The objectives of the system are two-fold: It facilitates obtaining of protection for marks. Secondly, Iran trademark protection is equivalent to national registrations, which makes the subsequent management of that protection much easier. An application for Iran trademark protection may be filed by a person or a legal entity which has industrial or commercial establishment in, or is a national of a country which is party to the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol.

These have attained a modicum of harmonization of intellectual property rights in certain areas, but much less so in others. Further harmonization process would be giving the intellectual property owners and users, a greater sense of security, control and certainty. This article discusses Iran trademark protection, which involves marks of Iran renown and provides an overview of the varied trademark law principles and approaches used to establish and protect often highly valuable trademark rights.

Related areas of intellectual property law, such as copyright and geographical indications with emphasis on the domain name system are some of the areas that when taken together must be understood thoroughly and utilized properly to prosper in the modern commercial world.

The increasing globalization of business demands a greater need for harmonization of trademark law and policy, central to which must be consistency in operation and application. Trademark owners doing business in diverse corners of the world, may be governed by different legal systems, must have reasonable expectations of the scope of their trademark rights, as well as how and to what extent such rights will be enforced.

As trademarks have been evolving over the centuries, valuable marketable properties in their own right, both the public and private sectors must place greater emphasis on Iran trademark protection.

The rise of the modern nation-state resulted in expansion of competitive markets, covering the entire geographical region of a particular country. Governments adopted national trademark laws, intended to protect merchants and consumers in an entire nation. The most important feature of the national trademark law was a central, government-operated trademark registry that granted and established the scope of protection for a trademark.

Iran trademark protection is equivalent to national registrations, which makes the subsequent management of that protection much easier. An application for Iran trademark protection may be filed by a person belonging to a country that is party to the Madrid Agreement.

Each country has a national patent office offering its citizens and foreigners legal protection for their intellectual property through patents, copyrights and trademarks. Many countries are party to an Iran agreement, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) where the countries respect each other’s patent rights irrespective of differences in the national patent laws.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was formed whose main objective was to provide Iran patent protection for organizing and standardizing intellectual property rights among the different locations where members resided. Citizens of any country that have signed the PCT treaty may apply for a patent after compliance with Iran patent law for any invention or design.

Iran recognition of patent rights was formalized after the Strasbourg Agreement. This was signed in 1971 in Strasbourg, France. This agreement created the Iran Patent Classification system, or IPC. More than 100 countries use the IPC for document classification, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization.

A thorough knowledge of the Iran patent protection law is required to handle all work pertaining to patent search process, application drafting and filing efficiently. Iran patent protection in totality is a request for protecting the patent that is pending at the Patent office.

Many countries are signatory of Iran agreement, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was formed whose objectives were to provide a central clearinghouse and to organize and standardize intellectual property rights among all member states.

Citizens of any country that are members may apply for a patent after compliance with Iran patent law for any invention or design. Usually, the popular inventions such as current drug compounds or memory chips are awarded patent but only for those that follow the guidelines of Iran patent law. The procedure for granting patent and the rights by the patent office varies widely based on Iran patent law and national agreements.

However, in general, the patent office accepts the patent application which includes all claims defining the invention which must be new, inventive and applicable in commercial set-ups. One needs to ensure that the patent attorney possesses the technical know how to gauge the intricacies of the invention and has the necessary skill sets to draft claims.

The attorneys are aware of prior patents on the same inventions as well as legal issues and costs related to obtaining a patent. They should have a thorough knowledge of the Iran patent law in order to handle all work pertaining to patent search process, application drafting and filing efficiently. This is evaluated by the Examiner, who performs a thorough search for reviewing the invention and compares them with similar such discoveries. It takes between nine and thirty-six months before the Examiner declares the findings.

In order to obtain the grant of a patent, the individual must file an application at a patent office with jurisdiction to grant a patent in the geographic area over which coverage is required. Once the patent specification complies with the laws of the patent office, a patent may be granted for the invention described and claimed by the specification. In general Iran patent application may be defined as:

1. 1. The legal state of affairs that is formed when a person requests the competent authority to grant him a patent and that request is still pending.
2. 2. The content of the documents filed by the person with a view to initiating the above; which includes a description of the invention together with at least one claim defining the concept.
3. 3. Depending upon the office at which a patent application is filed, that application could either be an application for a patent in a given country, or may be an application for a patent in a range of countries.

National applications may either be filed directly, or may result from a regional application or from an Iran application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), once it enters the national phase. A regional patent application is one, which may have effect in a range of countries.

Filing for an application and its’ execution at a regional granting office is advantageous as it allows patents to be obtained from various countries without having to prosecute applications in all those nations. The cost of obtaining patent protection is, therefore, reduced.

