Trademarks
With the growing public awareness of Intellectual Property rights, governments over the years have strengthened their policies to curb piracy. New Intellectual Property laws have also been enacted to ensure compliance with standards set by the World Trade Organisation on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which currently is the key International Agreement promoting the harmonization of national intellectual property administrations.
Ghana’s Copyright Office has been helpful in making known to all stakeholders the legal implications of infringement and misappropriation of copyrights, trademarks and patents.
Hesse & Hesse is a correspondent of Adams & Adams, an internationally recognized and leading African law firm that specializes in providing intellectual property and commercial services, based in South Africa with clients around the globe and across many industries to protect, enforce and commercialize their intellectual property including trademarks, patents, copyright and designs.
Our client base includes firms from Asia, Europe, North America and Africa.
Intellectual Property Services
Paris Union, Madrid Union (Protocol), TRIPS.
On 25 July 2014, the Trademarks (Amendment) Act, 2014 (Act 876), came into force. As a result, the Madrid Protocol has been officially incorporated into Ghanaian law and it is considered that International (Madrid) Trade Mark Registrations are effective in Ghana.
The Madrid Protocol is a treaty between member countries that allows for a streamlined process to file international registration of trademarks. It was established in 1891 and functions under the Madrid Agreement (1891), and the Madrid Protocol (1989). It is administered by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) located in Geneva, Switzerland. The Madrid system allows the trademark owner to apply for trademark protection in several countries by filing one application directly with a national or regional trademark office of the trademark holder’s choosing.
The International Classification of goods and services applies. Countries party to the Nice Agreement have adopted and apply the Nice Classification for the purposes of registration of trademarks. Use of the Nice Classification is mandatory not only for the national registration of trade marks in countries party to the Nice Agreement, but also for the international registration of trademarks filed through the African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI), the African Regional Intellectual Property, the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP), the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the International Bureau of WIPO.
Categories of Trade Marks in Ghana:
There are provisions for the registration of Service Marks, Collective Marks and Certification Marks. Presently, a separate application is required for each class of goods or services.
Documents required to file Trademark Applications in Ghana:
New Applications
Renewals
No documents required.
Assignments/Mergers
Change of Name
Change of Address
Licences/Registered Users
