HAITI Law and Practice Contributed by: Vanessa Abdel-Razak, Ludsen Saint-Phar and Webster Registre, Cabinet Abdel-Razak & Associés
similar signs in connection with the same or related goods or services. These rights include, in particu - lar, the right to affix the mark to goods or packaging, to use it in advertising and commercial communica - tions, and to license or assign the mark to third par - ties. Trade mark owners are also entitled to enforce their rights through civil actions, including claims for infringement, injunctions, damages and the seizure of infringing goods. These rights are established by statute, principally under the Law of July 17, 1954 on Trade Marks, which sets out the scope of protection, enforcement mecha - nisms, and rules governing ownership, transfer and licensing of trade mark rights in Haiti. The rights granted to trade mark owners generally persist for the duration of the registration term, pro - vided that the mark is renewed and not subject to cancellation. However, certain rights may be limited or lost during the term of a mark in cases of non-use, genericide or invalidity. As a result, while statutory rights exist throughout the life of a registered mark, their continued enforceability depends on compliance with use and maintenance requirements under Haitian law. 2.4 Use in Commerce In Haiti, establishing use of a trade mark requires showing that the sign has been used publicly and commercially as an indicator of origin, and not merely that it appears in commerce. It is therefore necessary to demonstrate that the defendant used the sign as a trade mark, meaning in a manner that allows the rel - evant public to identify the commercial source of the goods or services (for example, on products, pack - aging, advertising or commercial documents). Purely descriptive, informational or generic use – such as use intended only to describe the nature, quality or characteristics of the goods or services – does not constitute trade mark use under Haitian trade mark law and does not, by itself, give rise to infringement or opposition. 2.5 Notices and Symbols In Haiti, there is no legally recognised or required sym - bol for indicating that a trade mark is registered or that trade mark rights are claimed. Haitian trade mark
law does not provide for, regulate or require the use of symbols such as ® or superscript TM, and trade mark rights are not dependent on the use of any notice or marking. Consequently, there are no legal require - ments to be met in order to use such symbols, and no legal consequences arise from failing to provide notice of trade mark ownership. While trade mark owners may choose to use symbols as a matter of commercial practice or international consistency, such use has no legal effect under Haitian law and does not affect the validity, scope or enforceability of trade mark rights in Haiti. 2.6 Related Rights A trade mark – particularly a logo or figurative mark – may also benefit from protection under copyright law or related rights, provided it meets the originality threshold as an artistic work; in practice, this results in parallel and cumulative protection, with trade mark law protecting the sign as an indicator of commercial ori - gin and copyright protecting the creative expression. Where a trade mark consists of a surname, Haitian law does not recognise a direct interaction between trade mark rights and moral rights in the copyright sense, as moral rights attach to authors of protected works rather than to names as such; however, surnames may raise issues of personality rights or unfair competi - tion if used in bad faith. Haitian trade mark law does not limit the scope of trade mark protection based on the existence of copyright or related rights, nor does copyright law restrict the ability to register or enforce a trade mark; each regime operates independently, sub - ject to its own conditions, and conflicts are resolved on a case-by-case basis through general principles such as good faith and prior rights. 3. Copyright Ownership, Protection and Rights 3.1 Types of Copyrightable Works Copyright protection is governed by the Decree of 12 October 2005 on Copyright and Related Rights, which sets out statutory categories of protected works. Eli - gible works include, in particular, literary works (such as books, articles, lectures and speeches), musical works (with or without words), dramatic and choreo - graphic works, audiovisual works, works of drawing,
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