Application Procedure: Four Steps to a Complete Protection

Formal examination

The Benelux Office and the OHIM check if the basic data – name, address, etc. – is correctly listed in the application, in addition to examining the classification, list of goods and services, and payment of fees. Total and/or partial priority of earlier application can be claimed within a six-month period, and the acceptance of such claim will also be examined.

Absolute ground/inherent registrability

Examination of absolute grounds of refusal, and more specifically, the trade mark’s distinctive character is conducted by the Office. The mark cannot be descriptive for the specified goods and services cannot be misleading and cannot be contrary to accepted public standards of decency and morality. If, in the eyes of the examiner, the trademark is not distinctive, but rather descriptive, the mark will initially be rejected. The applicant will have a certain time-period in which to try to overturn the examiner’s decision.
More info

Opposition

Objections by third parties can be filed within a certain term – normally between 2-3 months after publication of the trademark. The owner of a right can introduce an objection at the Office toward the registration of a trademark, based on those earlier rights. To be aware of a new trademark application which could infringe your existing rights, and to make sure of raising an objection within the prescribed time-period, you should subscribe to a trademark watch, as most regional and national trademark systems in the EU do not have citations.

Registration

If the application passes all of the above-mentioned hurdles, the trademark will be registered and one can use the ™ symbol to show the same. Whilst protection does start from the application, only registration itself offers a complete protection.