Many of us would be far from imagining that Cyprus, a member country of the European Union, contains certain subtleties in trademark law. Indeed, the Cypriot territory is divided into two parts, and trademark law does not escape this dichotomy. Some best practice rules, to be on safe side.
Cyprus, like its capital "Nicosia", comprises two very distinct areas: i) The Greek part, generally corresponding to the south of the island, called "The Republic of Cyprus" and ii) the Turkish part, commonly referred to as "the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC in English) or "République Turque de Chypre du Nord" (RTCN in French), located in the north of the island. Trademark protection is specific and distinct in each of these two part of the territory.
- The Greek part of the island of Cyprus: The South
- This part of the island is member of the European Union (EU). It is therefore naturally protected by European Union trademarks (EUTM). Cyprus, being a signatory country of the Madrid Union, this territory can also be designated by an International trademark (IR) either by covering Cyprus or by covering an EUTM (or both). Finally, the third possible trademark protection system to cover this area concerns a national trademark to be filed before the National Trademark Office, namely the "Department of Registrar Companies and Official Receiver of the Republic of Cyprus" (D.R.C.O.R.). The three above-mentioned types of trademarks, only cover the Greek part of Cyprus, thus excluding any protection over the northern part of the island, "illegally" occupied by the Turks, called "the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" which is neither recognized by local authorities nor international bodies such as the United Nations.
- It should also be noted that the 2020 law amending the Trademarks Act (Law No. 63 (I) of 2020)[1] came into force on June 12, 2020, in Cyprus and introduced several changes to harmonize it with Directive (EU) No. 2015/2436 on the Greek part of the island, such as (a) the creation of multi-class trademarks, (b) the duration of trademark registration which extends from 7 to 10 years from the date of filing, or (c) the introduction of a new definition of the trademark to include, in particular, color trademarks as well as sound trademarks.
- Recordals of Trademark license contracts in the Greek part of the island also require certain precautions. Trademark license contracts must be registered with each competent/proper office: before the National Office (D.R.C.O.R.) for the national trademarks, the EUIPO for EU trademarks, and the WIPO if it concerns an International trademark.
- The northern part of the island occupied by Turkish authorities:
- This part of the island benefits from a trademark protection system that is independent of the Greek part of the island of Cyprus and is governed by an ad hoc office. In other words, keep in mind Cypriot registrations (Greek part) as mentioned above (EUTM/IR or national trademark on the Republic of Cyprus) as well as Turkish trademarks have no legal effect on this part of the island. As a consequence, it is necessary to file a trademark application in this area in order to obtain protection in the northern part of the island.
- The local Trademark Office in the northern part of the island (the "Department of the Official Receiver & registrar" of TRNC) is located in Lefkoşa (Nicosia in French), the capital of the island whose northern part is under Turkish control. In the current system of this zone, no legal rules have been established for granting the registration of service marks (emblems) in respect with any services whatsoever (such as banks, financial establishment, insurance companies, hotels, motels, etc.). Only trademark registrations for goods/products would be possible on this part of the island. The legislation in force in this part of the territory does not grant protection to service marks (covering classes 35 to 45), at least through a trademark registration.
- For trademarks in respect with goods/products (from classes 01 to 34), it should be noted that it would be possible to claim seniority (to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis). The system is “single-class” filing, meaning one trademark per class to be claimed.
| Conclusion: Before launching its activity in Cyprus, it is important for each client to carefully study their commercial implantation zones in order to determine the exact scope of trademark protection they need in the territory, which is, as previously mentioned, divided into two distinct parts, and to proceed with any complementary trademark filings, if necessary. Note that, to operate in the southern part of the island, an EUTM application will very often be sufficient. However, additional trademark protection in the northern part of the island may also make sense, and this question is strategic even in the absence of any activity to be developed in this area, in particular to prevent illicit use by a malicious third party attracted by the launch of a new activity generating some notoriety in the south of the island, with the sole purpose of profiting from it in the Turkish zone. If such a scenario were to arise, a reaction would probably be difficult to be taken, in the absence of enforceable trademark rights in this northern zone (assuming it concerns a new product because service marks are currently refused for registration in this Turkish part). Note that geographic domain names (ccTLDs) do not seem to distinguish between the two zones of the island: extensions like <.cy> or <.com.cy> cover both parts of the Cypriot territory. |
[1] 2020 Law amending the Trademarks Act (Law No. 63 (I) of 2020)
https://www.wipo.int/news/fr/wipolex/2020/article_0014.html
