.
Trade Marks
One of the key changes is the abolition of Declarations of Intention to Use (DIUs). From 2 June 2026 onwards, the Intellectual Property Office no longer requires or accepts these filings.
Trade mark registrations now remain valid for ten years calculated from the filing date of the application, rather than the registration date. The revised term applies to both pending and new applications, while marks registered before 2 June 2026 continue to follow the previous renewal system.
The grace period allowed for late renewal has increased from 60 days to six months.
In addition, the Code removes the obligation for trade marks to be graphically represented, allowing protection to a broader range of non-traditional marks, provided they are clearly and accurately defined.
Trade mark prosecution procedures have been streamlined through enhanced digitalisation and simplified administrative processes.
Patents
The patent framework has been updated to better reflect international practices and filing mechanisms, including greater alignment with the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
Annual maintenance fees are now payable starting from the third year of protection, rather than the first.
Applicants are afforded a six-month grace period for late payment of annuities.
Furthermore, the new legislation provides additional guidance on patentable subject matter, including biotechnology inventions and computer-related inventions that provide a technical solution or effect.
Industrial Designs
For the first time, the revised legislation introduces protection for unregistered industrial designs. Qualifying designs now receive automatic protection for three years from the date they are first made available to the public.
Furthermore, the provisions governing registered designs have been updated to align with international standards and practices, while design application procedures have also been streamlined through greater use of electronic filing systems.
Additional developments
The new Code also enhances protection for confidential business information and trade secrets and acknowledges and protects plant varieties and traditional knowledge. It also strengthens measures aimed at combating unfair competition, and improves the mechanisms available for enforcing intellectual property rights.
By: Taryn Degenaar
Update on Uganda’s Copyright Amendments
Following our earlier report on Uganda’s adoption of the amended Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Bill of 2025, further details have emerged on the scope of the reforms.
The new Bill introduces a wide range of provisions aimed at addressing several long-standing issues. For years, copyright exploitation in Uganda was largely informal. Artists often relied on verbal arrangements with producers, publishers acquired rights through loosely drafted agreements, and broadcasters and distributors often operated under contracts that lacked provisions covering ownership, royalties, duration or future exploitation rights. This became particularly problematic as older songs and audiovisual works started generating new commercial value through digital platforms.
The new Bill introduces stricter penalties for piracy, broadens creators’s rights, and regulates digital monetisation.
Key amendments include:
- Stricter penalties: Infringement incurs fines of up to 50 million UGX (approximately 13,500 USD) and/or imprisonment of up to 10 years;
- Enhanced digital protection: The Bill prohibits digital lock circumvention and provides for rapid content take-down notices;
- Caller ring back tunes (CRBTs): A mandated revenue split for mobile monetisation is introduced, ensuring fair compensation to artists and rights holders when their works are used as ring back tunes;
- Reversion rights: Copyright expires under certain conditions after 20 years, after which period the rights revert to the original author; and
- Strengthened royalty administration: Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) is mandated to regulate collecting societies and ensure authors are compensated for the commercial use of their copyright works.
By: Vanessa Lawrance
Central Asia
Kazakhstan Elevates IP Protection to Constitutional Level
Kazakhstan’s new Constitution, effective 1 July 2026, explicitly guarantees intellectual property protection, elevating IP rights to the constitutional level for the first time.
Under the former 1995 Constitution, IP rights protection was derived from broader constitutional guarantees, including the right to property and freedom of creativity. The new Constitution now provides: “Freedom of speech and of scientific, technical and artistic creativity is guaranteed. Intellectual property is protected by law.”
While copyright, patents, trade marks and other IP rights have long been protected under sector-specific legislation, this amendment highlights the state's growing recognition of innovation and intellectual property.
The long-term impact on judicial practice remains to be seen, and IP disputes will continue to be governed by existing statutory legislation and court and administrative application. Nonetheless, this amendment represents a landmark constitutional development in the evolution of Kazakhstan's legal framework.
By: Ainur Zhussipova
Uzbekistan Adopts Six New Administrative Regulations Digitalising Patent Procedures
On 10 June 2026, Uzbekistan adopted Resolution No. 297 approving six administrative regulations governing state services in the field of intellectual property. The new Resolution implements Presidential Resolution No. PP-358 of 27 November 2025, aimed at stimulating intellectual activity and expanding the use of modern information and communication technologies in the IP sphere. The Resolution entered into force on 11 June.
The six regulations cover the grant of patents for inventions, utility models, industrial designs and selection achievements (plant varieties and animal breeds), as well as patent maintenance and the issuance of duplicate IP protection documents such as patent, trade mark, or design certificates. They supersede, at the government level, the procedural framework previously set by ministerial rules, including the 2004 rules on invention and utility model applications (Reg. Nos. 1329 and 1343), the 2023 rules on selection achievement applications (Reg. No. 3486) and the 2024 rules on industrial design applications (Reg. No. 3490). The Ministry of Justice, which administers these services through its Intellectual Property Center, must align its regulations with the Resolution.
