A trademark is those visual elements that are part fo your brand. It can be a visual sign, like a word, name, symbol, design, or even a sound or color, that helps customers distinguish one company's products or services from another. This includes service marks, which work the same way but for services instead of physical goods.
Trademarks are registered with the Trademark Division of the National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka (NIPO).

Owning a brand name registration provides several advantages, including:
• Your claim of ownership is registered and searchable (public notice of your claim of ownership of the mark).
• The law recognizes you as the trademark owner for the listed goods/services.
• You can sue for infringement in Commercial court.
• You have the right to use the brand name registration symbol ®.
• Your trademark is listed in the NIPO Trademark Office's databases.

A brand name registration in Sri Lanka is valid for ten years from the date of registration, with the possibility of renewals for additional ten-year terms.
You have a six-month grace period to renew your brand name registration after it expires.

The filing fees for applications with the National Intellectual Property Office (NIPO) in Sri Lanka vary depending on whether you're applying as an individual or entity.
If you're an individual applicant, brand name registration costs 1357 LKR per class, per application.
For businesses like partnerships, companies, or societies, the fee is 4071 LKR per class, per application.
You can check out our trade mark registration packages for a complete breakdown of the trademark registration fees in Sri Lanka.

No, you can't. Sri Lanka does not currently allow for the filing of multi-class trademark applications. This means that separate applications must be submitted for each class of goods or services you want to protect your trademark.
If you're an individual applicant, it costs $38 per class, per application.
For businesses like partnerships, companies, or societies, the fee is $115 per class, per application.

Yes, you can make changes to your trademark even after it's registered. The registered owner can apply to the Director-General for permission to add to or alter the trademark, as long as the changes don't significantly affect the identity of your trademark.

If NIPO finds an error in your application, they will ask you to fix it. Even after fixing the error, your application could still be rejected. If there are no problems after corrections, your application will proceed to the next step in the process.

When your trademark application is refused, NIPO will give you a hearing and you'll have one month from the rejection notice to submit your arguments against the decision.

No. If you're an individual or company residing in Sri Lanka, you can file your trademark application directly with the Trademark Division at NIPO. However, you can seek assistance of an Attorney-at-Law or IP agent to file your application after signing a Power of Attorney.
However, for foreigners living outside Sri Lanka (non-residents), the applications must be filed through an attorney or an Intellectual Property(IP) agent registered with NIPO.

No, a notarized Power of Attorney won't be necessary. Legalisation will also not be required. Your trademark agent will prepare and send a POA for your signature. You can simply sign it and email a scanned copy of the duly signed POA.