Libyan Trademark Law
Laws
Trademarks Law
(No. 40 Of 1956)
Pursuant to Law No.40, 1956 and its amendments, the Libyan legislator regulates the
protection of trademarks. Its provisions define the true nature of the trademark, the
marks which are not registrable, registration procedures, the expiry of marks property
and their mortgage, registration renewal and cancellation, the disputes concerning
trademarks registration and property and how to solve these disputes as well as defining
the officials' authorities for the implementation of the provisions of this Law.
We, Mahmoud Abu Hidmah and Abdul Majeed Kubar, the deputies to the King of United
Kingdom of Libya pursuant to the royal decree dated 3rd August, 1956 the Senate and the
House of Representatives have passed the following law, which we have sanctioned and
do hereby promulgate.
Part I
General Provisions
Article (1)
For the purposes of this Law, the terms commercial trademarks shall include names of
any distinctive form, signature, words, letters, figures, drawings, tokens, titles of places,
stamps, seals, devices, embossed engravings or any other mark or group of marks
employed or intended to be employed in order to distinguish the products of any
industrial undertaking or for use in any agricultural or forestry projects, mining products
or any other goods what-so-ever or in order to indicate the place of origin of the products
or goods, their kind, grade, guarantee or method of preparation.
Article (2)
A. An office for the registration of trademarks shall be established in the Ministry of
National Economy wherein a register shall be kept for the aforesaid registration subject
to the provisions of this law and any regulation issued thereunder.
B. Applications for registration shall be submitted to the Provincial Nazareth of Finance
and Economy who shall refer such applications with their observations and date and hour
of receipt thereof to the registration office. On conclusion of the registration of the
trademark, the office shall forward the registration patent to the Nazareth concerned for
transmission to the holder.
Article (3)
Any person registering a trademark shall be deemed to be the sole proprietor of such
mark. He shall be entitled to exclusive use thereof with regard to the products or goods
for which it was registered. The ownership of a trademark shall not be a subject of
dispute where it has been used by the person who had registered it for a continuous
period of at least five years from the date of registration in the course of which no claim
against it has been adjudged to be valid.
Article (4)
The following persons shall be entitled to register their own trademarks:
1. Any industrialist, producer or merchant of Libyan nationality.
2. Any industrialist, producer or merchant residing in Libya or has an actual place of
business therein.