The key changes include:
- Full digitalisation: Uzbekistan residents can file applications through Public Service Centers, the IP Office's portal or the Single Interactive State Services Portal, while non-residents can file only through the IP Office's portal. All post-filing actions are carried out electronically and official fees are paid online via the unified billing system. Granted patents are issued in electronic form.
- Automation: Filing receipts are generated automatically upon the official fee payment. Once grant and publication fees are paid, the invention is automatically entered into the State Register. Annuity payments are processed automatically through the information system. Maintenance fees for the initial years (first three years for inventions and industrial designs, and first year for utility models and selection achievements) are paid automatically upon registration.
- Exhaustive refusal grounds: A state service may be refused only if the applicant fails to confirm the application or does not pay the prescribed fee. Refusal on any other ground is prohibited.
- Fast-track examination: At the applicant's request, state examination of an invention may be conducted through an expedited procedure within three months of the acceptance decision, with the patent search completed within one month.
- New IP services: The new regulations introduce new standalone services or independent administrative procedures. Patent annuities are payable during the last three months of each current year. Duplicates of IP certificates for eight types of IP rights (trade marks and service marks, inventions, utility models, industrial designs, selection achievements, geographical indications, appellations of origin, and computer programs/databases) are processed within three business days and require a fee which is 50% of the Basic Calculation Amount, but are not issued for QR-code-verified electronic documents.
- Established mechanisms: Established patent procedures remain intact including the three-year term for requesting substantive examination of inventions, the 31-month PCT national phase deadline with a 12-month reinstatement option, and Paris Convention priority terms.
By: Durdona Akramova, Abduazim Abdumavlonov, and Murad Sabirov
Eastern Europe
Moldova Joins EPO as 40th Member State
Slovenia Opens Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre
The Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre (PMAC), a specialised institution for patent dispute resolution under the Unified Patent Court (UPC) framework, was officially launched on 2 June 2026 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The inauguration ceremony brought together representatives of the judiciary, the intellectual property community, alternative dispute resolution practitioners, industry representatives and institutional partners.
Operating from its two seats in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Lisbon, Portugal, PMAC provides institutional support for resolving patent disputes under the the UPC, as well as disputes related to European Unitary Patents. By offering mediation, arbitration, expert determination, and hybrid dispute resolution, it delivers faster, more flexible, and highly specialised solutions for complex intellectual property disputes, reducing the need for lengthy court proceedings.
With a phased roll-out of services already underway, the establishment of PMAC marks a significant step in advancing the unitary patent system and strengthening the European intellectual property framework.
Middle East
Algeria Joins the Hague Apostille Convention
Saudi Arabia: Specification Amendments in Trade Mark Opposition Settlements
In Saudi trademark opposition practice, navigating the timing of amendments to a specification of goods or services requires careful planning due to the strict procedural framework of the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP).
SAIP prohibits amendments to a trademark's specification of goods and services between the filing date and final registration. Because this restriciton applies continuously across the prosecution, acceptance, and publication phases, an applicant cannot amend the specification before the opponent allows the application to proceed to registration, even if such amendment is part of the settlement.
After registration, only limited changes are available. In practice, goods or services may be deleted from the specification, but additions or broader amendments are not permitted, even if the proposed wording would narrow the scope of protection.
If the parties agree to limit the specification, the settlement agreement should include clear undertakings, a specific deadline for filing the limitation request, and appropriate consequences if the trade mark owner does not comply.
In case the required change is substantial, it may be better for the applicant to allow the existing application to lapse and file a new application with a revised specification that reflects the agreed position.
By: Vanessa Lawrance
Saudi Arabia: Implementing GI Regulations Enter into Force, Applications Now Open
Following the introduction of the Geographical Indications Protection System in November 2025, Saudi Arabia has taken a further step towards the implementation of its new Geographical Indications (GI) regime.
On 30 April 2026, the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) adopted Board Resolution No. 2026/39/01 approving the Implementing Regulations of the Geographical Indications Protection System. Following publication in the Official Gazette on 22 May 2026, the Regulations entered into force on 28 May 2026. While SAIP is already accepting GI applications, formal examination procedures will commence once the official fee structure is published.
The Implementing Regulations establish a framework for the registration and protection of products whose quality, reputation, or distinctive characteristics stem from a distinct geographical region. This system will heavily impact and benefit the agricultural, food and beverage, handicraft, and heritage sectors.
As product names and characteristics must be essentially attributable to their place of origin, registration of generic names and misleading names that could deceive consumers about a product's true source is strictly prohibited.
