In case your initialrequest for negative certificate is rejected, you have the right to freefiling of a single application after rejection (CNR form) within 15 days from the date of rejection.
This is because the trade name of an enterprise is only protected against a refilling of another commercial of a new enterprise name. This will allow a third party to legally register the same name as trademark in an identical or similar domain of activity.
A commercial signboard is a sign used to identify and geographically locate a commercial establishment.
A logo is a combination of letter(s) initial(s) of the words of a signboard or a name forming the abbreviation.
The extent of the protection is defined by the claims of the patent as it is granted.
Also, third parties can not exploit the technical features claimed without the consent of the patent holder. All that is described in the description but not claimed in the claims is not protected and can be operated without the consent of the owner.
Negative certificate attests the availability of the commercial name requested (name, signboard and logo if necessary) and assigns a reservation of a year to complete the procedure of creating the enterprise and the registration in the trade register. The protection of trade name becomes effective only by its registration in the trade register.
The negative certificate has a validity of one year from the date of issue.
NB:A trade name of which negative certificate granted is due to one year can only be attributed after a maximum period of two months from the expiry date of this certificate. This procedure is followed because of the processing time of registrations and modifications from local commercial registers.
The negative certificate can only be awardedfor a commercial activity. Non-commercial professions are not subject to registration in the commercial register and thus cannot benefit from the negative certificate.
To obtain a negative certificate, you must:
- file an application for negative certificate (forms: CN1on names, CN2 on signboard)
- pay the fees
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