14 October 2010

UK Intellectual Property Office's Trade Mark Opposition Terms Practice Change (Tribunal Practice Notice TPN 04/2010)

UK Intellectual Property Office's Trade Mark Opposition Terms Practice Change (Tribunal Practice Notice TPN 04/2010)

With effect from 30 September 2010 the UK Intellectual Property Office have changed how the opposition period is calculated for published marks. While it would have been more consistent to change the rules, the change had been made to bring the practice into line with the Interpretation Act 1978.

The end of the opposition period is calculated as two calendar months from the date of publication in the UK Trade Marks Journal, ending on the day preceding that date in two months’ time. Therefore a trade mark published on 15 October 2010 will be open to opposition until 14 December 2010

If a trade mark is published on the 30th/31st of a month and the relevant month in two months’ time does not have the equivalent number of days, then the opposition period will end on the last day of that month. Therefore a trade mark published on 31 December 2010 will be open to opposition until 28 February 2011.

Tribunal Practice Notice TPN 4/2010 is available here http://bit.ly/TPN42010