1. Any natural or legal person and any group or body representing manufacturers, producers, suppliers of services, traders or consumers may submit to the Office written observations, explaining on which grounds, under Articles 5 and 7, the trade mark should not be registered ex officio .
Persons and groups or bodies as referred to in the first subparagraph shall not be parties to the proceedings before the Office.
2. Third party observations shall be submitted before the end of the opposition period or, where an opposition against the trade mark has been filed, before the final decision on the opposition is taken.
3. The submission referred to in paragraph 1 shall be without prejudice to the right of the Office to re-open the examination of absolute grounds on its own initiative at any time before registration, where appropriate.
4. The observations referred to in paragraph 1 shall be communicated to the applicant who may comment on them.
1. Within a period of three months following the publication of an EU trade mark application, notice of opposition to registration of the trade mark may be given on the grounds that it may not be registered under Article 8:
(a)
by the proprietors of earlier trade marks referred to in Article 8(2) as well as licensees authorised by the proprietors of those trade marks, in respect of Article 8(1) and (5);
(b)
by the proprietors of trade marks referred to in Article 8(3);
(c)
by the proprietors of earlier marks or signs referred to in Article 8(4) and by persons authorised under the relevant national law to exercise these rights;
(d)
by the persons authorised under the relevant Union legislation or national law to exercise the rights referred to in Article 8(6).
2. Notice of opposition to registration of the trade mark may also be given, subject to the conditions laid down in paragraph 1, in the event of the publication of an amended application in accordance with the second sentence of Article 49(2).
3. Opposition shall be expressed in writing, and shall specify the grounds on which it is made. It shall not be considered as duly entered until the opposition fee has been paid.
4. Within a period to be fixed by the Office, the opponent may submit facts, evidence and arguments in support of his case.
1. In the examination of the opposition the Office shall invite the parties, as often as necessary, to file observations, within a period set by the Office, on communications from the other parties or issued by itself.
2. If the applicant so requests, the proprietor of an earlier EU trade mark who has given notice of opposition shall furnish proof that, during the five-year period preceding the date of filing or the date of priority of the EU trade mark application, the earlier EU trade mark has been put to genuine use in the Union in connection with the goods or services in respect of which it is registered and which he cites as justification for his opposition, or that there are proper reasons for non-use, provided that the earlier EU trade mark has at that date been registered for not less than five years. In the absence of proof to this effect, the opposition shall be rejected. If the earlier EU trade mark has been used in relation to only part of the goods or services for which it is registered it shall, for the purposes of the examination of the opposition, be deemed to be registered in respect only of that part of the goods or services.
3. Paragraph 2 shall apply to earlier national trade marks referred to in Article 8(2)(a), by substituting use in the Member State in which the earlier national trade mark is protected for use in the Union.
4. The Office may, if it thinks fit, invite the parties to make a friendly settlement.
5. If examination of the opposition reveals that the trade mark may not be registered in respect of some or all of the goods or services for which the EU trade mark application has been made, the application shall be refused in respect of those goods or services. Otherwise the opposition shall be rejected.
6. The decision refusing the application shall be published upon becoming final.
The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 208 specifying the details of the procedure for filing and examining an opposition set out in Articles 46 and 47.
