Renewal is the most settled part of the new Act, and the least urgent. The first registrations will issue from late 2026, so the first renewals fall due around late 2036.
That distance is not a reason to ignore it. The term’s starting point determines what a transition-period filing is actually worth, and the grace period is the kind of detail that gets forgotten precisely because it is a decade away.
Quick reference
| Term | Ten years |
| Renewal | Indefinitely, in ten-year terms |
| Grace period | Six months, on payment of additional fees |
| Recorded on | The Register of Trademarks at MIPO |
| First renewals due | From around late 2036 |
| Fees and forms | Awaiting regulations |
The term
Registrations run for ten years and are renewable indefinitely in ten-year terms.
Ten years puts the Maldives in line with Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and apart from Bangladesh, whose first term is seven, and Nepal, which runs seven-year cycles throughout. For a regional portfolio that is one less exception to track.
The starting point is reported as the filing date. That matters for a practical reason during the transition: in a brand-new office working through its first intake, with regulations still issuing, the gap between filing and registration could be long. A term running from filing means that gap comes out of your ten years rather than being added to them.
The grace period
A six-month grace period is available for late renewal on payment of additional fees.
Six months after expiry is a reasonable margin and matches Sri Lanka’s. It is more generous than Nepal’s arrangement, where the statutory renewal window itself is 35 days from expiry, and comparable to Bangladesh’s six months from expiry.
What happens after the grace period lapses — whether any restoration route exists, as Bangladesh and Pakistan both provide — is not something the Act’s reported framework settles. Treat the end of the grace period as final until the regulations say otherwise.
What is not yet settled
- Fees, for renewal and for late renewal.
- Forms and the filing mechanism.
- Whether reminders issue, and to what address. Several neighbouring offices are required to send a notice before expiry; whether MIPO will is unknown.
- Whether any restoration exists beyond the grace period.
- Whether the register can be narrowed on renewal, as some systems allow.
All of these come with the implementing regulations, due within six months of commencement.
Build the diary now, not in 2036
Two things make this worth setting up at filing rather than later.
Do not rely on a reminder. In several neighbouring systems the statutory renewal notice is the thing that saves a foreign owner who has forgotten — and it only works if the address on the register is current. Whether the Maldives has an equivalent is unknown. Assume it does not.
Record the filing date, not the certificate date. If the term runs from filing, a diary built from the certificate will be wrong by however long registration took — and in the opening years of a new office, that could be a long time.
Non-use is the live risk, not renewal
The deadline that will actually catch people in the Maldives is not the ten-year renewal. It is the five-year non-use period.
A registration becomes vulnerable to revocation after five continuous years without use, absent valid justification. For a brand that files defensively during the transition — registering marks across a wider range than it currently trades in, which is exactly what a first-to-file switch encourages — the five-year clock starts long before the renewal does.
See trademark cancellation and non-use.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a Maldives trademark registration last? Ten years, renewable indefinitely in ten-year terms.
Is there a grace period for late renewal? Yes, six months, on payment of additional fees.
When does the term start? It is reported to run from the filing date, which matters while the new office works through its first intake.
What does renewal cost? Not yet published. Fees come with the implementing regulations, due within six months of commencement.
Will MIPO remind me before expiry? Unknown. Several neighbouring offices must send a notice before expiry; whether the Maldives will is not settled. Diarise independently.
What happens if I miss the grace period? The Act’s reported framework does not provide a restoration route beyond it. Treat the end of the six months as final unless the regulations say otherwise.
Useful official resources
- Maldives Intellectual Property Office — the register, fees and forms as they issue
- Maldives Government Gazette — the Act as published
- Trademarks Act, Law No. 19/2025
See our related notes on trademark cancellation, filing a trademark and trademark protection in the Maldives.
Setting up a Maldivian portfolio and its diary from day one? Talk to us.