The UK government published its response to a technical consultation on the implementation of the EU Trade Mark Directive today.
The consultation ran from February 19 2018 until April 16 2018 and got 10 responses from IP firms and representative bodies: CIPA, CITMA, INTA, the IP Federation, the Law Society, AIPPI UK, the Licensing Executives Society, Burness Paul, Wiggin and techUK.
According to the consultation document, respondents were generally supportive of the government’s implementation approach.
But some respondents disagreed on how to interpret various terms in the directive, such as competent authorities (question three, Articles 3 and 39.2), third countries (question 10, Article 10.4), legal persons governed by public law (questions 21 and 22, Article 29.2) and economic operators (Article 39.2).
Most respondents disagreed with the licensing provisions set out in question 19, Article 25 and question 23, Article 25.3 and 34.1.
Regarding non-graphical representations, most respondents said that while there could be an increase in these types of filings it would likely be modest in size.
Other issues such as trade mark classification, absolute and relative grounds for refusal or invalidity, infringement and defences to infringement, trade mark rights as property and fees are also considered, including the government’s views on the comments made.
The finalised statute will be presented to Parliament in the summer to be implemented before the deadline of January 14 2019.
Andrea Marx, secretary of the European Communities Trade Mark Association (ECTA) Law Committee, said at ECTA’s 2018 annual meeting on June 18 2018 that the increased cost-efficiency in the enforcement of rights is one of the main benefits to practitioners once the new directive has been implemented.
The directive is intended to update and harmonise trade mark legislation across the EU.
One of its main benefits of the directive may be the introduction of non-graphical representation marks, including signs such as smells or sounds.
