Opposition proceedings

Once a trade mark has been accepted by the Registrar at the UK intellectual property Office (ipo), it is published in the online Trade Marks Journal and is open to public inspection. A two-month period follows (extendable on notice to the IPO to three months (see below)) in which interested parties may oppose its registration. The person who starts opposition proceedings becomes the opponent. An objection can also be made by way of a third party observation and certain third parties may be granted leave to intervene (see below).

The law and procedure for opposition is laid down in section 38 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 (TMA 1994) and the Trade Marks Rules 2008 (TMR 2008), SI 2008/1797, rr 17–21, as amended by the Trade Marks (Fast Track Opposition) (Amendment) Rules 2013, SI 2013/2235. The onus is on the opponent to prove its case. The most common reason for opposition is that the new mark is too similar to a mark that the opponents have registered or are using.

The standard IPO opposition