If your company is about to trade in Montenegro under a brand, register a Montenegrin company with that brand as its name, or file a trademark there, the search is your obligation, not the office's. Montenegro's intellectual property office does not refuse a new mark because an earlier one exists. It checks the application's form and the "absolute" grounds only; conflicts with earlier marks stop a registration only if the earlier owner files an opposition within 90 days of publication, and that deadline cannot be extended. A company that launches without searching can face a court order backed by a penalty of €2,000 to €10,000, and a misdemeanour fine of up to €20,000.
Sources, checked 17 September 2026: Zakon o žigu (Law on Trademarks, "Sl. list CG" 72/10, 44/12, 18/14, 40/16, 2/17, 3/23, 84/24), in the consolidated text published by the Ministry of Economic Development on 8 November 2024. The 84/2024 amendment changed only the inspection wording; the articles on examination, opposition and renewal are unchanged from 3/2023. We found no later amending act on the Ministry's trademark legislation page on the check date. Other sources: the Ministry's trademark eRegister (registri-is.gov.me), queried directly on 17 September 2026; the Crnogorski glasnik intelektualne svojine (the office's official gazette) no. 57/2026; and WIPO Lex treaty data for Montenegro. This is general information, not advice.
Who keeps the register, and what the law says it must show
Trademarks are handled by the Directorate for Intellectual Property (Direkcija za intelektualnu svojinu) of the Ministry of Economic Development in Podgorica. The older name "Intellectual Property Office of Montenegro" still appears in international databases. It refers to the same function.
Article 5 of the Law on Trademarks sets the rules for the register:
- The register records applications as well as registrations: applicant, the sign, the list of goods and services, filing date, publication date, opponents, registration number, renewals and expiry.
- It is kept electronically and is available to the public (Article 5(3)).
- Register data is published in the office's official gazette (Article 5(5)–(6)). The three 2026 issues so far, nos. 55, 56 and 57, appeared on 20 January, 21 April and 20 July 2026. Issue 57 carries a section headed "Publication of trademark applications" and a separate section for registered marks.
Montenegro has been party to the Paris Convention, the Nice Agreement and the Madrid Protocol since 3 June 2006 (WIPO Lex). Those three treaties decide what "earlier mark" means in practice.
Why the search is your company's job
The Law on Trademarks splits the grounds for refusing a mark into two groups and assigns them to different people.
- Absolute grounds (Article 6) include a sign with no distinctive character, a purely descriptive sign, a misleading sign or national symbols. The office examines these itself (Articles 26 and 28).
- Relative grounds (Articles 7 and 8) are conflicts with other people's rights: an identical or confusingly similar earlier mark, a mark with a reputation, a sign used earlier in good faith, a mark filed in bad faith by someone who knew of a foreign mark. Article 7(1) and Article 8(1) both begin "na osnovu prigovora", meaning "on the basis of an opposition". The office does not raise them on its own.
The result is that a Montenegrin registration certificate does not prove the brand is free. It proves that nobody opposed the application in time. If the earlier owner objects after the deadline, the route is an application to invalidate the registration (Article 51a). Until the later mark is invalidated, the earlier owner cannot use infringement proceedings to stop its use (Article 16).
| Stage | Who acts | Time limit | Article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formal check and filing date | Office | Applicant gets 30 days to cure defects | 26a, 27 |
| Absolute grounds | Office | Applicant has 60 days to answer (+30 on request) | 28 |
| Publication of the application | Office, in the gazette | — | 29 |
| Third-party observations on absolute grounds | Anyone; not a party to the case | 90 days from publication | 30 |
| Opposition on earlier rights | Owner of the earlier mark or right | 90 days from publication; cannot be extended | 31(1), 31(6) |
| Answer to the opposition | Applicant | 60 days; if there is no answer, refusal within the scope of the opposition | 32(3), 33a(4) |
| Registration fee and first 10-year fee | Applicant | 60 days, otherwise treated as withdrawn | 35(1)–(2) |
Two details matter for planning. First, the procedure for continuing after a missed deadline is expressly unavailable for a missed opposition deadline (Article 34(4)). Second, Article 10(4) lets the eventual owner claim damages for acts done after the application was published but before registration. A company that starts using a sign someone else has already filed can therefore owe damages for the period before the registration was granted.
