– Trademark Registration Law of September 1, 2009. Amendments enforced on March 16, 2015.

– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since December 13, 2005.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since July 29, 2016.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since May 14, 2017.
– Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, since May 14, 2017.
– Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, since June 26, 2018.

Applicant: owners of commercial, industrial and agricultural establishments in Afghanistan, citizens and foreigners alike, may benefit from the privileges of the law if their distinctive trademarks have been registered in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Foreigners: persons having their commercial, industrial and/or agricultural establishment outside Afghanistan may benefit from the privileges of the law if they have registered their trademarks in Afghanistan and if the country, where their establishments are, provides protection for Afghan trademarks, either by treaties with Afghanistan or under internal laws.

Exceptions to protection: (a) the national flag of Afghanistan as well as any other flag, the use of which has been prohibited by the State; (b) sanctuary and pulpit (where a Mullah prays and delivers his sermon, a special place in a mosque); (c) words or phrases which may erroneously imply any relation with Afghan official authorities, such as the words State, Governmental and the like; (d) emblems of official institutions such as “Sareh Myash”, “Red Crescent”, “Red Cross”, etc.; (e) marks contrary to morality and public order; (f) alcoholic beverages.

Service marks: registrable.

Multi-class applications: no longer allowed.

Classification: International Classification. Class 33 and alcoholic beverages in class 32 are not registrable.

Filing requirements for an application(to be sent to resident agent):
1. Power of attorney, legalized by an Afghan Consulate and attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul;
2. Full name and address of the applicant in English;
3. Prints of the mark (at least 10 prints);
4. List of goods;
5. Determination of the classes of the goods.

For renewals:
1. Power of attorney, legalized and attested if the previous POA was filed nine months or more before;
2. A photocopy of the latest valid registration certificate or renewal certificate (if not the first renewal).

For recordal of assignment, license, and any other changes:
1. Power of attorney, legalized and attested;
2. Assignment or license agreement, legalized;
3. Certificate of any changes like: change of name or address;
4. The original registration certificate or latest valid renewal certificate.

Notes: recordal of any changes occurring to a registered trademark (such as a change in the owner’s name or address, assignment or licensing) is compulsory, otherwise the law will not protect it. However, a change to the mark itself necessitates a separate new application. Applications must be accompanied by a legalized and attested power of attorney; the attestation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs takes at least one month.

Electronic filing: not available.

Examination: formal and substantive examination as to prior rights. The Registration Office should accept or reject the trademark application within thirty days. If the application is accepted, the Registration Office publishes the trademark application in the Official Gazette.

Opposition: possible within one month from publication of the trademark application.

Registration: if no objections by a third party, a registration certificate will be issued.

Publication: publication in the Official Gazette of the granted trademark is compulsory. As per request of the applicant, the trademark can be published in another newspaper as well.

Ownership: the ownership of a trademark belongs to the person or legal bodies who first made use of same, unless the contrary is established before the court.

Duration of the registration: ten years from the filing date.

Renewal: for ten-year periods from expiry date; to be requested within nine months before the expiry date (Note: as of November 2017 the Registry no longer accepts applications for the renewal of expired trademarks, even within the six-month period).

Assignment: trademarks are transferable and their transfer is only valid against third parties if separately registered in compliance with the provisions of the present law.

Licenses: must be registered.

Letters of consent: accepted on case by case basis.

Use: optional, but subject to non-use cancellation actions by third parties if not used for a continuous period of three years from the registration date. The use of the mark can be proved by submitting copies of invoices bearing the trademark with regard to the product. Advertisement in any journal or any other medium may also be considered as use.

Marking: no provision.

Cancellation action against a registered trademark must be filed no later than one year from the date of registration (except for well-known marks) if it is found that it was registered in violation of the law or it belongs to others. There is no limitation of time for the nullification action when the registration was obtained in bad faith.