Jordan is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property since July 17, 1972. The Ninth Edition of International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks under the Nice Agreement (Nice Classification) has been officially adopted in Jordan with effect from November 14, 2008, according to the Trademark Office at the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The said new adoption of the Ninth Edition of the International Classification of Goods and Services allows for the protection of service marks in international classes 35 up to 45. A separate application should be filed with respect to each class of goods.

Once a trademark application is filed, it is examined as to its registrability and existence of prior rights. Trademark applications accepted by the Registrar are published in the Official Gazette. There is a 3-month period open for filing opposition by any party. An opposition to the registration of a trademark should be prosecuted before the Registrar by a lawyer within 3 months as of the date of publication. The opposition case is referred to the High Court of Justice, if not settled before the Registrar, or if either party appeals the Registrar's decision. In the absence of an opposition, the relevant certificate of registration is issued.

A trademark registration according to the new law is valid for 10 years from the date of filing the application or from the priority date renewable for periods of 10 years each. Trademarks that have already been filed or registered before December 1, 1999, will remain valid according to the old law (7 or 14 years); they shall be renewed every 10 years. The new trademark law provides for a one-year period for the late renewal of a trademark. If a trademark registration is not renewed within the grace period as of the date of expiration, it will be canceled automatically.

The owner of a lapsed mark due to non-renewal has the exclusive right to re-file the same trademark within one year from the expiry date. Any other interested party may file the same trademark after the expiry of another year.

The assignment of a trademark can be recorded, once it is registered. In fact, unless an assignment has been entered against the trademark in the register and published in the Official Gazette, it shall not be effective vis-à-vis third parties. Changes in the name or address of a registrant, amendment of a trademark and limitation of goods covered by a registration should be recorded as well.

Use of marks in Jordan is not compulsory for filing applications or necessary for maintaining mark registrations in force. However, a mark registration is vulnerable to cancellation and can be canceled by any interested party, who can establish that the trademark was not actually used during the 3 years immediately preceding the application for cancellation, or that there was no bona fide of using the mark on the goods or services in respect of which the mark was registered.

Unauthorized use of a trademark registered under the law or an imitation of such trademark applied on goods and services of the same class, or sale, storing for the purpose of sale, or exhibiting for sale of goods and services bearing a counterfeited mark, or using a mark duly registered under the law by another person to serve the purpose of unauthorized promotion of goods and services of the same class are offenses penalized under the Jordanian law.