In Bahrain, any interested party may oppose the registration of a trademark once it has been published in the Bahrain Trademark Bulletin. The procedure is governed by the GCC Unified Trademark Law, which is applicable across all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states.
Procedure of trademark opposition in Bahrain:
- Notice of Opposition: An opposition must be filed in writing with the Grievances and Opposition Section at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce within 60 days from the date of the trademark’s publication in the Official Gazette.
- No extensions are permitted under the GCC Trademark Law or its Implementing Regulations.
- The opposition must include:
- A detailed statement of the grounds for opposition.
- All supporting evidence, such as prior rights, likelihood of confusion, bad faith, or lack of distinctiveness.
- The documents must be filed in Arabic or accompanied by certified Arabic translations.
- Within 30 days of receiving the opposition, the Section must notify the applicant and share all submitted materials with them.
- Reply by the Applicant: Upon receiving the notice of opposition, the trademark applicant has 60 days to submit a written response to the Grievances and Opposition Section.
- Failure to submit a response within this period will result in the application being considered abandoned.
- No extensions are allowed under the law.
- Any supporting evidence must be submitted as authenticated affidavits or witness statements.
- All non-Arabic materials must be officially translated into Arabic by a certified translator.
- Hearing and Decision: A hearing may be held for oral arguments, or the Section may decide based solely on submitted documents. A decision must be issued within 90 days of the hearing or, if no hearing is held, the Grievances and Opposition Section may issue its decision based on the documents the parties have submitted into the proceedings. The decision must include clear justifications and be communicated to both parties. If neither party has requested a hearing, the ninety days will begin on the date that the Grievances and Opposition Section notified the parties that it would make a decision from the papers and evidence submitted.
- Appeal: Either party may appeal the decision of the Grievances and Opposition Section to the Civil Court of Bahrain within 30 days of receiving the written decision. Appeals are governed by Bahrain’s judicial procedures and may involve a full review of the case record.