Algeria Office

Algeria is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks. 

Algeria is a member of Madrid Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement since July 31, 2015. 

The International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks under the Nice Agreement is followed in Algeria and the revision of class 42 with the creation of classes 43 to 45 has been adopted as of January 1, 2002. An application may include goods and/or services in any number of classes against payment of an additional fee to cover the additional classes.

Once a trademark application is filed, the filing certificate indicating the filing number and the filing date is issued within approximately a week. Trademark applications are examined as to their registrability against prior registrations. The certificate of registration is issued upon completing all the filing requirements. Trademarks are published after registration and there is no provision for filing opposition to the registration of a mark.

According to Trademark Law No. 03-06 of 2003, a trademark registration is valid for 10 years as of the filing date of the trademark application, and it is renewable for periods of 10 years, each upon application and payment of the prescribed renewal fees. A grace period of 6 months is allowed for late renewal of a trademark registration against payment of a fine.

The assignment of a trademark is possible with or without the goodwill of the business. Changes in the name and/or address of a registrant must be recorded. Recording a license is possible and an unrecorded license is invalid. Use of trademarks in Algeria is not mandatory for filing applications neither for registrations nor for maintaining trademark registrations in force. However, a trademark registration is subject to cancellation on the strength of a court decision obtained to this effect by any interested party.

A cancellation action relies basically on establishing sufficient grounds that the trademark in question has not actually been used seriously for a period of 3 years after filing the application, or if the use ceases for more than 3 years. Any infringement or unauthorized use of a registered trademark is punishable under the provisions of the current law.