Can Religious Trademarks Be Protected In Angola?

• Published date: 19 October 2022
• Subject Matter: Intellectual Property, Trademark
• Law Firm: Inventa
• Author: Ms Vera Albino and António Sequeira

Although the religious texts do not refer to Intellectual Property (IP), religions are connected to IP.

In a more evident way, religions' influence on IP ranges from discussing and approving IP laws to registering and using trademarks. In a less obvious way, we observed a displacement of religion in trademarks, through consumerism. Like religions, well-known brands, such as Coca-Cola and McDonald's, became ideological structures that shape our ways of being and doing, filling the void left by the withdrawal of the main religions of a partially desacralized world.

This article will focus on the more evident influences of religions on IP, particularly on trademarks, in Angola. The imprint of religions in the IP legislation of secular countries such as Angola is not evident (I). However, it is a question that arises when considering the increase in the number of applications for religious trademarks in the country (II), a question that is, in some measure, addressed by the Angolan Patent and Trademark Office (III).

I. The influence of religions on the legislation applicable in Angola

As Article 6ter of the Paris Convention, applicable in Angola, which provides absolute grounds against trademark registration but makes no specific reference to the religious signs, the Angolan IP law (Law No. 3/92 of February 28, 1992, on Industrial Property), prohibits, in its Article 35', c, the registration, without due authorization, of trademarks that contain 'symbols such as insignia, flags, arms or official signs adopted by the State, commissariats, international organizations or any other public entities', without explicitly mentioning the religious signs.

Angola is a secular state (Article 10', 1', of the Constitution), ruled by governments inspired by Marxism and Communism since 1975, which can partially explain the omission of the law and the small interest IP legislators have shown in the question. Indeed, in countries where religion occupies a more prominent place, the issue of religious signs is expressly addressed in the IP law like in the United Arab Emirates and in India.

Nevertheless, besides the political and social factors, the Angolan legislation's omission may seem logical if we consider the following viewpoints.

First, trademarks are quite connected to commerce, but religions could not always, in its essence, fit into the trade.

Second, the religious signs do not comply with the requirements of distinctiveness.

Third, the religious signs could not respect...