A trademark identifies the brand owner of a particular product or service. Trademarks can be used by others under licensing agreements. The unauthorized usage of trademarks by producing and trading counterfeit consumer goods is known as brand piracy. The owner of a trademark may pursue legal action against trademark infringement.

Once your application for trademark registration has been filed, the process takes 12-15 months to be completed. The Trademark Office will examine the application within 2 to 3 months and will either accept the application or conditionally accept or reject the applications.

In case of acceptance, the publication fee should be paid and then will be published in official gazette after two months. In case of conditional acceptance, you can go for an appeal within 60 days period from the date of the official publication of the decision or comply with suggested conditions within 6 months. Otherwise, your application would be considered as withdrawn. In case of rejection, 60 days would be given for appeal. If an appeal is not submitted the application would be considered as automatically abandoned.

Any interested third party can challenge a Trademark approved by Trademark Office, within a period of 120 days from the date of publishing in the official gazette. Also, the applicant would be given 60 days to file a reply with regard to complaints against their claim of the trademark. A final certificate of the trademark will be issued within 3 weeks from the settlement of the trademark registration fees. The validity of a registered trademark in Qatar is 10 years starting from the filing date of the trademark application.

Renewal application for a trademark can be filed form 12 months before the expiry to six months after. However, after the expiry it may be charged with late fees on application. After the filing of application, it may take one or two weeks to issue the renewal certificates.

Trademark change of name or address also will take up to six months. The applicant has to publish in the gazette to ensure formality. The certificate will be issued within one or two months from paying fees for the application.

The ownership of a registered trademark can be assigned with or without the goodwill of the business concern. Unless an assignment has been recorded in the register and published in the Official Gazette of Trademarks, it shall have no effect vis-à-vis third parties. 

Use of trademarks in Qatar is not necessary for filing a trademark application or to maintain a registered trademark. Also, unauthorized use of trademark, including imitation, copying, or selling the same form of products, exhibiting for sale of goods bearing a counterfeit mark, or using a mark duly registered under the law by another person to serve the purpose of unauthorized promotion of goods and/or services of the same class are offences and punishable under the law in Qatar.