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Guide
In the two months following your filing, the Office will examine your application.
This step involves:
- An administrative examination to verify that your application meets formal requirements (has the application been completed correctly, are the classes named clearly and precisely, has permission been included, etc.).
- A legal examination to verify that your application meets legal requirements (is the sign eligible for trademark protection, is it distinctive or misleading, descriptive or contrary to public order and decency, etc.).
Examples
Examples of the Office's assessment of the distinctiveness of a trade mark (European Common Practice) :
- Distinctive character of figurative marks containing descriptive / non-distinctive terms
- Distinctive character of three-dimensional trade marks (shape marks) containing verbal and/or figurative elements where the shape is not in itself distinctive
Irregularity
If there is a problem with the application, the applicant will be notified and will then have eight days (in the case of a formal issue) or fifteen days (in the case of a legal issue) to remedy the situation.
If no observations have been provided or the application not corrected within this period, the Office will inform the applicant that their application is inadmissible or has been rejected.
NOTE: The filing of an application for registration is not published. Consequently, there is no opposition procedure in Monaco and correspondence between the applicant and the Office during this period of examination will remain confidential. At this stage, either the applicant or third parties may withdraw* the application without penalty.
*“withdrawal” is distinct from “surrender”, which is only possible where a trademark has been registered (refer to the section “Surrendering your trademark” under the heading “The life of your trademark”).