SECTION 1 — General provisions
Decisions and communications of the Office
1. Decisions of the Office shall state the reasons on which they are based. They shall be based only on reasons or evidence on which the parties concerned have had an opportunity to present their comments. Where oral proceedings are held before the Office, the decision may be given orally. Subsequently, the decision shall be notified in writing to the parties.
2. Any decision, communication or notice from the Office shall indicate the department or division of the Office as well as the name or the names of the official or officials responsible. They shall be signed by that official or those officials, or, instead of a signature, carry a printed or stamped seal of the Office. The Executive Director may determine that other means of identifying the department or division of the Office and the name of the official or officials responsible, or an identification other than a seal, may be used where decisions, communications or notices from the Office are transmitted by telecopier or any other technical means of communication.
3. Decisions of the Office which are open to appeal shall be accompanied by a written communication indicating that any notice of appeal is to be filed in writing at the Office within two months of the date of notification of the decision in question. The communications shall also draw the attention of the parties to the provisions laid down in Articles 66, 67 and 68. The parties may not plead any failure on the part of the Office to communicate the availability of appeal proceedings.
Examination of the facts by the Office of its own motion
1. In proceedings before it the Office shall examine the facts of its own motion; however, in proceedings relating to relative grounds for refusal of registration, the Office shall be restricted in this examination to the facts, evidence and arguments provided by the parties and the relief sought. In invalidity proceedings pursuant to Article 59, the Office shall limit its examination to the grounds and arguments submitted by the parties.
2. The Office may disregard facts or evidence which are not submitted in due time by the parties concerned.
Oral proceedings
1. If the Office considers that oral proceedings would be expedient they shall be held either at the instance of the Office or at the request of any party to the proceedings.
2. Oral proceedings before the examiners, the Opposition Division and the Department in charge of the Register shall not be public.
3. Oral proceedings, including delivery of the decision, shall be public before the Cancellation Division and the Boards of Appeal, in so far as the department before which the proceedings are taking place does not decide otherwise in cases where admission of the public could have serious and unjustified disadvantages, in particular for a party to the proceedings.
4. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 208 specifying the detailed arrangements for oral proceedings, including the detailed arrangements for the use of languages in accordance with Article 146.
Taking of evidence
1. In any proceedings before the Office, the means of giving or obtaining evidence shall include the following:
(a)
hearing the parties;
(b)
requests for information;
(c)
the production of documents and items of evidence;
(d)
hearing witnesses;
(e)
opinions by experts;
(f)
statements in writing sworn or affirmed or having a similar effect under the law of the State in which the statement is drawn up.
2. The relevant department may commission one of its members to examine the evidence adduced.
3. If the Office considers it necessary for a party, witness or expert to give evidence orally, it shall issue a summons to the person concerned to appear before it. The period of notice provided in such summons shall be at least one month, unless they agree to a shorter period.
4. The parties shall be informed of the hearing of a witness or expert before the Office. They shall have the right to be present and to put questions to the witness or expert.
5. The Executive Director shall determine the amounts of expenses to be paid, including advances, as regards the costs of taking of evidence as referred to in this Article.
6. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 208 specifying the detailed arrangements for the taking of evidence.
Notification
1. The Office shall, as a matter of course, notify those concerned of decisions and summonses and of any notice or other communication from which a time limit is reckoned, or of which those concerned are to be notified under other provisions of this Regulation or of acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation, or of which notification has been ordered by the Executive Director.
2. The Executive Director may determine which documents other than decisions subject to a time limit for appeal and summonses shall be notified by registered letter with proof of delivery.
3. Notification may be effected by different means, including by electronic means. The details regarding electronic means shall be determined by the Executive Director.
4. Where notification is to be effected by public notice, the Executive Director shall determine how the public notice is to be given and shall fix the beginning of the one-month period on the expiry of which the document shall be deemed to have been notified.
5. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 208 specifying the detailed arrangements for notification.
Notification of loss of rights
Where the Office finds that the loss of any rights results from this Regulation or acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation, without any decision having been taken, it shall communicate this to the person concerned in accordance with Article 98. The latter may apply for a decision on the matter within two months of notification of the communication, if he considers that the finding of the Office is incorrect. The Office shall adopt such a decision only where it disagrees with the person requesting it; otherwise the Office shall amend its finding and inform the person requesting the decision.
Communications to the Office
1. Communications addressed to the Office may be effected by electronic means. The Executive Director shall determine to what extent and under which technical conditions those communications may be submitted electronically.
2. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 208 specifying the rules on the means of communication, including the electronic means of communication, to be used by the parties to proceedings before the Office and the forms to be made available by the Office.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
