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This is a summary of the main aspects of opposition proceedings before the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)1.
i) The opposition period is three months, which is inextensible.
ii) The opposition must indicate the grounds on which it is based. Possible grounds for opposition include:
Note that opposition can only be based on relative grounds, that is, on the basis of prior rights. It is not possible to oppose on absolute grounds, for example that the mark is descriptive or deceptive. Note that bad faith is an absolute ground.
iii) The opponent must be entitled to bring the opposition. Opposition can only be filed by:
a) The applicant(s) or proprietor(s) of an earlier trade mark(s) and/or earlier right.
If opposition is based on a prior EUTM, the opponent must be registered as proprietor (or have applied to record themselves as proprietor) of the prior EUTM before the date of entry of opposition.
If opposition is based on a national trade mark or "sign", the law of that State must give them the right to prevent use of the opposed EUTM.
b) A licensee authorised by the proprietor of an earlier trade mark.
A licensee of a EUTM need not be registered, but the licensee must prove that they have been properly authorised to act.
In the case of a licensee of a national trade mark, the national law governs the licensee’s capacity to act.
c) Persons authorised under the applicable national law to exercise the rights of earlier non-registered trade marks.
iv) Details of the application being opposed must be made clear.
v) The opposition fee must be paid.
An opposition is deemed not to have been lodged unless the opposition fee is paid before the expiry of the opposition period. We therefore recommend that instructions to file opposition should be sent in good time before the opposition deadline.
vi) It must be clear which are the earlier mark(s) or right(s) on which the opposition is based with details given of application/registration numbers, priority claims, representations of marks etc.
"Earlier marks" are registrations or applications (subject to their registration) whose date of filing is earlier than that of the opposed application (taking into account priority claims). The marks must be either:
"Earlier rights" are non-registered trade marks and other signs used in the course of trade of more than mere local significance.
IF THESE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS ARE NOT MET BY THE END OF THE OPPOSITION PERIOD, THE OPPOSITION WILL BE REJECTED AND THE OPPOSITION FEE WILL NOT BE REFUNDED.
(Although in practice oppositions tend to be in English, in some circumstances they will be in one of the other working languages of the Office, i.e. French, German, Italian or Spanish.)
As soon as the opposition is received by the EUIPO and given an opposition number, the Office informs the applicant or his representative that his application has been opposed.
If the Office finds that the notice of opposition complies with the minimum admissibility requirements, it then informs both parties and sets the next deadlines in the proceedings. The adversarial stage of the opposition proceedings is deemed to commence two months after receipt of this second communication. Before this, there is then a cooling-off period of two months which is intended to allow for a quick resolution of the opposition, hopefully avoiding the need to proceed to the adversarial stage. This cooling-off period can be extended if both parties agree, but regardless of the length of extension requested it will automatically be extended so as to bring the cooling-off period to a total of 24 months. There is a unilateral opt-out option available to either party if they wish to conclude the cooling-off period.
If during the cooling-off period the applicant withdraws his application or restricts it to goods and services against which the opposition is not directed, and the opponent subsequently withdraws the opposition, the opposition fee is refunded to the opponent. The opposition fee is not, however, refunded if the opposition is withdrawn during the cooling-off period without a prior restriction of the application. The EUIPO does not issue a decision on costs if the parties settlement includes an agreement on costs, which is communicated to the EUIPO. If settlement is not reached during the cooling-off period, the opposition proceedings then commence.
The opponent can file all of his facts, arguments and evidence in support of the opposition within the respective two months deadline given by the EUIPO.
The applicant will then have a further period, typically of two months, to respond to the observation and evidence filed, (see below regarding proof of use requests).
Suitable evidence depends on the grounds of opposition invoked. It can for example take the form of evidence of extensive use and/or the reputation of the earlier trade mark. Information may relate to market awareness, evidence of confusion, advertising expenditure, examples of the mark as registered and in use etc. Documents presented in support of the opposition must be translated into the language of the opposition proceedings, if they are not in that language.
There are usually three writs exchanged in opposition proceedings: the substantiation of the opposition filed by the opponent, the applicant’s observations in response, and a further statement in reply of the opponent. In some cases, there can be more rounds of writs.
If the opposition is based upon an earlier mark which has been registered for more than five years, the applicant can request that the opponent proves that, during the five year period ending with the application date of the opposed mark, the opponent has put the earlier mark to genuine use in connection with the goods or services for which it is registered.
If the opponent is not able to prove that the earlier mark has not been put to genuine use, that ground of opposition cannot be relied upon. If the opponent shows use for only some of the goods/services on which the opposition is based, his mark will be deemed to be registered (for purposes of the opposition) only in respect of the goods/services for which the mark was actually used (unless justifiable reasons can be shown for non-use).
