Macau is a small territory with a total land area of only about 21 km² located in the coastal area of East – South China mainland, surrounded by the Guangdong province of the People’s Republic of China and the South Sea. China in the South. Macau territory has 3 main areas: Austria Mon peninsula, Taipei island and Co-lo-an island.
Definition of trademark in Macau
A trademark is used to identify and promote the owner’s products or services, and to enable the consumer to distinguish them from the products and services of other traders.
Benefits of registration of a trademark in Macau
It is not compulsory to register a trademark in the Macao SAR before a person could use it on his products or services. A trademark owner with either a registered or an unregistered trademark may protect the mark under “Action of Unfair Competition” under the “Macao Commercial Code”. An “Action of Unfair Competition” requires proof that the owner enjoyed prior reputation and damage inflicted on to his mark.
However, the registration of a trademark under the “Industrial Property Code” gives an owner the right to prevent third parties from using their mark, or a deceptively similar mark, without the owner’s consent for the products or services for which it is registered. They may also prevent other persons from using the mark in relation to products or services for which Their mark is registered or in relation to similar products or services.
Registration therefore gives a right of ownership that is easier to establish than under the “Commercial Code”.
What trademarks may be registered in Macau
A trademark may be registered if it is: a sign or group of signs represented in a special manner, namely words, including personal names, drawings, letters, numerals, sounds, the shape of a product or its packaging, and which are capable of distinguishing the products or services of one company from those of other companies.
What trademarks may not be registered in Macau
Signs that consist exclusively in the shape resulting from the nature of the product itself, the shape of the product necessary for obtaining a technical result, or the shape that gives the product its own substantial value;
Signs or indications that may be used exclusively and commercially to designate the kind, quality, quantity, purpose, value, geographical origin or time of production of the product or of the rendering of the service, or other characteristics thereof;
Signs or indications that have become customary in current language or in bona fide and established commercial practices;
Colors, except where they are combined together or used with graphics, wording or other elements in a particular and distinctive manner.
