New Media Law, media and technology law for the music, television, film, IT, internet, publishing and entertainment industries

From 01 October 2007, there will be a slight change to the process by which the UK-IPO (Patent Office) may register an application for a new trade mark.

Previously, the Patent Office could refuse to register a new application for a trade mark on the basis of earlier (pre existing) registrations. Now, the UK-IPO will no longer refuse to register a new application on that basis unless the owner of the earlier trade mark has filed a formal opposition.

Owners of trade marks are able to pay a nominal fee for a service whereby they can “opt in” to receive a notification from the Registry that an application has been received by another party, which may or may not conflict with their own trade mark. It is also possible to set up a worldwide watch for trade marks registered outside of the UK and Europe.

The change is designed to encourage the applicant to take a more proactive approach to the whole business of trade mark registration.

Applicants who have previously had a broad application refused on the grounds of an earlier conflicting right are being encouraged to file a new application, which may now be successful.

New Media Law LLP can oversee all aspects of trade mark and patent registration. Please contact our offices for full details.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 17th, 2007 at 6:24 pm and is filed under Trade Mark, General News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.