Brand owners licensing trademarks to franchisees, distributors, or authorised users in Iraq should be aware of a practical divergence between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region:
Trademark licenses can be recorded with the Trademark Office in Baghdad, but are not currently recorded before the Trademark Office in the Kurdistan Region.
Quick Facts
| Issue | Trademark license recordation practice in Iraq |
| Baghdad | Licenses may be recorded under the amended Iraqi Trademark Law (Article 18) |
| Kurdistan Region | Licenses are not currently recorded before the Trademark Office |
| Governing law (KRI) | Law No. 21 of 1957, applied in its original, unamended form |
| Affected parties | Trademark owners operating through franchisees, distributors, or licensed users across Iraq |
Can a trademark license be recorded in Baghdad?
Yes. The amended Iraqi Trademark Law introduced provisions relating to trademark licenses under Article 18, and licenses may be recorded before the Trademark Office in Baghdad, which administers trademark matters for the rest of Iraq.
Why is license recordation not available in the Kurdistan Region?
The Kurdistan Region continues to apply Law No. 21 of 1957 in its original, unamended form, rather than the amended federal Iraqi Trademark Law used in Baghdad. Because the original Article 18 does not contain provisions addressing trademark license recordation, the Trademark Office in the Kurdistan Region does not currently record licenses. This distinction reflects a broader divergence between the legal frameworks applied in Baghdad and in the Kurdistan Region.
What does this mean for brand owners in Iraq?
For trademark owners operating through franchise, distribution, or licensing arrangements across both Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region, this creates a practical gap: a license structure that can be formally recorded federally may have no equivalent recordation route regionally. Relevant practical implications include:
• Recorded licenses in Baghdad may provide an added layer of public notice and evidentiary support that is currently unavailable in the Kurdistan Region.
• Brand owners should not assume uniform license recordation procedure across Iraq when structuring franchise or distribution agreements.
• Alternative contractual safeguards such as robust, standalone license agreements, quality control provisions, and clear enforcement mechanisms take on added importance in the Kurdistan Region in the absence of a recordation mechanism.
• Strategies for trademark protection and commercialisation should be tailored separately for Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region rather than treated as a single, uniform regime
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