Four places an earlier right can sit
A Montenegrin clearance search that only covers the national register is incomplete, because the law recognises earlier rights that the register will not show.
| Earlier right | Where to look | Why it counts in Montenegro |
|---|---|---|
| National application or registration | The Ministry's trademark eRegister | Article 7(2)(1) and 7(3): registered marks and pending applications, if they are later registered |
| International registration designating Montenegro | WIPO Madrid Monitor or Global Brand Database | Article 3(1)(1) gives Madrid registrations effect; Article 7(2)(2) counts them as earlier marks |
| Well-known mark, registered or not | Not in any register; evidence of market recognition | Articles 3(1)(2) and 7(2)(3), by reference to Paris Convention Article 6bis |
| Sign used earlier in good faith, or a personal name, copyright or other industrial property right | Market and web checks, company records | Article 8(1)(2)–(3) |
Also consider Paris priority. An applicant who filed first in another Paris Union or WTO state can claim that earlier date if it files in Montenegro within six months (Article 23). A Montenegrin filing that looks later than yours can therefore rank ahead of it.
An EU trademark does not cover Montenegro today. Article 3(3) says an EU trademark will have effect only after Montenegro joins the EU. Article 65b sets out the whole regime (EU marks as earlier marks, seniority, conversion) "from the day of accession". Until then, clearing a brand on the EUIPO register does not clear it for Montenegro, and an EU registration will not stop a Montenegrin filing. This is a common case of a law already published but not yet applicable (why in force and in application differ).
What the official eRegister lets you search
The Ministry's eRegister has a trademark search page. On 17 September 2026 the form offered these fields:
- year of application;
- registration number and application number;
- registration date range and application date range;
- rights holder;
- sign (the word element);
- representative.
Results show the application number, the sign, the filing date, the Nice classes, the rights holder, the registration number and a status. There is no search by class and no image search, so a figurative mark with no word element cannot be found by typing a word.
We queried the database directly on the check date:
- 19,733 records in total.
- Pending applications are included. Of the 378 records for 2026 applications, 105 were "filed", 109 were "in formal examination", 129 were "application published" and 30 were "for registration". The eRegister is therefore the earliest public trace of a new filing, before the gazette.
- The eRegister appears to cover national files only. Every record in the 2,066 we pulled (application years 2012, 2015, 2024 and 2026) carries a Montenegrin ("ME") file number, and none carries an international registration number. Madrid marks have effect under Article 3(1)(1), so a search that stops at the eRegister is incomplete: check them in WIPO's tools, which the Directorate itself links to alongside TMview.
- TMview has carried Montenegro's trademark data since 12 March 2018, according to the announcement of the EU trade mark network (TMDN) republished by its partner offices.
How to read a status, and where the label misleads
| Status in the eRegister | Meaning | What it means for your search |
|---|---|---|
| Prijava podnesena | Application filed | Earlier right if it is later registered (Article 7(3)) |
| Formalno ispitivanje | Formal examination | As above |
| Prijava objavljena | Application published | The 90-day opposition window is running or has run (Article 31) |
| Uplata takse na čekanju | Fee payment pending | Deemed withdrawn if the fee is not paid in 60 days (Article 35(2)) |
| Za registraciju | For registration | Close to registration |
| Registrovan | Registered | Earlier mark; check the expiry date |
| Za obnovu | For renewal | Read the expiry date, not the label |
| Istekao | Expired | Not an earlier mark on the register's own data; confirm the date |
| Obustavljen | Proceedings discontinued | Application no longer pending |
| Odbijen / Odbačen | Refused / dismissed | Not an earlier mark |
The trap is "Za obnovu". A mark lasts ten years from the filing date. Renewal can be requested up to six months after expiry, and if it is not renewed, the mark ends on the expiry date (Article 42(1), (3), (8)). In our sample, 223 of the 532 records for 2012 applications and 255 of the 541 for 2015 applications show "Za obnovu" even though the listed expiry date plus six months had already passed. None of the "Registrovan" records in the same years was in that position. The record does not show whether a renewal request is still being processed. Treat such a mark as unresolved and ask the office for a register extract (Article 5(4)).
