Intellectual property · Philippines
Trademark registration in the Philippines
The Philippines gives the brand to whoever files for it first. We run the search, file with IPOPHL, answer the examiner, and keep the registration alive through the use declarations most foreign owners learn about too late.
Why it matters
The brand belongs to whoever files first
Philippine law settled this at the highest level: in 2020 the Supreme Court confirmed that trademark ownership comes from registration, not from prior use. If someone registers your brand before you do, they own it in the Philippines, even if you built it.
The distributor problem
The most common dispute we see: a foreign brand prepares to enter the market and finds that its own distributor, a former partner, or a stranger registered the name years earlier. Buying a mark back costs many times what registering it would have, and some owners end up rebranding instead.
Enforcement starts with a certificate
Marketplace takedowns, customs recordation, cease-and-desist letters, and infringement cases all begin with a registration. Without one, you are negotiating. With one, you are enforcing.
Ten years, renewable for as long as you trade
One registration covers your classes for ten years and renews indefinitely. The cost is small next to what the brand will be worth here once the market knows it, and next to what recovering it from someone else would cost.
What can be registered
Almost anything that identifies you, if it's distinctive.
A registrable mark identifies your business rather than describing the product. Generic and purely descriptive terms are refused, and so are marks confusingly similar to existing registrations in your classes.
Word marksBrand names, company names, taglines, and letter or number marks, the most common filing.
Logos & devicesVisual symbols and graphic elements, registered as you use them.
Combined marksWords and graphics together, protecting the lock-up as a whole.
Shapes & 3D marksThe form of a product or its packaging, provided the shape is not functional.
Color marksSpecific colors or combinations, where they have acquired distinctiveness in the market.
Sound & motion marksJingles and animated logos, registrable where they are distinctive and can be represented.
Every application names the goods and services it covers, grouped under the Nice Classification's 45 classes. The classes you choose define the protection you get, and a multi-class application covers several in one filing. We map your products and services to the right classes as part of the search.
The process
How registration works
Five stages with IPOPHL, all electronic. When nothing is contested, plan six to twelve months from filing to certificate, and once registered, protection runs from the filing date.
1
Search before filingDays
We search IPOPHL's register and the international designations for identical and confusingly similar marks in your classes. If the mark has a problem, you find out now, for the cost of a search, rather than a year into the application.
2
Filing and formal examination1–2 months
We file through IPOPHL's eTMfile system: the mark, the classes, and the applicant details. IPOPHL checks the formalities over the following one to two months, and we handle any corrections so the application keeps moving.
3
Substantive examination3–6 months
An examiner assesses whether the mark is distinctive and whether it conflicts with earlier marks. Office actions at this stage are common and survivable: we draft the responses, argue the distinctions, and adjust the specification where that helps.
4
Publication and opposition1–2 months
The approved mark is published in the IPOPHL eGazette, which opens a 30-day window for anyone to oppose (extendable once, by 45 days). Most applications pass through quietly; if yours is opposed, we represent you in the proceedings.
5
Registration and certificate1–2 months
IPOPHL issues the certificate of registration, valid for ten years from the filing date and renewable indefinitely. The maintenance calendar starts here, which is the part of this page worth reading twice.
Requirements
What we need from you
The file is short. Most clients send everything in one email.
- A clear representation of the mark. The logo file, or the word mark exactly as you use it.
- What it covers. Your products or services, described in your own words; we map them to the Nice classes.
- Applicant details. The full legal name and address of the person or company that will own the mark.
- A signed power of attorney. No notarization needed. For applicants without a Philippine address, this also appoints the resident agent the law requires; Emerhub acts as yours.
- Priority documents, only if applicable. Where you're claiming priority from an application filed abroad within the last six months.
Keeping it alive
Registration is the start. The use declarations keep it alive
The Philippines requires trademark owners to prove they are using the mark, on a fixed calendar, with evidence. Miss a declaration and IPOPHL removes the mark from the register. This is where foreign-owned marks die quietly.
3rd-year DAUFiled within three years of the application's filing date, with evidence of use. One six-month extension is available, but only if requested before the deadline passes.
5th-year DAUFiled within one year after the fifth anniversary of the registration, and again after the fifth anniversary of every renewal.
Renewal DAUFiled within one year of each ten-year renewal.
Non-use exposureSeparately, a mark unused for three continuous years can be canceled on petition by anyone who wants it.
