ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE AMENDMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTING REGULATION OF THE SPANISH TRADE MARK LAW IN ORDER TO ADAPT IT TO THE EUROPEAN NORMATIVE
On May 1, 2019, the Royal Decree 306/2019 amending the Implementing Regulation of Spanish Trade Mark Law 17/2001, of December 7, approved by Royal Decree 687/2002, of July 12, entered into force.
The main purpose of the same is the implementation of the amendments that already were made by the transposition of Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 16 December 2015, to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks, through the Royal Decree-Law 23/2018 of 21 December which amended Spanish Trade Mark Law 17/2001.
In addition to questions relating to the requirements of the application for registration, which include: the possibility of including in the application a claim that the sign applied for has acquired distinctive character through use, how to apply for new accepted types of trade marks, and that the goods and services must be identified by the applicant with sufficient clarity and precision, we must mention one of the most important novelties: the regulation of the possibility of requesting proof of use of the earlier trade mark registration in opposition proceedings, provided that the earlier trade mark has been registered for more than five years. It may not, however, be requested in proceedings concerning trade marks and trade names started before 1 May 2019.
On the other hand, another of the great novelties developed in the regulation it is the administrative proceedings for revocation and declaration of invalidity, that, currently, they can only be filed through a court action. However, these will not enter into force until January 14, 2023.