The applicant must file its request that the opponent submits proof of use within the same time frame as for filing observations in response to the substantiation of the opposition. If proof of use is requested, then the applicant’s observations in general on the opposition can be deferred until the filing of observations in reply to the proof of use.
It is possible (subject to excluded periods) to divide out goods/services from the original application into one or more divisional applications provided that there is no overlap of the goods/services between the various applications, and also provided that the division does not split up the goods/services being opposed. Note that once an application has been divided, it is not possible to merge the various applications together again.
Division will incur extra costs, but where only some goods/services are being opposed it would enable registration to be obtained more quickly for the goods/services that have not been opposed.
The applicant can withdraw or restrict the specification of goods/services of his application at any stage but if the application is withdrawn or restricted after the end of the cooling-off period the applicant must bear the fees and costs (within the limited scale set down by the EUIPO) incurred by the opposing party unless the EUIPO is informed that the parties have agreed otherwise. Note that a EUTM is a unitary right, and therefore it is not possible to restrict it geographically, but conversion (see below) can be requested for just some countries.
The applicant has the opportunity to withdraw the EUTM application (or designation of the EUTM) and then to request the conversion of his EUTM application into separate applications for national trade marks or, in the case of a designation of the EUTM in an International Registration, into separate designations of the EU member states in the International Registration (except for Malta, which would have to be the subject of a national application, as it is not in the Madrid Protocol).
Likewise, if the applicant restricts the specification of goods/services in the EUTM application or designation, he can request conversion, as detailed above, for those goods/services deleted from the EUTM application or designation.
Suspension is not mandatory and the EUIPO will only decide to suspend proceedings if there are genuine and proper reasons. Opposition proceedings may be suspended in various situations, for example:
i) Where opposition is based on a pending application; the opposition will not be suspended if the earlier application is reaching the final stages of its registration procedure and is likely to be registered before the decision ruling on the opposition.
ii) Multiple oppositions: if several oppositions are entered against the same application, the Office may decide to examine one or several of them and suspend the others.
iii) Other circumstances such as:
Suspension will, however, only take place when the Office’s examination of the notices of opposition reveal that the application is very likely to be objected to. In all cases where there is doubt, the Office will deal with oppositions in parallel. Once the opposed application has been rejected, the suspended opposition proceedings are deemed to have been disposed of and the Office will close the proceedings. The Office will refund 50% of the fee paid by each opposing party whose opposition was suspended.
If the opposition is against a designation of an EUTM in an International Registration and there are unresolved objections on absolute grounds, the opposition will be suspended after it has been examined for admissibility until the absolute objections are dealt with. If the objections on absolute grounds are maintained then the opposition will be closed and the opposition fee refunded. If the objections on absolute grounds are dropped, the opposition proceedings then resume.
i) Decision
When the Office has received all of the parties’ comments and evidence, it will issue a decision which is normally taken by a panel of three members of the Opposition Division. In principle, opposition proceedings are written proceedings and the decision is a written decision. Neither party has the right to demand a hearing. A hearing will only be held if the EUIPO deems it "expedient"; in theory the Office can, however, summon the parties to an oral hearing on its own initiative (but to our knowledge this has never happened).
ii) Costs
In principle, the losing party in opposition proceedings bears the costs of the proceedings. The attorney fees are capped at currently 300 EUR in the first instance.
iii) Appeal
Opposition decisions can be appealed within two months of the decision, and a written statement setting out the grounds for the appeal must be submitted within four months of the date of the decision.
The opposition may be successful on the basis of perhaps the rights in just one or two EU countries, even if in some cases the opponent had rights in more EU countries; the EUIPO does not need to take all the prior rights into consideration. It is possible to convert the refused EUTM application (or the part of the EUTM application that has been refused) into national application(s)/designation(s), as applicable, except for those member states in which, in accordance with the decision of the EUIPO, grounds for refusal of the EUTM application apply.
Of course, if it was clear from the opposition that the opponent had valid rights that had not been taken into account, it would probably be unwise to seek conversion such that it would clash with those rights even if theoretically it would be possible, as the national application(s) /designation(s) might encounter objections at the national level.
The EUIPO informs us that currently approximately 20% of advertised marks are being opposed.
Any party who has a current or future interest in using their mark in the EU should seriously consider filing an EUTM application or designating the EU in an International Registration. It is also important that a watch be kept for potentially conflicting marks in order that timely opposition can be filed if necessary. We are more than happy to advise upon both of these aspects.
You will appreciate that this brief introduction to opposition procedure is simplified and must not be taken as a definitive statement of law or practice.
1 previously known as OHIM
2 previously known as Community Trade Mark (CTM)
This information is simplified and must not be taken as a definitive statement of the law or practice.
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