Registered GIs grant producers formal recognition, enabling them to prevent imitation, ensure market differentiation, and protect consumers from deceptive labelling.
By: Vanessa Lawrance
UAE Accedes to Locarno Agreement
The UAE has joined the Locarno Agreement on Industrial Designs, which establishes a unified international classification system for industrial designs across WIPO member states.
The UAE deposited its instrument of accession on 6 July 2026, and the treaty will officially enter into force in the UAE on 6 October 2026.
ARTICLES
More Than a Label: Securing Trade Mark Rights in Product Packaging in the UAE
In increasingly competitive consumer markets, brand owners are no longer competing solely on names and logos. The visual appearance of a product, including its packaging and overall get-up, often plays a decisive role in consumer recognition and purchasing decisions. While the UAE provides for unfair competition and misleading conduct-type claims, reliance on unregistered rights in this respect can be complex, evidence heavy, and uncertain. This makes securing registered protection for product packaging an essential component of brand protection in the UAE.
Packaging and get-up as valuable brand assets
Packaging serves a dual function. It is both functional and a powerful branding tool. Distinctive shapes, colour combinations, layouts, and visual cues can become synonymous with a particular source.
For core products in particular, where market recognition is high, the packaging itself can carry significant commercial value. This makes it an attractive target for competitors or bad faith actors seeking to benefit from an established brand’s success without making the same investment in brand development. The rise of lookalike, or “dupe”, products has only exacerbated this risk, as competitors or bad faith actors adopt similar visual identities while avoiding direct copying of registered word or logo marks.
Limitations of unregistered rights and unfair competition claims in the UAE
In many other jurisdictions, brand owners rely on passing off both as a standalone claim to protect unregistered rights (including packaging and/or get-up) and as a wider fallback cause of action. While passing off is not strictly available in the UAE, broadly similar outcomes may potentially be pursued via unfair competition and misleading and deceptive conduct principles under UAE law.
Article 62 of Federal Decree Law No. 50 of 2022 Concerning Promulgating the Commercial Transactions Law prohibits traders from making false statements related to the origin, specifications or other important characteristics of their goods. It also prohibits traders from falsely claiming to have received awards, certifications, or recognition, or from using other misleading methods to attract customers away from competitors. Traders engaging in such conduct may be liable for compensating any resulting damages.
Article 63 of the same law prohibits traders from using fraudulent or deceptive practices in selling their goods or spreading false information that may harm a competitor’s interest, or such traders may be liable for compensating any resulting damages.
Beyond the local Commercial Transactions Law, similar protections are provided under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Paris Convention), which has been acceded to and is in force in the UAE.
Article 10bis of the Paris Convention requires member countries to provide effective protection against unfair competition. It defines unfair competition as any act that is contrary to honest commercial practices and, in particular, prohibits conduct that creates confusion with a competitor’s business or products, damages a competitor’s reputation through false statements, or misleads consumers about the nature, characteristics, quality, or origin of goods.
While these provisions collectively provide a framework to challenge imitation, reliance on them in practice is often burdensome and unpredictable. Unlike registered rights, they do not provide a clear, self-standing basis for enforcement. Instead, they require collecting and presenting evidence of use and market presence, as well as demonstrating how the competing packaging may mislead or confuse consumers.
This creates several practical difficulties. The evidentiary exercise can be extensive, requiring documentation of historical use, consistency of presentation, and market exposure. Outcomes are less predictable, particularly where competitors introduce minor variations to their packaging. In addition, pursuing such claims often involves greater time and cost, especially if matters progress beyond administrative channels into court proceedings.
These challenges are compounded in the UAE’s largely first-to-file system. A third party may secure registration for overlapping or imitative packaging elements, thereby obtaining formal rights that can be asserted against you. This can disrupt ongoing use, complicate your ability to register your own packaging, and place you in a defensive position from an enforcement perspective.
Similarly, trade mark oppositions before the UAE Trade Mark Office are more straightforward when based on existing registrations, and authorities tend to readily fixate on the recorded and registered rights at this level, often leaving more nuanced decision making to the court appeal stage, which in turn requires significant evidentiary effort and procedural investment.
In this context, reliance on unregistered, use-based rights is not only more difficult, but also strategically weaker, particularly where competitors are actively seeking to formalise their positions through registration.
Advantages of registering packaging as trade marks
Registering packaging and get-up as trade marks provides a clear and enforceable legal framework. Where the packaging is sufficiently distinctive, it may be protected as a three-dimensional mark or as a figurative mark representing its visual appearance.
Registration offers several advantages: it creates a presumption of ownership and validity, simplifying enforcement; enables swift administrative action against infringing goods, including seizure and takedown measures; and strengthens the brand owner’s position in opposition proceedings against later filings that seek to replicate similar visual elements.
