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French Polynesia is an overseas territory of the French Republic. It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands and has been autonomous since 2004. Previously trade mark protection in French Polynesia was covered by a national French trade mark registration.
However, recently the French Patent and Trade Mark Office (INPI) has sought to provide clarification on whether French Polynesia is still protected under the umbrella of a French national trade mark registration.
It has been decided that national French trade mark registrations will no longer also include trade mark protection for French Polynesia.
A system for revalidation of existing French registrations in French Polynesia has been put in place.
The revalidation of marks is advisable but not mandatory. The decision on whether to proceed with revalidation will depend on how important this territory is to you. If you do not revalidate then you will not have any protection for your mark in French Polynesia.
Community Trade Mark registrations have never covered French Polynesia so revalidation is not possible for a Community Trade Mark registration.
At present there is no other national system for registering trade marks in French Polynesia. It is hoped that in the future there will be a national registration system. We will provide a further legal update on this should there be any developments.
The INPI did not indicate whether French designations of International trade mark registrations also require revalidation. We will provide a further legal update when this issue has been decided.
There is the possibility that the deadlines for attending to the revalidation may be extended to 1 September 2023 but to ensure you are protected you should proceed with revalidation sooner rather than later. We will provide further updates if the deadline is extended.
If you would like to explore your protection in French Polynesia and revalidate your registrations then please contact one of our trade mark attorneys for specific advice.
At A.A. Thornton & Co. our trade mark attorneys handle all aspects of the trade mark registration procedure, including oppositions and appeals.
The services of our trade mark attorneys include:
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