At present, applications for a trade mark are subject to an
examination to see if they conflict with earlier registrations.
Those that do are often refused registration.
But questions have been asked over whether this is an
appropriate course of action, and whether the Patent Office would
be better putting the onus onto the holders of those earlier
registrations, so that applications are only refused on relative
grounds if opposition has been filed by the owner of an earlier
registration.
The Patent Office would still, of course, consider the
suitability of each application to be awarded an exclusive trade
mark.
The informal “Pre-Consultation on the Future of Relative Grounds
Examination” seeks to assess whether the views of the Patent Office
on the benefits and shortcomings of the current system are shared
by users of the system. Responses to the Pre-Consultation will form
the basis of a full Consultation early next year.
Comments are requested by 7th October 2005.