A company name search is not a trademark search
Founders often check the business register, find the name free and assume the brand is clear. They are two different registers, protecting two different rights. Under Article 11(1)(5), the owner of a trademark can forbid others to use the protected sign as a trade name or company name, or as part of one. The business register search (how it works) tells you whether a name is taken as a company name. It does not tell you whether that name infringes a registered mark.
The same logic applies to classes. Article 20 states that goods and services are not similar just because they sit in the same Nice class, and not dissimilar just because they sit in different classes. The test is likelihood of confusion, including likelihood of association (Article 7(1)(2)). A mark with a reputation in Montenegro can block a later sign even for unrelated goods (Article 7(6)). An exact-match search in your own class is where a search starts, not where it ends.
After you file, or if you already own a mark
- Watch the gazette. For a national application, the 90 days run from publication (Article 31(1)). For an international registration, publication in WIPO's Gazette counts as publication in Montenegro, and the period starts on the first day of the month after the month shown on that Gazette issue (Article 50a(1)–(2)).
- Negotiate without losing the opposition. Both sides can jointly ask for a suspension to negotiate. The office then suspends for a period of no less than 24 months (Article 33b).
- Use it or risk losing it. An opponent whose mark has been registered for at least five years must, if the applicant asks, prove genuine use in Montenegro in the preceding five years (Article 33(2)). Five years of non-use without proper reasons also exposes a mark to revocation (Articles 17 and 53).
- Do not tolerate a later mark for five years. An owner who knowingly tolerates use of a later registered mark for five continuous years loses the right to seek its invalidation, unless the later filing was in bad faith (Article 52a).
Filing for a foreign company
A foreign legal or natural person must be represented before the office by a representative entered in the office's Register of Representatives, or by an advokat entered in the directory of the Bar Association of Montenegro (Article 4(3); qualifications in Article 60). Fees are administrative fees under the law on administrative fees (Articles 18(2) and 35(1)). We do not quote amounts here; check the current tariff before budgeting.
What using someone else's mark costs a company
These figures are statutory amounts from the consolidated text checked on 17 September 2026:
| Consequence | Amount or measure | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Penalty to enforce a court order to stop infringing | Legal person €2,000–10,000; entrepreneur €500–3,000; natural or responsible person €250–1,500 | 55(4) |
| Misdemeanour fine for unauthorised use (labels, sale, import or export, advertising, company name) | Legal person €1,500–20,000; responsible person €500–2,000; entrepreneur €1,300–6,000 | 62d |
| Market inspection on the owner's request | Temporary ban on production or activity; temporary seizure of goods | 62b, 62c |
| Damages, withdrawal and destruction of goods, publication of the judgment | As the court orders | 55a–55c |
| Time limit for an infringement action | Five years from the infringement; for intentional infringement, for as long as the mark is protected | 55(7)–(8) |
When the company or its shares change hands
Under Article 40(2), a trademark passes with a transfer of shares or a merger unless the companies agree otherwise. In a share deal the brand follows the company, so the register should show the target, not a founder, as the holder. In an asset deal, the mark has to be assigned and the assignment registered. Licences, pledges and enforcement against a mark are recorded in the register and take effect against third parties once recorded (Articles 39, 41 and 41b). How the two deal structures differ.
What this page does not settle
- Examination times. The law sets no deadline for the office's decision. One application published in gazette 57/2026 had been filed in July 2024; we have not measured an average.
- Whether a "Za obnovu" record has a renewal pending. The public data does not show this.
- Any specific brand's Madrid coverage. Check it in WIPO's tools for the sign you care about.
- How the office and courts assess similarity in practice. This page states the statutory test, not decided cases.
- Fee amounts. See above.
For the registration route itself, national filing versus Madrid, see our trademark and IP overview for Montenegrin companies.
Whose side we are on, and how we are paid
We advise the company that wants to use the brand. We take no commission from representatives, designers or brokers. The databases named on this page are public, and we do not resell them. What we provide is the reading: which records are live, which are earlier rights, and what to do about each. Our fee does not change with whether you file.
Before your company files or launches
If your company is about to trade in Montenegro under a brand, name a Montenegrin company after it or buy a company that owns one, send us the sign, the goods and services and your intended classes before you print, file or sign. We will run the national eRegister, the Madrid and TMview sources and a market check. We will then tell you in writing which records are real obstacles, which labels need confirming with the office, and whether an opposition window is open. For the wider company set-up, see our corporate law service.
