In February 2023, we reported the NIGHTWATCH decision of the Fourth Board of Appeal of the EUIPO addressing conversion of EUTMs, and more specifically, whether conversion can be filed where the EUTM (application) was withdrawn or surrendered after a first-instance decision refusing or invalidating it but before the appeal period has expired. The EUIPO in…
A few days ago, we reported that the Executive Director (ED) of the EUIPO had referred questions to the Grand Board of Appeal (see here) . The full referral has now been published (see here) so that stakeholders can present observations to the Grand Board under Article 37(6) EUTMDR. The referral regards the decision by…
On April 2nd, the EUIPO has publicly announced the first referral by the Executive Director to the Grand Board of Appeal pursuant to Article 159(4)(l) of the EUTMR n. 2017/1001 in conjunction with Article 37(4) and (5) of EUTMDR n. 2018/625 (see at https://www.euipo.europa.eu/es/news/first-referral-of-questions-by-the-executive-director-to-the-grand-board-of-appeal ). The main issue regards the Board of Appeal (BOA) decision…
In the absence of specific EU provisions, EU national court shall apply in regard to EUTM registrations the applicable national law pursuant to art. 129 EU Reg. 2017/1001 (EUTM Regulation). However, this may lead to different national interpretations and treatment of EUTM registrations and affect the unitary character of the EU mark, and as we…
Should a registered EU trademark which consists of a descriptive term (in one of the EU languages) be capable to prevent registration of a later EUTM which is fanciful but happens to contain the same letter string, solely because in some EU countries knowledge of that language cannot be adequately proven? What if that language…
For some time, the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) has taken the approach that when an opposition is based on the reputation associated with earlier EU rights, then those earlier EU rights need to be reputed also in Denmark to enjoy the enhanced protection provided by reputation in oppositions against national Danish trademark applications….
