[1] search

Although an official pre-filing search for a trademark is available in Laos, such search is conducted based on the data of the Lao Trademark Office which only covers the granted trademark registrations. It further means that it is impossible to scan the similar or identical marks to the searched mark if they have not been granted at the time of searching.

[2] publication

Laos does not publish the trademark applications until they are granted. The publication of granted trademark registrations are only made very late, approximately 2 years from the granting date while there is no online trademark publication database in Laos. Therefore, it seems the prior legitimate owners cannot perform a petition for opposition in the period of examination to protect their trademark rights through this proceeding.