Registering a trademark with INAPI in Algeria: classes, examination, fees and renewal

Trademark or company name: what each one protects

The CNRC (National Trade Register Centre) name certificate and an INAPI trademark registration protect two different things. The CNRC stops another company from registering under the same name. A trademark lets you prevent third parties from using your sign on goods or services identical or similar to yours.

What the law says

What INAPI refuses to register

Article 7 of the ordinance excludes from registration, among others:

• Signs with no distinctive character or in the public domain, such as the usual name of the product.
• Shapes dictated by the nature or function of the product or its packaging.
• Signs contrary to public order or morality.
• Coats of arms, flags, emblems, acronyms and official hallmarks of a state or an international organisation, without authorisation.
• Signs that mislead the public about the nature, quality, provenance or geographical origin of the goods.
• Signs identical or similar to a trademark well known in Algeria.
• Signs identical or similar to a trademark already filed or registered for identical or similar goods or services, where there is a risk of confusion.

This last ground also covers a trademark that expired one year ago at most, or three years for a collective mark. INAPI takes into account the written consent of the owner of the earlier trademark (Executive Decree No. 05-277, art. 12).

Choosing the classes of goods and services

The application contains a clear and complete list of the goods and services covered. Decree No. 05-277 requires them to be designated under the Nice International Classification, which Algeria joined through Ordinance No. 72-10 of 22 March 1972. The classification has 45 classes: goods in classes 1 to 34, services in classes 35 to 45.

Your trademark is protected for the goods and services you designated, and against use on similar goods or services. A consulting firm that files only service classes will struggle to act against a clothing maker that copies its name, unless its trademark is well known in Algeria.

Before filing: the prior-rights search

INAPI checks for itself whether your sign reproduces an earlier trademark. Run the search before it does: INAPI does not refund fees if you withdraw your application or if it is rejected as incomplete (Decree No. 05-277, art. 9 and 10). Anyone can obtain a copy of the entries in the trademark register, or a certificate stating there are none, for 1,000 DA.

• Trademarks registered in Algeria in your classes, with INAPI.
• International trademarks extended to Algeria: the country has been party to the Madrid Agreement since 1972.
• The CNRC register of company names, to avoid a conflict with a company's name.
• The .dz domain name, if you plan to sell online.

The filing documents

You file the application at INAPI, send it by post or by any other means that confirms receipt. INAPI hands over or returns a copy showing the day and time of filing. The filing date is the date of receipt: your 10 years of protection run from that date.

From application to registration

1. 1

   Filing

   INAPI dates the application on receipt and gives you a stamped copy.

2. 2

   Formal examination

   INAPI checks the documents. If anything is missing, it asks you to complete the file within 2 months, extendable by 2 months on a justified request. Without regularisation, it rejects the application and keeps the fees.

3. 3

   Substantive examination

   INAPI checks that none of the refusal grounds in article 7 applies, earlier trademarks included. If it objects, it notifies you: you have 2 months, extendable by 2 months, to submit your observations.

4. 4

   Registration

   INAPI enters the trademark in the trademark register, for all or part of the goods and services requested, and issues a registration certificate.

5. 5

   Publication

   The registration appears in the official trademark bulletin, which INAPI publishes periodically.

The texts set no decision deadline for INAPI. The French INPI country sheet (2025) mentions about two years on average. During examination, your filed application allows you to use the trademark (art. 4). You can only sue an infringer for acts after the registration is published, or after a copy of the registration has been served on them (art. 27).

What about opposition?

Ordinance No. 03-06 and Decree No. 05-277 provide no opposition procedure, meaning a third party's challenge before INAPI against a pending application. The owner of an earlier trademark has two protections:

• Before registration, INAPI refuses of its own motion a trademark identical or similar to theirs for identical or similar goods or services (art. 7, para. 9, and Decree No. 05-277, art. 11).
• After registration, INAPI or any third party can ask the court to cancel the trademark. The action is time-barred 5 years after registration, unless the filing was made in bad faith (art. 20).

If you find that someone has registered your trademark, consult a lawyer or an industrial property attorney well before those 5 years run out.

Official fees in 2026

Article 111 of the 2003 finance law sets INAPI's fees. Article 168 of the 2026 finance law rewrote its trademark table. Amounts applicable since 1 January 2026:

Duration, use and renewal

Registration takes effect for 10 years from the filing date. To extend it, file the renewal request and pay the fee within the 6 months before expiry. After expiry, a 6-month grace period remains open, with the late surcharge. Renewal takes effect the day after expiry.

Attach evidence that you used the trademark during the year before expiry: invoices, packaging, dated advertising. The request covers the same trademark and the same list of goods and services.

of protection from filing

10 years

before expiry to renew, then a 6-month grace period

6 months

of non-use open the way to revocation

3 years

to seek cancellation after registration, except in bad faith

5 years

Assigning the trademark or granting a licence

You can assign the trademark, pledge it or grant a licence, for all or part of the goods and services. An assignment must be in writing and signed by both parties, or it is void. The licence agreement states the trademark, its duration, the goods or services concerned and the territory. Assignments and licences are enforceable against third parties only once recorded in the trademark register (Decree No. 05-277, art. 22 to 24).

Filing from abroad

An applicant domiciled abroad must be represented before INAPI by an agent, unless a reciprocity agreement applies (Ordinance No. 03-06, art. 13). Since Executive Decree No. 08-346 of 26 October 2008, an order of the minister in charge of industrial property sets the terms of this representation. A trademark registered through the international route can also be extended to Algeria: INAPI then examines it against the same refusal grounds (Decree No. 05-277, art. 13).

What an infringer risks

Infringing a registered trademark is an offence punishable by 6 months to 2 years in prison and a fine of 2,500,000 to 10,000,000 DA, or either penalty, with possible closure of the business, confiscation and destruction (art. 32). The owner can obtain from the court president a detailed description, with or without seizure, of the infringing goods; they must then bring civil or criminal proceedings within one month (art. 34 and 35).

Common mistakes

• Believing the CNRC name certificate protects the trademark.
• Launching the logo, packaging and advertising before filing.
• Filing too narrow a list of goods, then trying to widen it at renewal.
• Choosing a descriptive or generic term, refused for lack of distinctiveness.
• Missing the 10-year expiry and the grace period.
• Keeping no evidence of use, although renewal requires it.
• Granting a licence without recording it in the trademark register.

Neuron and your trademark

Neuron does not file trademarks and does not represent applicants before INAPI. We work on the company that will use the trademark: name reservation, setup, and a registered office in Dely Brahim for 6,000 DA a month, under a notarised contract of 1 or 2 years. Full support for setting up a company costs 60,000 DA, or 50,000 DA if it is domiciled at Neuron, official fees excluded.