Sri Lankan renewal is simpler than most of the region, and the simplicity is the point: it is a payment, not a review. What catches people out is the date the clock runs from, and a renewal window that opens earlier than they expect.
Quick reference
| Term | Ten years from the date of registration |
| Date of registration | Deemed to be the date the application was received |
| Renewal | Consecutive ten-year periods |
| Renewal window | Within the twelve months preceding expiry |
| Grace period | Six months after expiry, on payment of a surcharge |
| Re-examination | None |
| Opposition on renewal | None |
| Evidence of use | Not required |
| If unpaid | The Director-General removes the mark from the register |
When the term actually starts
Section 118(1) says registration expires ten years after the date of registration. Section 118(2) then says a mark is registered with reference to the date of receipt of the application by the Director-General, and that date shall be deemed to be the date of registration.
So the ten years runs from filing, not from the certificate. Where a convention priority was claimed, the position is governed by the same framework — the application date is what the register records and what the term is measured from.
The practical consequence for a portfolio: a Sri Lankan registration granted three years after filing has only seven years left on the clock when the certificate arrives. A diary set from the certificate date will be years late.
It is also a reason to care about the filing-date rules. A formal defect rectified later moves the date of receipt to the date of rectification, and the fee arriving after the application moves it to the fee date. Both shift the renewal date as well as the priority position. See filing a trademark in Sri Lanka.
The window
Section 119(3): the renewal fee shall be paid within the twelve months preceding the date of expiration of the period of registration.
Twelve months is wider than the six-month window common in the region, which is useful — but it is a window, not an open door. A renewal fee tendered thirteen months early is early, and the Act provides a grace period after expiry rather than before the window opens.
The grace period
The proviso to section 119(3) allows six months’ grace for payment of the fee after the date of expiration, on payment of a surcharge.
If the fee is not paid within the period or that extended period, section 119(5) is mandatory: the Director-General shall remove the mark from the register.
There is no restoration mechanism for marks in the Sri Lankan trademark provisions of the kind Bangladesh and Pakistan have. Once the grace period passes and the mark is removed, the route back is a fresh application — with a new date, a fresh examination, and a fresh opposition window.
That makes the eighteen months from the opening of the renewal window to the end of grace the whole of your margin. It is generous, and it is also all there is.
What renewal is not
Section 119(2) is short and valuable: renewal of registration shall not be subject to any further examination of the mark by the Director-General, or to opposition by any person.
Three things follow.
A mark that would not be registrable today stays registered. A descriptive mark that got through, or one that has weakened, is not reassessed at renewal.
A competitor cannot use renewal as an opportunity. There is no renewal opposition.
There is no evidence-of-use requirement. Sri Lanka does not ask for proof of use to renew. Use matters, but it is tested where it belongs — in removal proceedings in Court, where five consecutive years of non-use immediately preceding the application is the ground, and where use of one item in a class saves the whole class. See nullity and removal.
Renewal is therefore a payment and a record. The vulnerability of a Sri Lankan registration sits elsewhere.
Recording and publication
The Director-General records renewals in the register and publishes them in the Gazette, specifying any removal from the lists of goods or services.
That last phrase is worth noting. A renewal can be taken for less than the full specification, and the published record shows what has been given up. Where part of a specification has become dead weight — goods the brand has exited, in a class where nothing else is used — narrowing on renewal is a deliberate option rather than an oversight.
Per class, per renewal
Sri Lanka registers one class per application, so a brand held in four classes carries four registrations and four renewals.
Where the four were filed on the same day they generally stay in step. Where one was added later, or one was delayed by an objection or an opposition and so has a different date of receipt, the dates diverge. Because the term runs from the application date rather than from registration, two classes filed months apart renew months apart, however close their certificates were.
A renewal diary built per registration number, not per brand, is the only version of this that works.
Keeping the address current
The register records the owner’s address and, for an owner resident abroad, the postal address for service in Sri Lanka. Those are where the office writes.
A change of name or address can be recorded on request, and it is the cheapest thing on this page. An address left stale on the register is the common reason a renewal is missed in a jurisdiction where the owner is not local. See changes to a trademark.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a Sri Lankan trademark registration last? Ten years, renewable for consecutive ten-year periods.
Does the ten years run from the certificate? No. The Act deems the date of registration to be the date the application was received, so the term runs from filing.
When can I pay the renewal fee? Within the twelve months preceding expiry. After expiry there is a six-month grace period on payment of a surcharge.
What happens if I miss the grace period? The Director-General removes the mark from the register. There is no restoration route in the Sri Lankan trademark provisions, so the mark would have to be filed again.
Do I have to show use of the mark to renew? No. Renewal is not subject to further examination or to opposition, and no evidence of use is required. Non-use is dealt with by removal proceedings in Court.
Can I renew for only part of my specification? Yes. Renewals are published specifying any removal from the lists of goods or services, so narrowing on renewal is possible.
Useful official resources
- National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka — renewal forms and fees
- Intellectual Property Act, No. 36 of 2003 — sections 118, 119, 136
- Intellectual Property Regulations No. 01 of 2006 — regulations 25, 26
See our related notes on trademark protection in Sri Lanka, nullity and removal and changes to a trademark.
Carrying Sri Lankan renewals on a diary built from certificate dates? Talk to us.