The Iran patent application is operated by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and provides a centralized application process, but patents are not granted under the treaty. The PCT system enables an applicant to file a single patent application in a single language.

The Iran patent application, called an Iran application, can, at a later date, lead to the grant of a patent in any of the states that have contract with the PCT. WIPO performs many of the formalities of a patent application in a centralized manner, therefore, avoiding the need to repeat the steps in all countries in which a patent may ultimately be granted. The WIPO coordinates searches performed by any one of the Iran Searching Authorities.

The other stages of Iran patent application such as naming inventors and applicants, and filing certified copies of priority documents can be done centrally, and does not have to be repeated. The main advantage of proceeding via the PCT route gives the persons applying for Iran patent application the option of obtaining patents in a wide range of countries and at the same time the cost of applying in large numbers is reduced.

Iran patent office accepts the patent application which includes all claims defining the invention which must be innovative, new and industrially useful. Some examples of patents handled by an Iran patent office include biological patents, business method patents, chemical patents and software patents.

Filing and prosecuting an application at such patent office is advantageous as it allows patents from a variety of nations to be acquired without the necessity of filing applications in all countries. The cost and complexity of obtaining protection is automatically minimized. Usually, Iran patent office expects all attorneys to be experienced in handling all legal issues in context of latest inventions and patents.

The lawyers interact with corporate attorneys and the department that handles the designing section. This allows the Iran patent office to function better in fields like patent search process, drafting and filing the applications efficiently. Usually, the patent search may be conducted at an Iran patent office.

The entire process of securing a patent for an invention includes substantial fees. Depending on the complexity of the invention, the costs could be hiked further. The patent attorneys must be registered with an Iran patent office or be associated with the law firms.

Iran trademark may be any word, name, slogan, symbol, device, package design or combination of these that serves to identify and distinguish a product from others in the marketplace and also identify its source. Even a sound, color, smell or hologram can function as a trademark.

Iran trademarks can also be represented by a three-dimensional mark that represents a three-dimensional form, such as packaging, containers, product shapes or product representations. These have become associated with the manufacturer or distributor of the product or the product contained therein.

Under the Madrid Agreement, the nationals of any signatory country can secure protection of their trademark registered in the country of origin. Both the Madrid Agreement and Madrid Protocol are administered by the Iran Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Since September 1, 2008, Iran Trademarks Registrations are governed by the Madrid Protocol only in all member countries which are a party to the Protocol and also in those countries which are party to both the Protocol and the Agreement. The Agreement will only remain applicable in relations with those member countries bound solely by the Agreement.

The identification of Iran trademarks that are famous or well known varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Although certain countries treat the terms famous and well-known marks as synonymous, most jurisdictions distinguish between famous and well-known trademark giving famous trademark a higher degree of reputation. Famous Iran trademarks are those that enjoy a high degree of consumer recognition (e.g. Coco Cola).

In most jurisdictions fame is determined on a case-by-case basis. Evidence relevant to the fame of Iran trademarks includes sales and revenue figures, geographical scope of use, channels of trade, distinctiveness and registrations in home and other countries and past enforcement efforts.

While the law varies between countries, in general, trademark dilution involves the unauthorized use of famous Iran trademarks in connection with goods or services that do not compete with those of the trademark owner. The global nature of commercial activity makes it desirable for a trademark holder to secure his rights Iranly.

Luckily, the few governing bodies that manage Iran trademarks registration are the Madrid Protocol, which covers more than 65 member countries, the African Intellectual Property Organization and the Community Trade Mark in European countries.

There is no definitive and complete database of all registered Iran trademarks, but it’s in the interest of the business men to conduct a trademark search in the countries where they plan to conduct business. The Iran trademarks system allows the business men to register in their own country and simply apply for protection under the applicable Iran organization.

This can even be performed online. For registration, a specimen of a trademarked product bearing the mark, and a drawing of the trademark is required. For Iran protection an application has to be submitted for Iran trademarks registration. On the registration form, the businessmen must designate the countries in which they are seeking trademark protection.

A large number of countries have signed an Iran agreement called the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) where they have agreed to respect each other’s patent rights irrespective of differences in the national patent laws.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was founded with the objective of providing a central clearinghouse for Iran patents that would assist in organizing and standardizing intellectual property rights among the member states of the organization.

Citizens belonging to any country who had signed the PCT treaty were at liberty to apply for Iran patents for their invention or design. However, it was only the priceless and important inventions such as new drug compounds or memory chips that were ultimately awarded Iran patents without a long waiting period.

