Register Trademark in Lithuania: A Step-by-Step Guide

The best way to secure your Intellectual Property in Lithuania is registering trademark. Lithuania is a small country in Northeastern Europe, but possesses many economic advantages that make it an attractive destination for investment and business. Lithuania is located in the center of Europe, gaining access to major markets such as Lithuania, Poland, Scandinavia and Russia. Lithuania has a developed transport system, connected to neighboring countries and Europe by road, rail, air and waterway. The service sector contributes more than 60% of Lithuania’s GDP and is the largest job creator. Thriving service sectors include finance, banking, insurance, real estate, tourism, transportation, and telecommunications. Lithuania is increasingly becoming an outsourcing service center for international companies, especially in the field of information technology. Industry contributes about 25% of Lithuania’s GDP and is concentrated mainly in industries such as food production, woodworking, machinery and equipment manufacturing, and chemicals. Lithuania has many modern industrial parks with good infrastructure and high-quality human resources. The Lithuanian government is encouraging the development of high-tech industries such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and information technology. To attract foreign investment, Lithuania applies the lowest corporate tax rate in the EU (15%) and has many tax incentives for businesses to invest in priority sectors. Therefore, more and more businesses are expanding their business scope here, in order to be able to distinguish their brand from other competitors, businesses need to pay attention to the procedure for trademark registration. Viet An Law Firm would like to guide customers preliminarily through the procedure for trademark registration in Lithuania through the article below.

Legal basis

• Law No. VIII-1981 of October 10, 2000 on Trademarks (amended to Law No. XIII-2736 of December 19, 2019, effective January 1, 2022);
• Law No. IX-352 of June 5, 2001 on Industrial Property Registration Fees (amended to Law No. XIII-2857 of April 21, 2020)

General overview of trademarks in Lithuania

Definition of “trademark” in Lithuania

According to Lithuanian law, a trademark is defined as follows:

• Any signs: This means that trademarks can be words, symbols, designs, combinations of these elements, or even sounds (although sound marks are less common).
• Distinguishable: A trademark must be unique enough to distinguish one company’s goods or services from another’s.
• One person’s goods or services vs. others’ goods or services: This clarifies that a trademark protects the origin of the goods or services, not the goods or services themselves.
• Likely to be represented graphically: Trademarks need to be presented in a way that can be easily represented graphically, such as a specific logo or font.

Conditions for trademark registration in Lithuania

Uniqueness: A trademark must be unique and capable of distinguishing the goods or services of the applicant company from those of other companies. This means that it cannot be a generic term for a product or service, a descriptive term that simply describes a characteristic of a product or service or term may mislead consumers about the origin or nature of the product or service.

Non-misleading: A trademark must not be identical or confusingly similar to an existing trademark for identical or similar goods or services that are likely to cause confusion to consumers. Lithuania uses a “first filer” system, so the first person to file a trademark application for a particular sign will usually be granted rights to that mark.

Legal performance: The trademark must be able to be represented graphically. This means that it can be described in a clear and unambiguous way, such as a specific logo or font.

Availability: A trademark must not be identical or confusing to an existing trademark registered in Lithuania. The applicant may perform a preliminary search prior to filing the application to assess the availability of the selected mark.

Fair use: The trademark must not be contrary to public order or Lithuanian religion.

Trademark registration process in Lithuania

Apply:

• The trademark application is filed with the State Patent Office (VPB).
• The application fee is 180 EUR.
• If the application mentions more than one class of goods or services, an additional fee of EUR 40 will apply for each class.
• The trademark application filing fee must be paid prior to filing or, if filed electronically, payable upon filing.

Classification: The goods and services in the application can be stated by division according to the Nice Classification Table.

Applicant: An application may be submitted by an individual or legal entity, class of individuals, or through a representative. Applicants can apply electronically, but can also submit in paper form.

Assess:

After submitting the application, the application and trademark will be evaluated by VPB’s experts.

• If there are errors in the application, the applicant will be notified by email and can correct the error within 1-3 months (depending on the nature of the error).
• VPB’s expert assesses whether the trademark requested for registration meets the absolute trademark registration requirements, i.e. whether the trademark requested for registration can be recognized as a trademark. The specialist does not evaluate the relationship of the trademark with the rights of third parties (for example, the trademark has a previous trademark infringement, legal entity name, etc.).

