Trademarks & Intellectual Property Rights in Lebanon.
Registration, protection and enforcement of trademarks, patents and copyrights before administrative authorities and Lebanese courts.
Our attorneys assist individuals, entrepreneurs and corporations in protecting their intellectual property in Lebanon: from search and filing to enforcement, licensing and litigation. Lebanon's first IP statute dates back to 1924; today, the matter is primarily governed by Law No. 75/99 and by the international agreements Lebanon has ratified.
Trademarks
A trademark is any sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of another (words, logos, slogans, three-dimensional shapes, colour combinations, sound marks, etc.). Registration is organized in classes following the Nice Classification, and a single mark may be filed in one or several classes depending on the underlying commercial activity.
- ◆Trademark availability searches
- ◆National filings before the Ministry of Economy and Trade
- ◆Coordination of regional and international filings
- ◆Renewals, assignments, licences and pledges
- ◆Watching services and opposition strategies
- ◆Enforcement, seizure and infringement litigation
- ◆Anti-counterfeiting and customs actions
Patents
Patents protect new inventions that involve an inventive step and are susceptible of industrial application. Lebanon's patent regime is compatible with the main international standards and, subject to conditions, allows for the protection of inventions across a broad range of technical fields, from mechanics to pharmaceuticals and software-related innovations.
Copyrights
Copyright protects original works of authorship (literary, artistic, musical, audiovisual, software, databases) from the moment of their creation, without formality. Registration remains useful for evidentiary purposes. We assist authors, producers, publishers and digital platforms with rights clearance, licensing, moral-rights issues and enforcement.
Licensing, franchising and enforcement
Beyond registration, we draft and negotiate IP-related contracts (assignments, licences, franchise agreements, technology-transfer, distribution) and enforce our clients' rights through cease-and-desist, seizure descriptive, criminal complaints, and civil actions before the specialized Lebanese courts.