Trade name protection under honduran laws

By Ricardo Mejía, Bufete Mejía

The General Directorate of Intellectual Property in Honduras has issued new regulations concerning the maintenance of trade name registrations under Honduran Law.

Until now, trade name registrations have been granted for an indefinite period of time, subject to the fulfillment by the
registered owner of the obligation to submit proof every five (5) years of the continuous legal existence of the
corporation. In practice, this requirement has been accomplished with the submission of a petition before the
Honduran Trademark & Patent Office along with an updated Certificate of Corporate Good Standing of the corporation,
or updated extract of its articles of incorporation or a valid certification from the chamber of commerce where the said
corporation has its headquarters or place of domicile.

The new regulations, which according to the said Directorate, aim to harmonize the interpretation given to
legal provisions concerning trademarks and other distinctive signs including trading names, indicate that Honduras’ Industrial Property Laws are essentially territorial and that therefore, proof of the continuous
existence of the registered owner will only be accepted if the said proof has been issued by a Honduran authority. In
practice, this means that only corporations headquartered or domiciled in Honduras will be able to fulfill this obligation.

The Directorate suggests that corporations domiciled outside Honduras who wish to maintain a trade name registration in the country should file a fresh application every five (5) years and has indicated that proof of continuous existence abroad such as the ones mentioned above will no longer be accepted.