The World Intellectual Property Organization indicated that collective marks have an effective role in helping small and medium-sized companies to overcome some of the obstacles resulting from the small size and transactions of these companies, as these companies can work together by organizing a union between them and requesting the registration of a collective mark in order to market the products of this group Companies, and each company in this union can use the collective mark alongside its own brand to benefit from the customers’ trust in the products bearing the collective mark.

With regard to the registration of collective marks in the State of Kuwait, Law No. 13 of 2015 regarding trademarks for the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf permitted the registration of collective marks, which are used to distinguish goods or services of facilities belonging to members belonging to a specific entity with legal personality.

Collective mark registration request

The collective mark registration request shall be submitted by the representative of the entity requesting the registration, to be used by its members in accordance with the terms and conditions it determines, provided that this is approved by the competent authority. The applicant for the registration of collective marks shall attach to the application for registration the following requirements:

1- Indicate in the registration application that it is a collective mark.

2- A true copy of the statute of the union, organization or public institution requesting registration with the amendments that may have been made to it, provided that it includes the following:-

• A statement of the category of persons entitled to use the mark and their relationship to the applicant.
• A copy of the conditions for using the collective mark for goods and services. In all cases, the owner of the registered collective mark is obligated to notify the competent authority of any changes to those requirements, and the change shall not be effective until after the approval of the competent authority.
• An acknowledgment that the applicant is or will conduct strict control over the use of the collective mark by its members.
• How members qualify for membership in that body.

3- All documents shall be duly notarized and certified and translated into Arabic.

Write off  collective mark registration

In the event of write off the collective mark, it may not be re-registered for the benefit of others for identical or similar goods or services, and the competent court may, at the request of the concerned parties, order the write off the registration of the collective mark if it is proven to it that the registered owner is using it alone, or that he is using it or allowing it to be used in a different manner The conditions for using the mark to be registered, or using it in a way that is likely to mislead the public as to the origin of the good or any common characteristic of the goods or services in respect of which the collective mark is registered.

Recording of monitoring marks

The Trademarks Law of the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf permits legal persons who are in charge of monitoring or examining some goods or services in terms of their source, components, method of manufacture, quality, identity or any other characteristic to request from the competent authority to register a mark that is assigned to them to indicate their Conducting monitoring or examination. In all cases, this mark may not be registered or its ownership transferred without the approval of the competent authority.

Request for registration of monitoring marks

The applicant for registration of the monitoring mark must attach the following requirements to the registration application:

1- Indication in the registration application that it is a control or examination mark.

2- A true copy of the statute of the union, organization or public institution requesting registration with the amendments that may have been made to it, provided that it includes:

• A declaration that the control or inspection mark will be used by someone other than the applicant and that the applicant will not engage in marketing or production of any goods or services on which this mark is used, and that he will not practice discrimination policies that would prevent the use of the mark by third parties that meet the specifications set by him owner.
• A statement that the monitoring or inspection mark certifies the quality, qualities or advantages of the goods or services and that it does not indicate the source of the goods or services.
• Documents specifying the specifications and standards applied by the applicant body in order to monitor the use of the mark and prove that the application body practices an approved quality assessment program.
• A certificate showing the advantages of the goods or services that are approved or required to be approved.

3- All documents shall be duly notarized and certified and translated into Arabic.

Registering the marks of public benefit bodies and professional institutions

The Trademarks Law of the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf permits the registration of a mark for non-commercial purposes, such as logos used by organizations of public interest, or used by professional institutions to distinguish their correspondence, or as insignia for their members.

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