At present, applications for a trade mark are subject to an examination to see if they conflict with earlier registrations. Those that do are often refused registration.
But questions have been asked over whether this is an appropriate course of action, and whether the Patent Office would be better putting the onus onto the holders of those earlier registrations, so that applications are only refused on relative grounds if opposition has been filed by the owner of an earlier registration.
The Patent Office would still, of course, consider the suitability of each application to be awarded an exclusive trade mark.
The informal “Pre-Consultation on the Future of Relative Grounds Examination” seeks to assess whether the views of the Patent Office on the benefits and shortcomings of the current system are shared by users of the system. Responses to the Pre-Consultation will form the basis of a full Consultation early next year.
Comments are requested by 7th October 2005.
