February 15, 2016 Legal news
Communication of the President of OHIM on the implementation of Article 28(8) EUTMR
The President of OHIM has issued a Communication on Article 28(8) of the amending EU trade mark Regulation, which will enter into force on March 23, 2016.
Article 28(8) of the amending Regulation allows for a transitional period of six months during which proprietors of EU trade marks applied for before 22 June 2012, and registered in respect of the entire heading of a Nice class, may declare that their intention on the date of filing had been to seek protection in respect of goods and services beyond those covered by the literal meaning of that heading.
In essence, this means that from the end of the transitional period, all trade marks containing class headings will be interpreted according to their literal meaning regardless of their filing date.
The Communication of the President of OHIM sets the framework for proceedings before the Office for entering a declaration under Article 28(8) EUTMR in the Register. It also provides an Annex containing a non-exhaustive list of examples of goods and services clearly not covered by the literal meaning of the general indications of the Nice class headings for each of the editions of the Nice classification concerned (6th to the 10th edition) to assist users in making their declarations. Additional information on declarations is available here.
Further resources for users:
- The Office has prepared a list of Frequently Asked Questions which should help guide users in making their declarations.
- A webinar was broadcast on 02/02/2016 on the Questions and Answers on the new EU trade mark Regulation, which includes 50 minutes of questions and answers on Article 28(8) declarations.