TRADEMARKS AND BRANDS
At Aguilar & Revenga we offer every service related to Trade Marks and Brands:
• Filing of applications, defense and maintenance of trademarks (National, Community and International Trademarks and National Trademarks abroad) and Brands.
• Surveillance and search of prior art publications.
• Lodging of oppositions and appeals before the OEPM and the OAMI, the Spanish Courts and the Luxembourg Court.
TRADEMARKS
By Trademark is meant any sign being graphically depictable and serving to distinguish in the market the products or services of one company from those of others. The Trademark Law presently in force allows for the registration as a trademark of words, images, letters, tridimensional forms and even sound trademarks or any combination thereof.
Aguilar & Revenga takes care of the whole registration process, from the initial checking of the availability of the denomination and all throughout the preparation and filing of the trademark application, the reply to official objections and the lodging of appeals on the administrative and jurisdictional way, to the maintenance in force and prosecution of possible violators. All of that with the aim of assuring the exclusivity of the distinguishing sign for our client.
INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION
A trademark protection can be accomplished by means of registrations at National level, at the level of the European Union (Community Trademark), or by virtue of diverse international agreements (Arrangement and Protocol of Madrid, Agreement of Banji, Protocol of Banjul, among others). Our consultants are ideally in a position to advise you on the best suited way to combine these instruments in order to assure the best protection for your trademark anywhere in the world.
BRANDS
By Brand is meant any sign being graphically depictable, identifying the company in the trade and serving to distinguish it from the other companies developing identical or similar activities. The Trademark Law presently in force allows for the registration as a Brand, firm names and denominations of all kinds, and of anagrams, images and logos and any combinations thereof.
The Brand protection is exclusively accomplished on the basis of national registrations.
The same as in the case of trademarks, we are at your disposal to advise you and to take for you the steps being necessary to obtain the protection of your company’s Brand in all those countries whose laws provide for this type of protection.
The Royal Decree 21 of December 2018 (entry into force on 14.01.2019, of the first phase) modifies some articles of the Trademark Spanish Law 17/2001 of December 7.
On January 14, 2019, Royal Decree 21 of December 2018 has come into effect, which will modify some articles of the Trademark Law 17/2001 of December 7.
The modifications are basically aimed at the homogenization of the national trademark registration system managed by the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) with the trademark registration system of the European Union managed by the European Intellectual Property Office EUIPO.
The amendments introduced in the Trademark Law are so relevant that the entry into force of the new regulations is foreseen in two steps. The first phase enters into force on January 14, 2019 and the second phase is deferred to four years until January 14, 2023.
Among the main novelties, the following should be mentioned:
1.- Relative to the procedure of opposition against a brand. In case of opposition to a new application for registration, the trademark applicant may require the opponent to provide proof of use of its trademark for the last five years, provided that the opposing trademark has been granted prior to January 2014.
2.- The requirement of the old Art. 4 of the Law 17/2001 of December 7 of the graphic representation of the sign is deleted. The sign may be capable of being represented by any means, provided that the object of the protection granted to the owner can be clearly determined. Thus, now opens the possibility of requesting other types of brands, such as: holograms, color, olfactory, tactile, taste … according to the criteria established in the Treaty of Singapore 2006, ratified by Spain in 2009.
3.- The protection of appellations of origin and geographical indications is reinforced through the systematization of absolute prohibitions.
4.- The concept of notorious trademark disappears and only the category of brand or commercial name renamed, that which is known by the general public, is envisaged, which gives it special protection.
5.- The new regulations will offer users agile administrative procedures for the declaration of nullity and expiration of registered trademarks.
Direct competence is attributed to the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office under the Ministry of Commerce and Tourism, to declare the causes of nullity and expiration of a trademark; without prejudice to be able to request the nullity and expiration by means of a counterclaim, in case of trademark infringement.
The new administrative procedures for nullity and expiration of national trademarks are deferred to the second phase until 14 January 2023.
We are at your disposal for any information and / or clarification that you may need regarding this matter, meanwhile, kind regards