Importantly, registered protection can serve as a deterrent. Competitors are less likely to adopt similar packaging where clear rights exist, reducing the likelihood of disputes arising in the first place.
Addressing the rise of dupe culture
The growing prevalence of dupe products highlights the need for a robust protection strategy. These products often mimic the overall look and feel of successful brands while avoiding direct replication of registered marks. In the absence of protection for packaging, such practices can erode brand value and consumer trust.
By securing registered rights in key visual elements, businesses can challenge these imitations more effectively. Even where differences exist, the overall similarity in appearance may be sufficient to support enforcement where the protected features are clearly defined within a registration.
Conclusion: Takeaways
In the UAE, while unfair competition and misleading conduct claims may potentially provide a pathway to challenge imitation, they are not a substitute for registered rights. The cost, evidentiary burden, and unpredictability associated with such claims make them a less reliable foundation for enforcement.
For core products in particular, packaging and get-up should be treated as primary brand assets requiring dedicated protection. Securing trade mark registrations for these elements not only strengthens enforcement options but also mitigates the risk of third parties obtaining conflicting rights in a largely first-to-file system.
Businesses that take early steps to protect how their products look, and not only what they are called, place themselves in a significantly stronger position to maintain market presence, prevent imitation, and avoid being drawn into reactive and resource-intensive disputes.
By: Elias Nassif
COMPANY NEWS
CWB’s Corporate Development and Integration Office Announces Next Phase of International Expansion
IAM Patent 1000 Ranks Six CWB Offices and 11 Practitioners for Excellent Patent Work
CWB offices and practitioners in six jurisdictions were recognised in the recently published IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Professionals annual guide. Depending on the country, rankings may be awarded Gold, Silver, or Bronze bands, or may appear as Recommended without a band.
CWB was ranked as follows:
Croatia – Recommended
Romania – Gold band
Serbia – Recommended
South Africa – Bronze band
UAE – Recommended
Ukraine – Bronze band
The guide singled out 11 CWB practitioners for their excellent patent expertise:
- Anamarija Stančić Petrović
- Aura Campeanu
- Claudia Berndt
- Dina Petošević
- Dragana Bogdanović Marković
- Janusz Luterek
- Marianne Raphael
- Monica Viciu
- Nada Milović
- Pieter Venter
- Taras Manolov
For more information and to read testimonials about CWB, please visit our Rankings page.
IP Stars Ranks CWB Offices and Practitioners in Ten Jurisdictions
IP STARS (Managing Intellectual Property) rankings have recently been released recognising CWB for excellent IP work across the Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions - ten CWB offices and 17 individuals have been ranked for outstanding IP work across ten jurisdictions.
This recognition reinforces our commitment to providing seamless, top-tier intellectual property protection across some of the world's most dynamic and challenging markets.
CWB offices were ranked as follows:
Bulgaria - Trade marks - Tier 2; Patents - Recommended
Croatia - Intellectual property - Highly Recommended
Romania - Trade mark prosecution - Tier 2; Patents - Tier 3; Trade mark disputes - Notable Firm
Serbia - Intellectual property - Tier 1
Slovenia - Intellectual property - Recommended
Ukraine - Intellectual property - Tier 2
Egypt - Intellectual property - Recommended
South Africa - Patent prosecution - Tier 3
GCC - Intellectual property - Recommended
UAE - Trade mark prosecution - Tier 2; Trade mark disputes - Tier 3; Patents - Notable Firm
The following CWB practitioners were ranked:
- Dimitar Batakliev, Head of Office, Bulgaria – Trade Mark Star
- Ivan Kos, Head of Office, Croatia – Trade Mark Star
- Aura Campeanu, Head of Office, Romania – Trade Mark Star; Top 250 Women in IP
- Mara Marinescu, Senior Associate, Romania – Rising Star
- Roxana Sarghi, Head of IP Maintenance and Renewals – Notable Practitioner
- Bojana Lazovic, Junior Associate – Rising Star
- Dragana Vulovic, Attorney at Law – Notable Practitioner
- Ana Stojanovic, Senior Associate – Notable Practitioner
- Maja Žnidarič Plevnik, Senior Associate, Slovenia – Rising Star
- Natalia Stetsenko, Senior Associate – Rising Star
- Keenan-Jay Barnard, Associate, South Africa - Rising Star
- Janusz Luterek, Head of Africa Patents, South Africa – Patent Star
- Bianca Mynhardt, Associate, South Africa - Rising Star
- Pieter Venter, Of Counsel Patents, South Africa – Patent Star
- Firas Jayyusi, Senior Consultant, Jordan – Notable Practitioner
- Kim Lancley Mbombo Kazadi, Senior Associate, UAE - Rising Star
- Theuns van de Merwe, Chief of MENA Operations, UAE – Trade Mark Star
