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OrdinanceCivil Law

Trade Marks Ordinance [New Version], 5732-1972

פקודת סימני מסחר [נוסח חדש], תשל"ב-1972

Published: 1972-06-01Last amended 2025-02-11✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-28
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More

This English text was translated from the official Hebrew using a range of translation tools, and it undergoes ongoing checks and updates. It is not a certified translation.

Despite these checks, it may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise renderings of legal terminology and cross-references, and it may not yet reflect the latest amendments. It cannot be relied upon as a legal text.

The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.

This translation is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For use in legal proceedings, request a certified Expert Legal Opinion.

Chapter VII: Rights of the Owner of a Trade Mark

Right to Exclusive Use§

46.
(a)The valid registration of a person as the owner of a trade mark shall entitle him to the exclusive use of the trade mark in relation to the goods for which the mark is registered and in all matters connected therewith, subject to any conditions and limitations entered in the Register.
(b)Where several persons are registered as owners of identical, or nearly identical, trade marks in respect of identical goods, the rights of each of them shall be as if he were the sole registered owner of the mark, but the registration shall not entitle any one of them as against the other to the exclusive use of the trade mark except to the extent that the Registrar or a District Court has determined the rights of each.

Exclusive Use of Well-Known Trade Mark§

46a.
(a)A well-known trade mark, even if it is not a registered trade mark, shall entitle its owner to exclusive use of the mark in respect of goods for which it is well known in Israel or in respect of goods of the same description.
(b)A well-known trade mark that is a registered trade mark shall entitle its owner to exclusive use of the mark also in respect of goods that are not of the same description, if use of the mark by a person who is not its owner is likely to indicate a connection between those goods and the owner of the registered mark, and the owner of the registered mark is likely to be harmed as a result of such use.

Protection of Trade Marks at Exhibitions§

46b.

A mark that is not a registered trade mark shall be treated, in relation to goods exhibited at an official or officially recognised international exhibition held in Israel, as a registered mark for the duration of the period during which the exhibition is held.

Preservation of bona fide use§

47.

Nothing in any registration under this Ordinance shall entitle the registered owner to interfere with or restrain any person from making bona fide use of his own name or the name of his business, or of the geographical name of his place of business or that of his predecessors in business, or from using a bona fide description of the character or quality of his goods.

Assignment of Trade Mark§

48.
(a)A registered trade mark is assignable by the owner of the mark and may pass by operation of law, in respect of all or some of the goods or classes of goods for which it is registered, either in connection with or separately from the goodwill of the business in the goods for which the mark is registered; however, the Registrar may refuse to register an assignment if, in his opinion, use of the mark by the assignee would be likely to deceive the public or if the assignment is, in his opinion, contrary to public policy.
(a1)Where ownership has been assigned as referred to in subsection (a) in respect of some of the goods or classes of goods for which that trade mark is registered, the Registrar shall divide the registration of the trade mark into separate registrations, in the prescribed manner.
(b)For the purposes of subsections (a) and (a1), a trade mark in respect of which an application for registration is pending shall be treated in the same manner as a registered trade mark.

Registration of Assignment§

49.
(a)A person who acquires a registered trade mark by assignment or by operation of law shall apply to the Registrar to register his right, and after his right has been proved to the satisfaction of the Registrar, the Registrar shall register him as the owner of the mark and shall enter in the Register, in the prescribed manner, the fact of the assignment or any document relating to that right.
(b)Any decision of the Registrar under this section is subject to appeal before a District Court, with the Registrar being the respondent in the appeal.
(c)A certificate or document that has not been registered in the Register under this section shall not be admissible in any court, except in an appeal under this section, as evidence of the right to a trade mark, unless the court otherwise directs.

Licence to Use Mark§

50.
(a)The owner of a registered trade mark may authorise another person (in this Ordinance — a licensee) to use his mark in relation to all or some of the goods for which the mark is registered.
(b)A licence shall have no effect unless it is registered in accordance with the provisions of this section, and the Registrar may register it subject to such conditions and limitations as he sees fit.
(c)So long as a licensee uses the mark in relation to the goods in the course of his business in accordance with the licence and subject to the conditions or limitations thereof, the right to use the mark by the licensee shall be treated as exclusive use by the owner of the mark.
(d)The Registrar may register a licence if he is satisfied that the use of the trade mark in relation to the goods for which registration is sought is not contrary to public policy and is not likely to deceive.

