New Trademark Renewal Rules of IPOPHL

In order to simplify the renewal of trademark registrations, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) issued Notice No. 2024-0023, which requires that when a renewal request is made after the expiration of the 10-year trademark registration, the publication fee and announcement fee must be paid at the same time as the renewal fee. The notice will take effect on July 25, 2024.

According to the Trademark Law before the amendment, the publication fee and announcement fee would only be required after IPOPHL issued a publication notice. The revised Trademark Law requires that the publication fee and announcement fee must be paid at the same time as the renewal fee is paid when the renewal request is submitted. The process of the new and old methods can be viewed in the following table:

It is clear that the new rules will facilitate and speed up the workflow of trademark renewal registration.

In addition to submitting the above renewal request, trademark owners are also required to submit a Declaration of Actual Use (DAU) containing evidence of use of the registered trademark in the Philippines by the relevant deadline to ensure smooth renewal. Failure to submit the DAU will be deemed as withdrawal.