If you are selling all or part of your trademark, licensing it to a third party, changing address, changing the name or legal form of your company, you can make this information accessible to the public, so that it becomes common knowledge and therefore enforceable against third parties.
To do this, you simply need to inform the Office by making a formal application to update information on your trademark.
Condition
The information updated must concern a trademark that is already on the National Trademarks Register.
NOTE: For international trademarks designating Monaco, you should contact the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organisation, which is responsible for the International Register (see the section entitled “The life of your international trademark” under the heading “The life of your trademark”).
Who can apply to register changes to trademark information?
- To update the holder’s details
The holder of the trademark entered on the National Trademarks Register.
- To report a change affecting the trademark’s ownership
Any party to the document supplied as proof in support of the application to update information.
Anyone applying to register a change to trademark information may enlist the services of an agent, i.e. a person empowered to represent them. Agents may be specialist industrial property consultants or, more generally, any natural person or legal entity.
IMPORTANT: The holder of the trademark must be the same as the person named on the National Trademarks Register. You should therefore have yourself registered as the new holder on the Register. If the trademark was bought and sold several times before you acquired it, you must ensure that all of the previous holders were properly registered. If not, you will need to register the ownership transfer contracts. These additional steps may be carried out either beforehand or at the same time, but you must use separate registration forms.
Who can apply to register a change to trademark information?
You need to complete two copies of the “Registration Application" form and sign both of them as originals.
NOTE: to facilitate processing of your application, it is advisable to type up the information on the form.
Other documents to be supplied
To find out which supporting documents should be enclosed with your forms depending on your circumstances, refer to the table below.
If the document is in a language other than French, a translation into French must be provided with it.
Remember to provide a power of attorney in the prescribed form if someone else is making the update application for you (see Step 3 of the trademark filing process in the section “The Registration process” under the heading “Registering a trademark”).
| You want to | Act | Supporting document to be supplied |
| Update the holder’s details | Change of address, change of legal form, change of name or company name | No supporting document |
| Register a change of ownership following a transfer or contribution | Transfer | Copy of the deed of transfer or contribution, certified true by the parties and duly registered by the Department of Tax Services |
| Register a change of ownership following a partial transfer | Partial transfer | Copy of the deed of transfer, certified true by the parties and duly registered by the Department of Tax Services |
| Register a change of ownership following a merger, takeover or demerger | Merger - takeover - demerger | Copy of an extract from the Trade & Industry Register (RCI), up to date and showing the change |
| Register a change of ownership following transmission by death | Transmission | Copy of any deed of transfer establishing transmission to the heirs or legatees. In case of transfer by succession, a notarised deed containing statements attesting to the death, or an inventory. |
| Register a pledge | Constitution of a pledge as collateral | Certified true copy of the agreement signed by both parties (debtor - holder of the trademark and creditor) and duly registered by the Department of Tax Services |
| Register a license |
License |
Certified true copy of the license agreement signed by both parties and duly registered by the Department of Tax Services |
| Report an error concerning: the holder’s identity (name, address, etc.), documents remitted to the Office, acts entered on the National Trademarks Register | Correction of a material error | Copy of a document proving the error and allowing correction. |
NOTE: if you are physically unable to provide a supporting document (for example the company no longer exists, the documents have been lost, etc.), you must include an explanatory letter with the update application form, along with any documents proving the new legal situation. The Office will examine all of the documents provided at its own discretion.
In the case of court judgements, only final and definitive judgements may be registered.
How much does it cost to register a change?
30 euros per trademark and per update.
EXAMPLES: To register a change of address and a change of name for a trademark, the total amount payable is 60 euros (30 x 2).
To register a change of address and a change of name for three trademarks, the total amount payable is 180 euros (30 x 2 x 3).
How to pay
You can choose to pay:
- By cheque made out to “Trésorerie Générale des Finances” or “T.G.F. “
- In cash, but only at the Office in person
- By bank transfer (Bank details) .
Where to submit your update application
Once you have all of the documents needed, you can:
- Hand them directly to the Office
- Post them to:
Direction de l’Expansion Economique
Division de la propriété intellectuelle
9, rue du GABIAN
98000 MONACO
IMPORTANT: documents cannot be sent by email or fax.
After the update application
The Office will examine the update application form. It will check:
- That the form has been completed
- That your request is legitimate
- If appropriate, that the information on the form matches that contained in the supporting documentation
- If appropriate, that the power of attorney is in order
- If appropriate, that the supporting documentation has been pre-registered with the Department of Tax Services.
The Office will inform you if there is an issue with your application. You then have 15 days to remedy the application or present your observations. Otherwise, the Office will declare your update application inadmissible.
If there are no issues, the change requested will be entered on the National Trademarks Register. Meanwhile, the Office will send you a receipt for your payment and a copy of the update application showing the date of entry on the Trademarks Register.
A notice will be published in the Annex to the Official Journal of Monaco, informing the public of the change to your trademark information.