General trademark information of Haiti

Trademark Law in Haiti:

The legal basis is the Law of July 17th, 1954 as amended in 1956, 1960, 1965, 1967, 1970; Decree of June 18th, 1964 on the registration at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. References of the laws’ publications/official Gazette: Le Moniteur No. 70 dated August 16, 1954, No. 90 dated August 23, 1956, No. 81 dated September 9, 1960, No. 87 dated September 16, 1965, No. 91 dated October 16, 1967, No. 96 dated November 23, 1970; No. 59 dated June 19, 1964. The following international treaties/conventions apply: Panamerican Convention; Paris Convention; Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration; TRIPS but as part of LDC, the transition period has been extended to July 1st, 2021, or when a country ceases to be a member of LDC.           Haiti is not a member of the Madrid Agreement or the Madrid Protocol.    Trademark protection is obtained by registration. First-to-file jurisdiction.

Requirements for trademark registration in Haiti:
• POA Notarized
• A application with theses information:
The trademark
The applicant’s name
The applicant’s address
The class
6 copies of the logo if there’s one, (description of the logo)

Use of trademark in Haiti:
The declaration of continuity is essential. The applicant can either do a declaration of use or nonuse. The declaration of use shows that the brand is in force and the declaration of no use simply indicates that it is no longer in effect but the owner retains ownership.

The declaration of continuity must be made after the first three months of the fifth year. Without the declaration of continuity, you can’t make the renewal to maintain the trademark available. This process required the assistance of a lawyer and cannot be pursue by the owner of the trademark himself.

Classification of goods and services in Haiti:
Although Haiti is not a party to the Nice Agreement, it is currently using the Nice classification.
Registration is mandatory for pharmaceutical products (class 5). They cannot be sold if the trademark is not registered. 

Trademark Registrable in Haiti:
Registrable as a trademark are names in a distinctive form, emblems, impressions, stamps, cachets, vignettes, relief’s, letters, ciphers, monograms, labels, particular combinations of colors, signatures, ornamental designs, fabricated words or names, portraits in general, all special signs or appellations adopted or applied by said manufacturers, industrialists, merchants or companies to their products with the object of indicating their industrial, commercial, or agricultural activity, and of distinguishing it from others of the same kind.      
Non-traditional marks (like sound marks, olfactory marks, or three-dimensional forms) are registrable, but there is no precedent of any registration of sound and olfactory marks in Haiti, although they’re not expressly excluded by the law. Due to a lack of adequate support, sounds and olfactory marks cannot be registered. Three-dimensional marks have been registered.
The following trademark types are registrable: trademarks, service marks, and collective marks. Tradenames can also be registered. 

Trademark Registration Process in Haiti
The application is filed at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Multiple classes can be filed on one application but will be treated separately.    
A power of attorney (simply signed) is needed for registrations and renewals.     
Foreign applicants do not need a domestic registration of the corporation or entity proprietor of the mark.       
The processing time from first filing to registration is 12 to 16 months if there are no oppositions. Prior to registration, trademark applications are published in the National Gazette “LE     MONITEUR” for opposition purposes.

Opposition Period
National:
The opposition period is 2 months from the publication date of the application.

Length of registration process in Haiti:
The processing time takes around 12-16 months (if no opposition is filed).

Ministry of Commerce Resumed Services          
Services provided by the Ministry of Commerce (MCI) in Haiti were interrupted effective 29 February 2024 due to an extended period of civil unrest. Services have now resumed effective 4 June 2024. On 3 June 2024 the MCI advised in an official statement that all deadlines relating to the protection and maintenance of IP rights (including trademarks) that fell due within the interrupted period have been extended by one month to 4 July 2024. A new government has been formed in Haiti, but gang violence is still prevalent which may cause further closures and delays.

Directive 03/DAJ/MCI concerning the examination of applications for the registration of trademarks for goods or services was issued by the Legal Affairs Directorate in September 2023 and stipulated some new requirements for Authorised Representatives in Haiti, including the requirement for Powers of Attorney / appointments of Authorised Representatives to be legalised before the Haitian Consulate when executed outside of Haiti. Haiti is not party to the Hague Convention so documents cannot be legalised by apostille for submission in Haiti. The Directive also calls for the legalisation of assignment contracts when executed outside of Haiti.

It is understood that the MCI is currently reevaluating the requirement for consular legalisation and it is hoped that this formality will be retracted in the near future. 

Trademark Duration
Trademark registration is valid for 10 years from the date of expiration of the opposition period. Proof of Use or Affidavit of Non-Use          must be filed during the first three months of the sixth year of the registration or renewal. If a Declaration of use or a legitimate excuse for non-use has not been filed within the time limit indicated above, the registration becomes invalid. However, after the registration has lapsed, the owner of the lapsed registration has a period of priority of three months for refiling the same mark.   
The registration is renewable for periods of 10 years.

Priority:
An applicant may contain a declaration of priority as provided for in the Paris Convention of an earlier national or regional application filed by the applicant or his predecessor in title. The registrar may require the applicant to furnish a copy of the earlier applicant certified as correct by the registry with which it was filed.

If you would like to know the trademark registration process of Honduras ? Click on here!

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