Application for Registration of Licence§

51.
(a)An application for registration of a licence, in the prescribed form, shall be filed by the owner of the mark and by the person to be registered as licensee, and shall specify, inter alia —
(1)the relationship between the owner of the mark and the person to be registered as licensee, including the degree of control exercised by the owner of the mark over its use by the licensee;
(2)the goods in respect of which the licence is sought;
(3)the conditions or limitations that will apply to the use of the mark under the licence, if registered;
(4)the duration of the licence, if its registration is sought for a fixed period.
(b)The Registrar may require any document, evidence or particulars that he considers useful for the purpose of examining the application.
(c)Particulars as referred to in subsections (a) and (b), other than particulars that are to be registered, shall not be open to public inspection.

Variation and Cancellation of Registered Licence§

52.
(a)The Registrar may vary a registered licence, in relation to the goods to which the licence applies and the conditions or limitations to which it is subject, if the owner of the mark so requests on the prescribed form.
(b)The Registrar may cancel a registered licence if the licensee so requests on the prescribed form.
(c)The Registrar may cancel a registered licence if so requested and if it is proved to his satisfaction that the continuation of the licence, or the use of the trade mark by the licensee, is likely to harm public policy or to deceive.
(d)Before the Registrar cancels a registered licence or varies its conditions under this section, he shall give every party concerned an opportunity to be heard.
(e)Where the registration of a mark is cancelled or removed, any licence granted in respect thereof shall also be cancelled.
(f)The provisions of this section shall not derogate from the provisions of sections 38 to 40.

Continued Use of Trade Mark§

52a.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this Ordinance, where an application for registration of a trade mark has been filed or a trade mark has been registered in good faith, or rights in a trade mark have been acquired by use thereof in good faith, the eligibility for registration, the validity of the registration, or the right to use the trade mark shall not be affected solely by reason of the trade mark being identical or similar to a geographical indication or to a well-known trade mark, provided that the filing of the application for registration of the trade mark, the registration, or the acquisition of rights as aforesaid, was effected before —

(1)in the case of a well-known trade mark — the day on which the trade mark became a well-known trade mark;
(2)in the case of a geographical indication — the 23rd of Tevet 5760 (1 January 2000) or the day on which protection was granted to the geographical indication in a member State in which the geographical area denoted by the geographical indication is situated.

Right of Appeal§

53.
(a)Decisions of the Registrar made pursuant to sections 50 to 52 are subject to appeal before a District Court.
(b)In an appeal against a decision of the Registrar under section 50 or 51, the Registrar shall be the respondent in the appeal.
(c)An appellant against a decision of the Registrar under section 52 shall give notice to the Registrar of the filing of the appeal within thirty days of the date of its filing.
(d)In an appeal under subsection (b) the court shall, if so required, hear the Registrar.

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Chapter VIII: Registration of Foreign Marks

Protection by Virtue of Reciprocal Agreement§

54.
(a)Where the Government has concluded an agreement with the government of a foreign State for the mutual protection of trade marks, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs has given notice thereof, then for so long as the agreement is in force, any person who has applied for protection of a trade mark in that State, or his legal representative or the person to whom the mark has been assigned, shall have priority for the registration of his trade mark under this Ordinance over other applicants, provided that he has filed his application within six months from the date on which he applied for protection in the foreign State.
(b)The provisions of subsection (a) shall not entitle the owner of the trade mark to claim damages in respect of infringements that occurred before the date on which his trade mark was actually registered in Israel.
(c)The registration of a trade mark shall not be invalidated solely by reason of the trade mark having been used in Israel during the period of six months referred to in subsection (a).

Priority§

55.
(a)A person, or a predecessor in title, who has filed in a member State an application for registration of a trade mark (in this section — prior application) may apply for registration of the mark in Israel in accordance with the provisions of this section, and demand that his application shall have priority over any application for registration filed after the date of filing of the prior application, provided that both of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1)the demand for priority was filed together with the application for registration of the trade mark in Israel;
(2)the application for registration of the trade mark in Israel was filed within six months of the date of filing of the first prior application.
(b)Priority may be demanded in respect of part of the goods or categories of goods included in the application for registration of a trade mark in Israel, and where this has been done, the provisions of subsection (a) shall apply in respect of that part.
(b1)Where the demand for priority under the provisions of subsection (a) is based on more than one prior application, and priority is demanded on the basis of each of those applications, the provisions of subsection (a) shall apply in respect of the goods or categories of goods for which registration of the trade mark was applied for, according to the date of the earliest prior application relating to those goods or that category, as the case may be.
(b2)Where the demand for priority is based on part of one prior application, the provisions of subsection (a) shall apply as if that part had been filed for registration abroad in a separate prior application.
(c)Nothing in the provisions of this section shall confer a right to damages for infringement committed before the date of filing of the application for registration of the mark in Israel.

Filing of application§

56.

