I. General Overview
Area: 236,800 square kilometers.
Population: 7.58 million (as of January 2023). Laos is divided into 50 ethnic groups, belonging to the Lao-Thai, Mon-Khmer, Hmong-Yao, and Sino-Tibetan language families, collectively known as the Lao people. Lao is the common language. Most residents are Buddhists. There are approximately 70,000 overseas Chinese. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Laos' GDP growth rate declined in 2020, reaching approximately US$19.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.28%, or US$2,642 per capita. In 2021, Laos' GDP grew by 3.5%, and its total foreign trade volume reached US$11.244 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19.8%. In 2022, Laos' GDP growth rate reached 4.4%. The Laotian currency is the kip (KIP), with an exchange rate of approximately 20,632 to the US dollar in January 2024.

II. Treaty Membership
1. Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Paris Convention)
Accession: 1998

2. Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
Accession: 2006

3. Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol)
Accession: 2016

III. Trademark Application Procedure and Required Documents
1. Trademark Registrable Elements and Types
Elements that can be registered as trademarks in Laos include: text, graphics, letters, numbers, color combinations, etc.
The types of trademarks that can be registered in Laos include: trademarks, service marks, collective trademarks, and certification trademarks.

2. Filing Routes
1) National filing (direct filing)
2) Madrid International Registration

3. Required Documents
⦁ Name and address of the applicant;
⦁ List of goods and/or services;
⦁ Clear representation of the mark;
⦁ Power of attorney, which must be notarized;
⦁ If a priority is claimed, you must provide priority certification documents.

4. Application Process
Filing: the 11th edition of Nice Classification is adopted; multiple-class applications are possible; the first-to-file principle is followed
Formal examination: 1 month
Publication/Opposition: the opposition period is 60 days
Substantive examination: 6-7 months
Registration: It takes about 10-12 months from filing to registration (if smooth).

5. Protection Period and Renewal
The validity period is 10 years from the date of application and can be renewed for 10 years each time before expiration

6. Assignment
Trademark assignment requires a power of attorney, an assignment agreement, and a trademark certificate, and the process takes approximately 12-15 months.

7. Chang of Name/Address
Trademark changes require a power of attorney, a proof of change, and a trademark certificate, and the processing period is approximately one year.

8. Cancellation
Non-use Cancellation: If a trademark has not been used for 5 consecutive years, any interested party may file a cancellation request for the non-used trademark.

IV. Trademark application statistics *:
A: Statistics on total trademark applications:
2020: 2,052
2021: -
2022: -
B: Statistics of trademark applications from China:
2020:657
2021:591
2022:559