Short answer. Under the Civil Code, a duly registered trade-mark or trade-name is owned by and pertains to the person, corporation, or firm that registered it — but this ownership is expressly made subject to the provisions of special laws, which may impose their own additional conditions, including on actual use.

What the law says

A trade-mark or trade-name duly registered in the proper government bureau or office is owned by and pertains to the person, corporation, or firm registering the same, subject to the provisions of special laws.

Civil Code, Article 520 — Ownership Of Registered Marks. Read the full provision →

Registration is what the Civil Code ties ownership to

The statute states that a trade-mark or trade-name duly registered in the proper government bureau or office is owned by and pertains to whoever registered it — the person, corporation, or firm named as the registrant. On its face, this ties ownership to the act of registration itself, which is what your question is really asking about: registering appears to be the operative act this article recognizes.

The critical qualifier: subject to special laws

The article does not stop at registration alone — it closes with subject to the provisions of special laws. This qualifier means the Civil Code's general statement of ownership by registration does not stand on its own; it operates within whatever additional conditions, requirements, or limitations the special legislation governing trademarks and trade names imposes. Whether commercial use before or after registration affects your ownership is precisely the kind of question this qualifier hands off to that special legislation.

Why the Civil Code frames it this way

This structure reflects the same relationship seen elsewhere in the Civil Code's property provisions: the Code states a general principle — here, that registration confers ownership — while acknowledging that a comprehensive, specialized body of law exists to regulate the fuller mechanics of trademark and trade-name protection. The Civil Code is not attempting to fully answer every question about commercial use, registration requirements, or the timing between them; it defers those specifics to the special laws it expressly invokes.

What this article does not itself resolve

This provision does not state, in its own text, whether actual commercial use is required before or after registration, nor does it address what happens if a registrant never uses the mark at all. Those are exactly the kinds of details the article's own closing phrase leaves to the special laws governing trademarks, and this Civil Code provision cannot be read as answering them on its own. Anyone relying on registration alone to establish ownership of a mark should look to that special legislation directly rather than treating this single Civil Code sentence as the complete picture.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.