Procedures for trade mark registration are found in a Statutory Instrument, the Trade Mark Rules of 2000. These Rules have been amended seven times since being passed and the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) wants to consolidate them in a new version.
The new version will come with further changes that the UK-IPO says will bring the UK into line with 2006's international agreement on trade mark procedures, the Singapore Treaty.
"We believe that the proposed changes will help ensure that the regulations in this area keep pace with modern business environments," said Baroness Delyth Morgan, parliamentary under secretary of state for intellectual property and quality. "We also want to minimise burdens on individuals and companies applying to register trade marks."
"The changes we want to introduce make the process of registering trade marks even more streamlined and efficient," said Ian Fletcher, chief executive of the UK-IPO.
The proposal includes changes to the trade mark tribunal system which, claims the UK-IPO, will make the system more efficient. It also said that other changes will reduce the cost of applications for marks and increase the speed with which they are processed.
The Trade Mark Rules govern the procedure of how to apply for trade marks in the UK, but the rules have been amended in a piece-meal fashion since their 2000 drafting.
"We suggest that it would be appropriate to issue a consolidated version of the Rules adopting a more modern drafting style and incorporating changes to the rules of procedure which better reflect current litigation practice," says the consultation document.
The document proposes changes to the way in which trade marks can be opposed. Until 1994 unopposed trade marks were approved after a month. That was changed in 1994 to a fixed period of three months for all applications.
This is the case despite the fact that fewer than 10% of applications are opposed, said the UK-IPO. "On the face of it therefore, the registration of 90% of published trade marks is delayed by three months for no productive purpose," it said.
The UK-IPO has proposed two solutions to this. One is that the fixed opposition period be reduced to two months.
The other is to have a period of six weeks in which some notice of an intention to oppose must be registered, otherwise the trade mark will be granted.
The consultation process on the changes will close on 26 May.