An application for registration of a trade mark under sections 54 or 55 shall be filed in the manner in which an ordinary application is filed under this Ordinance.

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Chapter VIII-A: International Applications

Section A: Definitions

Definitions§
56a.

In this Chapter —

"registered owner of an international trade mark" — a person in whose name an international trade mark is registered;

"international application" — an application for registration of a trade mark as an international trade mark filed with the International Bureau under sections 2(2) and 3 of the Protocol;

"international application designating Israel" — an international application in which the applicant designates Israel as a destination for registration of the trade mark;

"application for extension" — an application for the extension of the registration of a trade mark as an international trade mark filed with the International Bureau under section 3ter(2) of the Protocol, in which the applicant has designated an additional party to the Protocol, not designated in the international application, as a destination for registration of the trade mark;

"application for extension designating Israel" — an application for extension in which the applicant designates Israel as a destination for registration of the trade mark;

"application designating Israel" — an international application designating Israel or an application for extension designating Israel;

"the Madrid Agreement" — the Madrid Agreement (Stockholm), as defined in section 1 of the Protocol;

"the International Bureau" — as defined in sections 2 and 11 of the Protocol;

"the International Register of Marks" — as defined in section 2(1) of the Protocol;

"the Protocol" — the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks as signed at Madrid on 27 June 1989; for this purpose, "marks" — trade marks;

"party to the Protocol" — a State or intergovernmental organisation that is a party to the Protocol under section 1 thereof;

"Office of origin" — the office of a party to the Protocol, as defined in section 2(2) of the Protocol, to which an international application or an application for extension has been filed;

"the Madrid Regulations" — the Common Regulations under the Madrid Agreement and the Protocol as in force on 1 April 2002 as amended by the amendments to those Regulations referred to in the Schedule.

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Section B: International Applications Originating in Israel

Registrar as Office of origin§
56b.
(a)The Registrar shall serve as the Office of origin for international applications and applications for extension that do not designate Israel, filed in accordance with the provisions of section 56c.
(b)The Registrar is responsible for handling the applications referred to in subsection (a) and for transmitting them to the International Bureau, and for that purpose the provisions under this Section shall apply, and in any matter not regulated under this Section the provisions of the Protocol and the Madrid Regulations shall apply.
Filing of international application or application for extension§
56c.

An Israeli citizen, a resident of Israel, or a person who has an active industrial or commercial establishment in Israel, who has filed an application for registration of a trade mark in Israel as a national trade mark or who is the registered owner of a national trade mark, may file with the Registrar, in his capacity as the Office of origin, on the basis of such application or registration, and in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter —

(1)an international application that does not designate Israel;
(2)an application for extension that does not designate Israel, provided that the applicant is the registered owner of an international trade mark.
Notification by Registrar to International Bureau§
56d.

Where the Registrar has transmitted an international application to the International Bureau, he shall notify the International Bureau of each of the following, in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter:

(1)a final decision given under sections 18 or 22 concerning the refusal, cancellation, or acceptance subject to conditions, amendments, modifications or limitations, of the basic application, provided that the proceeding at the conclusion of which that decision was given commenced before the relevant date;
(2)a final judgment given on appeal under section 19, provided that the proceeding in which the decision that is the subject of the appeal was given commenced before the relevant date;
(3)a final decision or final judgment that registration of the trade mark shall not be permitted in respect of all or part of the goods or categories of goods for which registration was applied for, provided that the decision or judgment was given following a notice of objection filed under the provisions of section 24 before the relevant date, to the registration of the trade mark as a national trade mark in accordance with the basic application;
(4)the basic registration lapsed before the relevant date and was not renewed under the provisions of sections 32 and 33;
(5)a decision concerning the cancellation or revocation of the basic registration or of goods or categories of goods from that registration, in accordance with an application by the registered owner of the trade mark filed under the provisions of section 36 before the relevant date;
(6)a final decision or final judgment concerning the cancellation or revocation of the basic registration or of goods or categories of goods from that registration, in accordance with an application filed under the provisions of sections 39 or 41 before the relevant date;
(7)additional matters prescribed by the Minister in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol and the Madrid Regulations.

In this section —

"the basic application" — the application for registration of the trade mark in Israel as a national trade mark on which the international application is based;

"the relevant date" — a date after the expiry of five years from the date of the international registration of the trade mark;

"the basic registration" — the national trade mark on which the international application is based.

Correction of error in international application or application for extension§
56d1.

Correction of an error in an international application that does not designate Israel or in an application for extension that does not designate Israel shall be made in accordance with the Madrid Regulations, and the provisions of section 20 shall not apply in that regard.

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