UK IPO oppositions during ‘interrupted days’
The UK IPO has provided clarification on filing oppositions during its ‘interrupted days’ period.
The UK IPO has provided clarification on filing oppositions during its ‘interrupted days’ period.
In an email to CITMA the UK IPO responded to a number of queries it has received about filing a notice of opposition during ‘interrupted days’. This is particularly significant where a TM7A is also filed to extend the opposition period from two months to three.
The eight points the UK IPO made in its email are:
- The UK IPO has encouraged users, via its website, to comply with existing deadlines to file notices of opposition (TM7) or threatened opposition (TM7A) where they can in order to maintain a smooth flow of work for the Tribunal and its users, and to prevent large numbers of deadlines all becoming due on the same date.
- The ‘interrupted days’ provisions can rightly be relied upon if users cannot meet a deadline. If you wish to utilise the ‘interrupted days’ provisions to file these forms you must ensure that they are filed no later than the first working day which is not interrupted.
- The above applies to TM7As and TM7s. The UK IPO’s IT system can now accept TM7As filed after what would have ordinarily been the due date, but will be rejected if filed after the first non-interrupted day.
- The filing of a TM7A merely serves to extend the period for filing an opposition to three months from the publication date of the mark you are considering opposing.
- If the initial two-month opposition period ends within the interrupted days period, the period for filing either a TM7 or a TM7A will be extended to the first non-interrupted day.
- However, if a TM7A is filed, there will be some circumstances where the TM7 would also need to be filed on the first non-interrupted day.
- The above depends on the proximity of the end of the two-month opposition period to the date on which the period of interruption ends. Unless the opposition period was due to end within the last month of the period of interruption, there will be no benefit in filing a TM7A.
- Even where there is a benefit, the benefit lessens the further away the end of the opposition period is from the end of the period of interruption.
The UK IPO is happy to advise if you have any further queries.
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