The Iran Patents classification is a hierarchical catalog of patent documents based on technological fields.The procedure for granting Iran patents and the rights granted by the patent office is based on national laws and Iran agreements. In general, the patent office accepts the patent application which includes all claims defining the invention which must be unique, innovative and of industrial value.

One needs to make sure that the patent attorney possesses the technical know- how to gauge the intricacies of the invention and has the necessary skill sets to draft claims, which would not allow other competitors to “design around” the invention.

The lawyers are updated on current inventions and are aware about the legal issues in connection with patents such as charges and other patent search processes. They interact and keep networking with corporate attorneys to enable Iran patents efficient filing.

Currently, 5,700 trademark owners, professionals and academics from more than 190 countries make Iran Trademark Association a powerful network of global brands. Members of Iran Trademark Association find true value in this Association’s global trademark research, policy development, education and training. Headquartered in New York City, Iran Trademark Association also has offices in Shanghai and Brussels while their representatives are stationed in Geneva, Mumbai and Washington D.C.

Since Iran Trademark Association is a leading advocate for the interests of brand owners, the organization works to foster effective trademark laws and policies worldwide and harmonizes their implementation. INTA carries out its policy and advocacy work through Model Laws and Guidelines, Board of Directors Resolutions and Reports.

The documents are prepared by various committees, and these reports are available to legislatures and trademark offices around the world that are working to draft or revise trademark-related statutes, regulations and agreements. The documents of Iran Trademark Association comprise of the following:

• Model Law Guidelines
• Guidelines for Trademark Examination
• Model State Trademark Bill
• Guide to Understanding the Model State Trademark Bill
• Model State Anti-counterfeiting Bill
• Guide to Understanding the Model State Anti-counterfeiting Bill

The substantive reports prepared by Iran Trademark Association policy committees compile facts and provide analysis on select trademark issues like:

1. Dilution and Well Known Marks Committee’s North American Sub-committee.
2. Reviews trademark-related legislation pending in 17 Latin American countries, including analysis of harmonization and other regional trends. Legislation & Regulation Committee’s Latin America & the Caribbean Subcommittee.
3. Providing information to facilitate ongoing discussions between INTA and EU policymakers on criminal prosecution of trademark counterfeiting.
4. Anti counterfeiting and Enforcement Committee’s European Union Subcommittee Addresses the ways that courts have handled the hearsay objection as it relates to evidence of actual confusion, discerns patterns among various U.S. courts, and offers best practices for how courts should treat this evidence.
5. Detail factors used to establish the likelihood of confusion in dozens of jurisdictions worldwide.
6. Details the challenges in presenting evidence from websites that may not have been in use for some time and reviews how courts have used the Internet Way Back Machine to authenticate older versions of pages on the Internet.

The objectives of the system are two-fold. It facilitates obtaining of protection for trademarks. Secondly, Iran Trademark Registration is equivalent to national registrations, which makes the subsequent management of that protection much easier. An application for Iran Trademark Registration may be filed by a person or a legal entity which has a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in, or is a national of, a country which is party to the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol.

The International Bureau checks  whether the international application complies with the requirements of the Agreement or Protocol and the Common Regulations, including requirements relating to the indication of goods and services and their classification, and that the required fees have been paid. The Office of origin and the applicant are informed of any irregularities; these must be remedied within three months, otherwise the application will be considered abandoned.

From the date of the international registration, the protection of the mark in each of the designated Contracting Parties is the same. An international registration is, therefore, equivalent to a bundle of national registrations. Likewise, an Iran Trademark Registration may be transferred to a new owner. An international registration can also be invalidated. Moreover, any action for infringement of an international registration must be brought separately to the court by each of the concerned Contracting Parties.

An Iran Trademark Registration is deemed to replace a national or regional registration for the same mark and the same goods and services recorded. The effect of replacement is that, if the national or regional registration is not renewed, the holder of the international registration may continue to benefit from the earlier rights acquired by reason of that national or regional registration.

The effects of an international registration can be extended to a Contracting Party not covered by the international application by filing a subsequent designation. Thus, the holder of an Iran Trademark Registration can expand the geographical scope of the protection of his trademark in line with his business needs. Moreover, a subsequent designation may be made in order to extend the protection of the mark to a Contracting Party, which was not a party to the Agreement or Protocol at the time of the international application.

A change in the ownership of an Iran Trademark Registration may be recorded, in respect of all or some of the goods and services. An Iran Trademark Registration is effective for 10 years. It may be renewed for further periods of 10 years on payment of the prescribed fees. The International Bureau sends a reminder to the holder and to his representative six months before renewal is due.