We calendar every declaration on the day we file, and we prepare the evidence with you: labels, invoices, listings, photographs of the goods on sale. One detail that catches international portfolios off guard: Madrid registrations designating the Philippines carry the same DAU duties, filed through a Philippine resident agent. If your mark reached the Philippines through Madrid, the calendar applies to you too.
What it costs
IPOPHL's fees run a few thousand pesos per class (filing from around PHP 1,200 to PHP 2,600 depending on entity size, plus publication and issuance fees). Emerhub's fee for the search, filing, and prosecution is quoted on request per class, with office actions, oppositions, and DAU filings quoted as they arise.
Why Emerhub
Filed by the team that's already here.
Already on the ground
The same Taguig team that handles incorporations, FDA registrations, and import accreditation files your trademark. Most marks ride alongside a market entry, and the timing between the two is part of the advice, not an afterthought.
A straight answer before you spend
If the search shows your mark is weak, descriptive, or already taken, we tell you before you pay filing fees, with options: adjust the mark, narrow the classes, or challenge what's blocking you.
We keep it alive
Many providers file and disappear. Philippine registrations are won and lost at the declarations of use, so ours come with the calendar and the evidence preparation built in.
Common questions
Philippines trademark FAQs
Specific questions about registering and keeping a mark in the Philippines.
Does registering my company protect my brand name?
No, and this is the most expensive misunderstanding in Philippine branding. SEC or DTI registration stops someone from registering an identical company name; it gives no trademark rights at all. Your brand needs its own IPOPHL registration, and until it has one, anyone can file for it, including your competitors and partners.
How long does registration take?
Six to twelve months from filing to certificate when nothing is contested: formal examination in one to two months, substantive examination in three to six, then publication, the 30-day opposition window, and issuance. Office actions and oppositions extend that. Once registered, protection runs from the filing date, which is one more reason to file early.
What does it cost?
Government fees run a few thousand pesos per class, scaled by entity size, plus publication and issuance fees. Our fee covers the search, the filing, and the prosecution through to certificate, quoted per class; contested matters and DAU filings are quoted as they arise. Schedule a call with your mark and product list and we'll give you the exact figure.
Someone already registered my brand. What can I do?
It depends where their filing stands. If it's still in the opposition window, we oppose. If it's registered, the routes are a cancellation petition (bad-faith filings can be challenged, and a mark unused for three continuous years is vulnerable on that ground alone), a negotiated purchase or coexistence, or in some cases rebranding for this market. We assess which route fits before you spend on any of them.
Do I need to be in the Philippines to register?
No. The process is electronic end to end, and foreign applicants without a Philippine address appoint a resident agent through a signed power of attorney, no notarization required. Emerhub acts as your resident agent, which also means oppositions, office actions, and official notices reach someone who acts on them.
What is the Nice Classification, and can I file multiple classes?
The international system that groups all goods and services into 45 classes. Your registration protects the mark in the classes you file, so the class choice defines the protection. Multi-class applications are allowed and usually sensible: one filing, several classes, with fees per class.
What happens if someone opposes my application?
They have 30 days from publication in the eGazette, extendable once by 45 days, to file with IPOPHL's Bureau of Legal Affairs. The proceedings are adversarial but most resolve by argument or agreement, coexistence arrangements included, without killing the application. We represent you through it and tell you honestly when settling beats fighting.
Do I have to prove I'm using the mark?
Yes, on a fixed calendar: the declaration of actual use within three years of filing, within one year after each fifth anniversary of registration and of every renewal, and within one year of each renewal, each with evidence. Miss one and the mark is removed from the register. This is the single most common way foreign-owned Philippine marks die, and the reason our service includes the calendar.
Can I use the Madrid System instead of filing locally?
Yes; the Philippines has been a Madrid member since 2012, so you can designate it in an international application. IPOPHL still examines the designation under the same rules, and the DAU calendar still applies, filed through a Philippine resident agent. For a Philippines-only filing, the national route is usually simpler; for a multi-country program, Madrid with local support for the DAUs works well.
How does renewal work?
The registration renews every ten years, indefinitely. Each renewal comes with its own declaration of use within the following year, which is the requirement renewing owners most often miss. We track both dates and handle the filings.
Protecting a brand in the Philippines?
Talk to our Manila team
A free, no-obligation consultation: thirty minutes with our Manila team to check your mark, settle the classes, and map the filing, including what to do if someone got there first.
Phone+63 928 516 2791
OfficeUnit 710, High Street South Corporate Plaza Tower
2 26th St, Taguig
1634 Metro Manila, Philippines
2 26th St, Taguig
1634 Metro Manila, Philippines