Registering a trademark in Israel: what to check first, the stages and the official fees

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What to check before filing an application to register a trademark

Before filing, check three things: that the name or logo distinguishes your products from other people’s products and does not merely describe them; that no identical or similar mark is already registered for the same products; and that the rights in the mark, and in the logo too, are yours. A mark is eligible for registration only if it has a “distinctive character” (section 8(a) of the Trade Marks Ordinance [New Version], 5732-1972).

You can check existing marks yourself in the trademarks database on the Registrar’s website, or ask the Registrar to carry out a search, for a fee of NIS 759 in 2026 (regulation 78 of the Trade Marks Regulations, 1940).

Checklist before registering a brand name

The list is a self-check tool. The decision whether to accept the application, with or without conditions, is the Registrar of Trade Marks’ (section 18).

What can be registered as a trademark: a name, a logo, a shape or a sound

A “mark” is letters, numerals, words, devices or other signs, or a combination of them, in two dimensions or in three (section 1). The same rules apply to a service mark, for example the name of an office or of an app (section 2).

• A name or word: you file the mark as it is. For words that are not in Hebrew, Arabic or English, the Registrar may require a translation and a transliteration into Latin letters (regulation 21).
• A logo: you can limit the mark to particular colors. A mark registered without a color limitation is deemed registered for all colors (section 9).
• A three-dimensional shape: attach a drawing or picture that shows the mark from all sides (regulation 15). On the appearance of a product or of packaging, see also trade dress.
• A sound: attach the musical notation and an audio file (regulation 15).

A company name is not a registered trademark. Registering a company or a business name is not registration in the Register of Trade Marks. The right to exclusive use comes from a valid registration in the Register (sections 4 and 46). On the other hand, another person’s registration of a mark does not prevent you from making bona fide use of your own name or your business’s name (section 47). On setting up the company itself: Setting up a company in Israel.

How to file: who files, on which system and for which classes

1. Who files: a person who claims to be the owner of a mark that they use or intend to use (section 17(a)). If the mark will be used by the company, check who should be the applicant: the company or the shareholder.
2. Where to file: a corporation, and a licensed professional filing in the course of their profession, file only on the Registrar’s online filing website. An individual may also file on paper (regulations 6(b), 6A, 6B). You can file yourself or through an authorized representative (regulation 10).
3. Classes of goods: in the application, you list the products and services and the class of each one according to the Fourth Schedule to the Regulations, which has 45 classes: 1–34 for goods, 35–45 for services (regulation 18). One application can include several classes (section 17(b)).
4. Priority: if you filed an application in a member state of the Paris Convention or of the World Trade Organization, you can claim priority. The claim is filed together with the Israeli application, within six months of the first application (sections 1 and 55).
5. Fee: NIS 1,904 for the first class and NIS 1,432 for each additional class in the same application, in 2026.

What happens in the examination, and how to respond to the Registrar

After filing, the Registrar carries out a search of registered marks and pending applications for the same goods, and examines whether the mark is eligible for registration. The examination is carried out in the order in which the applications were filed (regulation 22(a)–(b)). The regulations set your deadlines for responding; they do not set how long you will wait for the examination.

Four more rules worth knowing:

• Two years: an application that was not accepted within two years of the Registrar’s first notice is deemed abandoned, unless you asked for a hearing within that period (regulation 27A).
• Disclaimer: if the mark includes an element common in trade or an element that is not distinctive, the Registrar may require you to disclaim any exclusive right in that element (section 21).
• Extension and expedited examination: the Registrar may extend deadlines on request, for a fee of NIS 86 a month for each mark (regulation 82). If you have a reasonable ground for early examination, file a reasoned request for an immediate (“on the spot”) search and examination with an affidavit, for a fee of NIS 893 for each class (regulation 22(c)).
• Appeal: a decision to reject the application can be appealed to the District Court, and the Registrar is the respondent (section 19).

Publication and three months of opposition

An accepted application is published on the website of the Authority (the Israel Patent Office) (section 23; regulation 33). From the day of publication, any person may file an opposition within three months (section 24(a); regulation 35).

• Grounds for opposition: that there is a reason for which the Registrar has the power to refuse registration, or that the opponent claims the mark is theirs (section 24(a1)).
• The fee: NIS 959 for each class of goods in the application, in 2026.
• If someone opposed your application: you have two months from receiving the opposition to file a counterstatement (regulation 37). An applicant who did not respond is deemed to have abandoned their application (section 24(e)).
• Evidence: by affidavits, two months for each stage: the opponent, then the applicant, and then the opponent’s reply (regulations 38–40). An opponent who did not file evidence is deemed to have withdrawn the opposition, unless the Registrar ordered otherwise (regulation 39).
• Appeal: the Registrar’s decision in an opposition can be appealed to the District Court within 30 days (section 25(a)–(b)), in Jerusalem or in Tel Aviv, as the appellant chooses (section 63B).

You can oppose too. If a competitor applied to register a mark similar to yours, the three-month period starts on the day of publication, not on the day you found out. Two competing applications for identical or similar marks filed before the first was accepted are decided by agreement or by the Registrar’s decision (section 29).

