There is relatively good news from Sudan.

Operations resumed

The Trademark Office in Sudan resumed operations on 11 February 2024, after having been out of action for almost 10 months as a result of civil unrest. We do, however, understand that the Office is based in temporary premises outside of Khartoum, in Port Sudan.

The effect of the resumption

The Office can only accept new trade mark applications, as well as renewals and certain other recordals. The Office will, however, not examine any of these transactions at the present time.

Follow-on actions like examination

The Office is not able to deal with follow-on actions like examination of applications and the filing of supporting documents at the present time – this will, apparently, only be possible when the trade mark database has been re-established.

A warning: The most recent reports say that there are problems with the Office’s payment system – as a result of this we understand that no new matters can be submitted at present. We will monitor the situation closely and advise on any developments.

Trade mark searching

The Office will apparently not be able to conduct trade mark searches until such time as all data is regained.

Staff shortages

The Office is faced with staff shortages. This is a result of its move from Khartoum to Port Sudan, where the cost of living is significantly higher.

Updates

We appreciate that, as welcome as this news is, it is far from complete. We will monitor this matter closely and publish updates when possible.

The future

When things are up and running properly, we will require the following documentation from our clients:

  1. A Power of Attorney, incorporating an Arabic translation and, either signed, stamped and on the letterhead of the applicant; or signed and notarised.
  2. A Certificate of Incorporation/Extract from the Commercial Register with a verified English translation, legalised up to a Sudanese Consul.
  3. A certified copy of the priority document (if applicable) with a verified English translation, legalised up to a Sudanese Consul.

Given the authentication requirements, it may be prudent to start obtaining these whilst we wait for the payment system to come back online

Examination and appeals

Although examination may not take place for some time, it is important to be aware that once an official action is received, then any appeal must be submitted to the Court. Appeals can be expensive. Because of this we previously always recommended that a search be conducted prior to filing but, as noted above, until the Office recovers their database from Khartoum, searching is not possible. We will, of course, advise as soon as that position changes.

contact us for more information.