Formality examination Upon receiving an application for a patent, petty patent, or industrial design, MOST will conduct a formal examination to ensure that the application is complete and meets the requirements. If the application is incomplete, MOST will notify the applicant, who will then have 60 days from the date of the notification to completeRead more
IP IN LAOS
Filing application Domestic or foreign individuals, legal entities and organizations may apply for a patent, petty patent, or registration of their industrial property with the Ministry of Technology and Science or with an international intellectual property registration organization to which the Lao PDR is a party. Any individual, legal entity or organization residing in aRead more
Laos applies the first-to-file principle, meaning that priority is determined by whoever files the patent or petty patent application first, or if priority is claimed, the earliest priority date. An application may contain a declaration claiming priority based on one or more earlier national, regional, or international applications filed by the applicant, either in LaosRead more
Patent means the official certificate issued by the state organization to protect inventions that they are new, involve an inventive step and are capable of industrial application; Invention means the technical solution to create new product or process of production to resolve a specific problem; Petty patent means the official certificate issued by the stateRead more
Requisite Information: Full name, address and nationality of the applicant; Description of the trademark: meaning, colors claimed, translation or transliteration of characters into English if the mark contains foreign characters; List of goods/services to be covered by the trademark and if possible, the class(es) of the respective goods/services according to the International Classification; Country, applicationRead more
Definition of Trade Secrets Trade secret means information which is secret in the sense that it is not known among or readily accessible to persons within the circles that normally deal with the kind of information in question, such as: formula, production process, or any information, which has commercial value because it is secret. BasicRead more
A trademark owner has the following rights: to prevent all third parties from using in the course of trade identical or similar signs for goods or services which are identical, similar, or related to those in respect of which the trademark is registered where such use would result in a likelihood of confusion; to preventRead more
Under the Law, violations of IP rights may be subject to civil enforcement proceedings, administrative enforcement and customs border measures including seizures of infringing property at point of importation into Lao PDR. Civil enforcement proceedings may be brought by any interested party through a claim in the Peoples’ Court of Lao PDR. Such actions mayRead more
Any act of competition contrary to honest practices in industrial or commercial matters constitutes an act of unfair competition. The following acts shall constitute acts of unfair competition and shall be prohibited: direct or indirect use of a false indication of the source of a good or the identity of the producer, manufacturer, or merchant;Read more
Laos became a member of the Madrid Protocol in December 2015, and the Protocol entered into force in March 2016. The Madrid Protocol is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). It provides a cost-effective and efficient means for trademark owners to obtain protection for their marks in multiple countries through filing one application,Read more
