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The Community Trademark Regulation will establish a system whereby a Community trademark can be obtained by registration at the Community Trademarks Office, which the regulation establishes. The mark is a unitary right, which has effect throughout the EC, and the proprietor will be able to proceed against infringements taking place in several Member States through a single action in a designated court in a single Member State. The Commission’s original proposal for a regulation was published in 1980. The European Council decided on 29 October 1993 that the office should be located in Spain (and that the proposed Community Designs Office should be there too) and that the languages of the office should be English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. The regulation, which had been stalled over these matters for many years, was then adopted. The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, which will run the Community trademark system, started operations on 1 April 1996. It had been accepting applications since the start of the year, but they will not be examined before April and will be accorded a filing date of 1 April. The Act makes provision for the necessary regulations to be made in the UK. However, the provisions which deal with this matter will have no effect until the Community trademark is up and running. Section 52 is the provision which enables the government to make regulations required for the introduction of the Community Trademark Regulation. It empowers the Secretary of State to make the necessary provisions by regulation. The Community Trademark Regulation will, like other EC regulations, be directly effective in the UK (and in all other Member States). However, there are consequential matters which do require domestic legislation. First, applications for Community trademarks may be made through the national intellectual property offices of the Member States. In the UK, this means that an application for a CTM may be made to the Patent Office, in the same way as an application under the 1994 Act. Applications filed in this way will not be examined by the Patent Office, but simply passed within the two weeks prescribed in the CTMR to the CTMO in Alicante: a receipt will be issued and a handling charge made. Second, there have to be provisions to enable the UK registry to determine a posteriori the validity or liability to revocation of a registration of a trademark from which a Community trademark claims seniority. This is not only a consequence of the regulation but a requirement of the directive (Article 14). The problem is that a CTM may claim priority from an earlier UK trademark: the CTM then stands in the shoes of the UK registration if a dispute arises between it and another trademark. This will continue to be the case even if the UK mark is surrendered or lapses, but not if it is revoked or invalidated. This means that anyone whose
DOI link for The Community Trademark Regulation will establish a system whereby a Community trademark can be obtained by registration at the Community Trademarks Office, which the regulation establishes. The mark is a unitary right, which has effect throughout the EC, and the proprietor will be able to proceed against infringements taking place in several Member States through a single action in a designated court in a single Member State. The Commission’s original proposal for a regulation was published in 1980. The European Council decided on 29 October 1993 that the office should be located in Spain (and that the proposed Community Designs Office should be there too) and that the languages of the office should be English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. The regulation, which had been stalled over these matters for many years, was then adopted. The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, which will run the Community trademark system, started operations on 1 April 1996. It had been accepting applications since the start of the year, but they will not be examined before April and will be accorded a filing date of 1 April. The Act makes provision for the necessary regulations to be made in the UK. However, the provisions which deal with this matter will have no effect until the Community trademark is up and running. Section 52 is the provision which enables the government to make regulations required for the introduction of the Community Trademark Regulation. It empowers the Secretary of State to make the necessary provisions by regulation. The Community Trademark Regulation will, like other EC regulations, be directly effective in the UK (and in all other Member States). However, there are consequential matters which do require domestic legislation. First, applications for Community trademarks may be made through the national intellectual property offices of the Member States. In the UK, this means that an application for a CTM may be made to the Patent Office, in the same way as an application under the 1994 Act. Applications filed in this way will not be examined by the Patent Office, but simply passed within the two weeks prescribed in the CTMR to the CTMO in Alicante: a receipt will be issued and a handling charge made. Second, there have to be provisions to enable the UK registry to determine a posteriori the validity or liability to revocation of a registration of a trademark from which a Community trademark claims seniority. This is not only a consequence of the regulation but a requirement of the directive (Article 14). The problem is that a CTM may claim priority from an earlier UK trademark: the CTM then stands in the shoes of the UK registration if a dispute arises between it and another trademark. This will continue to be the case even if the UK mark is surrendered or lapses, but not if it is revoked or invalidated. This means that anyone whose
The Community Trademark Regulation will establish a system whereby a Community trademark can be obtained by registration at the Community Trademarks Office, which the regulation establishes. The mark is a unitary right, which has effect throughout the EC, and the proprietor will be able to proceed against infringements taking place in several Member States through a single action in a designated court in a single Member State. The Commission’s original proposal for a regulation was published in 1980. The European Council decided on 29 October 1993 that the office should be located in Spain (and that the proposed Community Designs Office should be there too) and that the languages of the office should be English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. The regulation, which had been stalled over these matters for many years, was then adopted. The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, which will run the Community trademark system, started operations on 1 April 1996. It had been accepting applications since the start of the year, but they will not be examined before April and will be accorded a filing date of 1 April. The Act makes provision for the necessary regulations to be made in the UK. However, the provisions which deal with this matter will have no effect until the Community trademark is up and running. Section 52 is the provision which enables the government to make regulations required for the introduction of the Community Trademark Regulation. It empowers the Secretary of State to make the necessary provisions by regulation. The Community Trademark Regulation will, like other EC regulations, be directly effective in the UK (and in all other Member States). However, there are consequential matters which do require domestic legislation. First, applications for Community trademarks may be made through the national intellectual property offices of the Member States. In the UK, this means that an application for a CTM may be made to the Patent Office, in the same way as an application under the 1994 Act. Applications filed in this way will not be examined by the Patent Office, but simply passed within the two weeks prescribed in the CTMR to the CTMO in Alicante: a receipt will be issued and a handling charge made. Second, there have to be provisions to enable the UK registry to determine a posteriori the validity or liability to revocation of a registration of a trademark from which a Community trademark claims seniority. This is not only a consequence of the regulation but a requirement of the directive (Article 14). The problem is that a CTM may claim priority from an earlier UK trademark: the CTM then stands in the shoes of the UK registration if a dispute arises between it and another trademark. This will continue to be the case even if the UK mark is surrendered or lapses, but not if it is revoked or invalidated. This means that anyone whose
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