Registration, the certificate and what registration gives you

If the opposition period has passed and no opposition was filed, or it was decided in your favor, the Registrar registers the mark and issues a certificate of registration (sections 26 and 28). The date of registration is the date the application was filed (section 27).

What registration gives you:

• Exclusive use of the mark for the goods for which it was registered (section 46(a)).
• A claim for infringement: use by another person of the registered mark or of a mark similar to it for the same goods or for goods of the same description, and also use of the mark to advertise such goods, is an “infringement” (section 1). The court does not hear an infringement claim for a mark that is not registered, except a well-known mark (section 57(a)).
• The remedies: an injunction and damages (section 59), and at the end of the proceeding the court may also order the destruction of the infringing goods (section 59A). The Ordinance has no compensation without proof of damage. Such compensation, up to NIS 100,000 for each tort, is set in the Commercial Torts Law, 5759-1999 for passing off, and passing off can be argued even without registration (sections 1 and 13).
• Customs: the owner of a registered mark may ask the Director of Customs to detain goods that the owner claims are infringing (section 69A).

Even before registration: a person who claims that a mark is registered when it is not commits an offense (section 63). So write the word “registered” next to the mark only after registration.

Renewal every ten years, and what happens if you forgot

The registration is valid for ten years from the day the application was filed, and each renewal extends it by another ten years from the day of expiry (sections 31–32).

Keep your address in the Register up to date: the Registrar’s notice is sent to the registered address (regulation 52(1)).

After registration: use, license and transfer

• Use the mark. Any interested person may apply to cancel a registration for goods for which there was no use in good faith in the three years before the application. Advertising alone does not count as use, except in special circumstances (section 41(c)(1)). The exception to cancellation: the non-use resulted from special circumstances in the trade (section 41(b)).
• A disputed registration. An application to remove a mark because it was not eligible for registration is filed within five years of the date of the certificate of registration. An application claiming that the registration was applied for not in good faith can be filed at any time (section 39).
• A license to another person. A permission to use the mark has no effect unless it was recorded in the Register (section 50(b)). On the license agreement itself: a technology license agreement.
• Sale or transfer. A registered mark can be transferred with the goodwill of the business or without it (section 48(a)). An application to record a transfer of ownership or a permission: NIS 372 for each mark in 2026.

The Registrar of Trade Marks’ table of fees for 2026

Source: the First Schedule to the Trade Marks Regulations, 1940, as published by the Registrar of Trade Marks in Reshumot (Kovetz HaTakanot 12148, 25 December 2025), in force from 1 January 2026. The amounts change on 1 January each year according to the consumer price index published in November (regulation 3A).

Registering a trademark outside Israel

Registration in Israel protects in Israel. Two routes have a basis in the Ordinance:

• Priority: an application in Israel within six months of an earlier application in a member state, with a claim to priority (section 55).
• An international application through the Registrar in Israel: an Israeli citizen, an Israeli resident, or a person who has an active industrial or commercial enterprise in Israel, who has filed an application in Israel or has a mark registered in Israel, may file an international application under the Madrid Protocol through the Registrar (sections 56B–56C).

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to register a trademark in Israel?

The filing fee in 2026 is NIS 1,904 for the first class of goods and NIS 1,432 for each additional class in the same application. Renewal after ten years: NIS 3,393 for the first class and NIS 2,864 for each additional class. The amounts are updated on 1 January according to the index.

How long does it take to register a trademark?

The Ordinance and the Regulations do not set an overall duration. They set your deadlines: three months to respond to the Registrar (regulations 24–25) and three months of opposition after publication, at the end of which the mark is registered, taking any opposition into account (section 24(a); regulation 48(a)). The date registered is the date the application was filed (section 27).

Can you register a trademark without a lawyer?

Yes. An individual may file by themselves, on paper or on the filing website. A corporation must file on the online filing website (regulations 6(a), 6(b) and 10).

I registered a company with the Registrar of Companies. Is the name protected as a trademark?

No. The right to exclusive use of a mark comes from a valid registration in the Register of Trade Marks, for the goods for which it was registered (section 46). Without registration, you can argue passing off, if you prove that the public may mistakenly attribute another person’s product to your business (section 1 of the Commercial Torts Law).

May you write “registered trademark” before the mark is registered?

No. A person who claims that a mark is registered when it is not commits an offense (section 63).

What happens if someone filed an application for a similar name before me?

If both applications were filed before the first was accepted, the Registrar may wait for an agreement between you, and if there is none, decide which application will proceed (section 29). If the other person’s application has already been published, you have three months from publication to oppose it, including on the ground that the mark is yours (section 24). An application filed not in good faith can be the subject of a request for removal at any time (section 39(a1)).

I missed the renewal date. Is the mark lost?

Not immediately. Up to six months after the registration expires you can renew with a late fee, and in the six months after that the Registrar may restore the registration if satisfied that it is just to do so (section 33(b); regulations 52–53).