Myanmar New Trademark Law

Myanmar has adopted a new trademark legislation, changing its regime from “first to use” to “first to file”. This is significant because the new law awards trademark rights and priority to the applicants who are first to apply for registration of their marks, over those who were first to use the mark in commerce. A sunrise “Soft Opening” period has commenced on October 1, 2020 to allow existing trademark owners an opportunity to re-register their previously recorded marks under the new law, retaining priority. General registration for new trademarks is expected to open on April 1, 2021.