Publication and objection:

• If the trademark meets the absolute requirements, the application will be published on VPB’s official bulletin and the registered trademark will be given temporary legal protection.
• After the publication of the application, the relevant persons can submit an objection within 3 months (about 5% of registered trademarks are objected each year).
• Anyone can submit a written opinion arguing that a trademark required for registration should not be registered.

Registration and issuance of certificates:

• If there is no objection and no other reason not to register the trademark, the trademark will be registered after 3 months and a Trademark Registration Certificate will be issued.
• Registering a trademark gives the trademark owner exclusive rights to that trademark.
• The trademark registration is valid for 10 years and can be renewed every 10 years (unlimited number of renewals).

Trademark registration in Lithuania through the European Union (EU) System

• The EU trademark provides uniform protection across all member states of the European Union.
• The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in Alicante (Spain) is responsible for registration.
• The initial term of protection of the EU trademark is ten years. It can be renewed indefinitely according to subsequent ten-year terms.
• Regulation (EU) No 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and Council of 14 June 2017 contains all legal provisions relating to EU trademarks.

Trademark registration documents in the European Union (EU)

Application form: The application form is downloadable from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) website. The applicant needs to complete information about the owner, trademark, and list of goods/services.

Brand image: Clear, sharp, fully branded images in JPG or PNG format, up to 2 MB in size.

List of goods/services: A detailed description of the goods/services for which you want to protect your trademark through the Nice classification system.

Registration fee: Basic fee: €850 for each additional class of goods/services the fee will increase by €150

Registration of trademark protection in Lithuania through the Madrid System

The Madrid system is a convenient and cost-effective Lithuanian league for global trademark registration and management. File a single international trademark application and pay a one-time fee to apply for protection in up to 130 countries. Claimants can modify, renew or expand their global trademark portfolio through a centralized system.

Madrid Agreement:

• The Madrid Agreement allows trademark owners to register their trademarks in a single member state (“country of origin”) and then extend protection to other member states (“nominating countries”) through a single international application.

Madrid Protocol:

• Lithuania acceded to the Madrid Protocol on 15 November 1997.
• The Madrid Protocol modernizes and simplifies the international registration system of trademarks established under the Madrid Agreement.
• The Madrid Protocol allows trademark owners to designate additional member states to an international application already filed under the Madrid Agreement or Madrid Protocol.

Trademark registration dossier under the Madrid System

The Madrid Applications include the Madrid Singles of Vietnamese origin and the Madrid Applications with Lithuanian designations.

For the Madrid Application of Vietnamese origin, the applicant must submit through the state management agency for industrial property rights, i.e. the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam. According to Article 25 of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP, a Madrid application of Vietnamese origin includes the following documents:

• Declaration of request for international registration of a trademark of Vietnamese origin (Form No. 01 in Vietnamese in Appendix II of Decree 65/2023/ND-CP);
• 02 MM2 declarations according to the form of the International Office in English or Lithuanian;
• 02 trademark samples exactly as the trademark in the application filed in Vietnam (establishment application) or trademark registration certificate (establishment registration);
• 02 MM18 declarations in English (if the application has a US designation);
• Written authorization in Vietnamese (According to the form of Viet An Law Firm);
• Documents of payment of fees for international registration of trademarks of Vietnamese origin;
• Other relevant documents (if necessary).

Application fees through the Madrid System

The fees include:

• Basic fee (653 Swiss francs; or 903 Swiss francs for a color mark) (Note! A 90% discount applies if the applicant lodges an application with the Intellectual Property Office of a developing country at least); and
• Additional fees depend on where the claimant wishes to protect his trademark and the number of classes of goods and services he or she wishes to register. In order to expand its geographic reach, or modify or renew its international registration, the applicant will have to pay additional fees.

Trademark registration service of Viet An Law Firm

• Carry out the search and notify customers in writing the results of trademark search in Lithuania;
• Drafting dossiers and directly submitting and monitoring the status of trademark filing dossiers in Lithuania;
• Inform, advise and handle deficiencies/refusals of competent State agencies (if any) in the process of monitoring trademark applications in Lithuania;
• Assist in monitoring, representing the resolution of objections and feedback with intellectual property representatives carrying out procedures in Lithuania.
• Receive dispatches, certificates and hand over to customers (if any).

If you want to file a trademark application in Lithuania, please contact Viet An Law Firm for the most effective support.