1. Applications for the registration of an EU trade mark as well as any other application provided for in Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 and all other communications addressed to the Office shall be submitted as follows:
(a)
by transmitting a communication by electronic means, in which case the indication of the name of the sender shall be deemed to be equivalent to the signature;
(b)
by submitting a signed original of the document in question to the Office by post or courier.
2. In proceedings before the Office, the date on which a communication is received by the Office shall be considered to be its date of filing or submission.
3. Where a communication received by electronic means is incomplete or illegible or where the Office has reasonable doubts as to the accuracy of the transmission, the Office shall inform the sender accordingly and shall invite the sender, within a period to be specified by the Office, to retransmit the original or to submit it in accordance with paragraph (1)(b). Where that request is complied with within the period specified, the date of receipt of the retransmission or of the original shall be deemed to be the date of the receipt of the original communication. However, where the deficiency concerns the granting of a filing date for an application to register a trade mark, the provisions on the filing date shall apply. Where the request is not complied with within the period specified, the communication shall be deemed not to have been received.
1. Annexes to communications may be submitted on data carriers in accordance with the technical specifications determined by the Executive Director.
2. Where a communication with annexes is submitted in accordance with Article 63(1)(b) by a party to proceedings involving more than one party, the party shall submit as many copies of the annexes as there are parties to the proceedings. Annexes shall be indexed in accordance with the requirements laid down in Article 55(2).
1. The Office shall make forms available to the public free of charge, which may be completed online, for the purposes of:
(a)
filing an application for an EU trade mark, including, where appropriate, requests for the search reports;
(b)
entering an opposition;
(c)
applying for revocation of rights;
(d)
applying for a declaration of invalidity or the assignment of an EU trade mark;
(e)
applying for the registration of a transfer and the transfer form or document referred to in Article 13(3)(d) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/626;
(f)
applying for the registration of a licence;
(g)
applying for the renewal of an EU trade mark;
(h)
making an appeal;
(i)
authorising a representative, in the form of an individual authorisation or a general authorisation;
(j)
submitting an international application or a subsequent designation pursuant to the Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the international registration of marks, adopted at Madrid on 27 June 1989 ( 12 ) to the Office.
2. Parties to the proceedings before the Office may also use:
(a)
forms established under the Trademark Law Treaty or pursuant to recommendations of the Assembly of the Paris Union for the Protection of Industrial Property;
(b)
with the exception of the form referred to in point (i) of paragraph 1, forms with the same content and format as those referred to in paragraph 1.
3. The Office shall make the forms referred to in paragraph 1 available in all the official languages of the Union.
Any communication addressed to the Office by the duly authorised representative shall have the same effect as if it originated from the represented person.
