// JavaScript Document var glGlossaren = new Object(); glGlossaren['AtoZ'] = ''; //hier var m21 = new Object(); m21.text = '

The applicants can appeal against any OHIM decision before the Boards of Appeal which are which do not depend on the OHIM.
Their decisions can be challenged before the Court of the First Instance (CFI) of the European Union within two months. The CFI may revoke, modify or reform the decision of the Board of Appeal.
The OHIM must follow obey the rules of the judgement of the CFI or the CJEC (Court of Justice of the European Communities).

The ‘Restitutio in integrum’ procedure authorizes the party which did not meet the deadlines to have his rights recognized by the OHIM. The request must be filed in writing within two months after the appeal deadline comes to an end.

'; m21.title = 'Appeal'; glGlossaren['m21'] = m21; //hier var m13 = new Object(); m13.text = '

National courts are competent to judge counterfeiting.
States have created specialised courts called “the Community trade mark courts of the First Instance (CFI) or court of Second Instance” (c.f. the list on the OHIM website).
These courts are competent to determine if a Community trade mark is valid or not within the framework of a counterclaim for revocation or for a declaration of nullity. This is usually an exception based on illegality.

If this court judges that goods are counterfeit, it will then make an order to prohibit further counterfeiting.

 

'; m13.title = 'Appeal - Counterfeit goods'; glGlossaren['m13'] = m13; //hier var d11 = new Object(); d11.text = '

If the holder of a right or a national office wants to take a legal action to declare the nullity of a registered design, he/she must appeal to the OHIM, should this procedure be included in the national legislation.

Exceptionally, nullity may be declared for a counterclaim for revocation to a national court.

A legal action to declare the nullity of a registered Community design must be filed in writing and justified. The applicant has to pay a fee.

The OHIM examines the legal action in accordance with the proofs provided by the parties. It should be pointed out that an applicant can also challenge the OHIM’s decisions. This procedure is called “a suspensive appeal” and must be launched within two months starting from the notification receipt.

This appeal can be either “gracious” i.e. it is made before the Court which had appealed, or “contentious” i.e. made before the OHIM Boards of Appeal.

If the appeal is considered to be admissible and justified, the Instance must accept it.

If the competent instance does not examine the appeal within one month, it is directly tranferred to the Boards of Appeal.

The Boards of Appeal makes a judgement, which comes into force two months after the date of the notification or after a possible appeal refused by the CJEC.

Indeed, thi judgement can be challenged before the CJEC.

The CJEC can revoke, confirm or reform any Boards of Appeal decision.

The OHIM must take all the measures to put into practice the CJEC decision.

'; d11.title = 'Appeal - Registered Community design'; glGlossaren['d11'] = d11; //hier var d32 = new Object(); d32.text = '

Nullity of unregistered designs must be brought before a national court, either by taking legal actions of nullity, or by revoking the decision of  invalidity (e.g. counterfeiting).

The choice of the national competent court will depend on the domicile of the defendant. Should not this be the case it will depend on the domicile of the applicant or the Member State where the OHIM’s headquarters are located.

Thanks to the Restitutio in integrum’ procedure, an applicant can have his rights recognised by the OHIM even if he could not meet requested deadline for any types of impediment.
The appeal must be made in writing within two months when the cause of non-compliance is no longer valid, and one year when the deadline is no longer taken into account.
This appeal must be justified by providing concrete proofs and referring to law. the applicant has to pay an appeal fee.

'; d32.title = 'Appeal - Unregistered design'; glGlossaren['d32'] = d32; //hier var i0 = new Object(); i0.text = 'There are two ways of dealing with conflicts with an earlier trade mark:
• if the signs are identical, the protection is absolute. The OHIM is entitled to declare the nullity of any prior trade mark.
• if the signs are similar, the holder of the earlier trade mark will have to prove there is a confusion risk for consumers. This means that people may believe that products are produced by the same company or by its partners. This confusion risk must be assessed in concreto, i.e. separately in accordance with the technique of the collection of indications.
However, the holder of the earlier trade mark who has authorized the use of any prior trade mark over more than five years is not entitled to challenge it. This is usually called debarment by tolerance.
'; i0.title = 'Availability'; glGlossaren['i0'] = i0; //hier var m39 = new Object(); m39.text = 'A Community trade mark can be turned into a national trade mark. A Community trade mark application can be turned into a national trade mark application.
Should the trade mark registration be refused by a Community body, this conversion enables a company to appeal to a national body.
This conversion may be made when the Community trade mark is refused, repealed or stripped.
If there is no reason to refuse or repeal the Community trade mark at national level, trade marks will not be granted national protection.
The national application date is actually the OHIM filing date.
A conversion request must be introduced before the OHIM. Then, national offices decide on the national registration.
A registration fee must be paid.
'; m39.title = 'Changing procedure of a trade mark'; glGlossaren['m39'] = m39; //hier var m2 = new Object(); m2.text = 'The international classification of goods and services established by the Nice Agreement for the purposes of the registration of trade marks is used to determine to what extent trade marks are protected. Although the European Community is not a signatory to the Nice Agreement, the OHIM applies the Nice classification and has made this application compulsory for all applicants who file for a Community trade mark. The Nice classification is divided into classes of goods (classes 1 to 34) and services (classes 35 to 45). Each class comes under a general heading which provides general information about the type of product or service.  (cf http://oami.europa.eu/fr/database/euroace.htm)'; m2.title = 'Classes (Nice Classification)'; glGlossaren['m2'] = m2; //hier var i1 = new Object(); i1.text = 'A collective trade mark means that a group of applicants (e.g. an association) may apply to register a trade mark.
Generally the collective mark conforms to the same legal system as the individual trade mark with few exceptions : for example the registration of a collective trade mark has to contain regulations for the use of the trade mark.
'; i1.title = 'Collective marks'; glGlossaren['i1'] = i1; //hier var d1 = new Object(); d1.text = '

The definition of the Community design is given in article 3 of order CE/6/2006:
A “design” means the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting in particular from the features of the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture, and/or materials of the product itself and/or its packaging.
The design concerns any industrial or hand-made product, excluding computer programs, raw materials (e.g. wood) or mineral ones. This may also refer to complex products, i.e. products composed of several pieces which can be replaced, taken apart or assembled (e.g. automobile parts).

The appearance of the product itself is protected, not its function or qualities. When a product design is protected, the designs of the other products belonging to the same range of products can then, by extension, be protected. 
 However, this protection is excluded for the designs of interconnections, i.e. when the design must be associated with another product. Nevertheless, the modular systems can be protected when for example they include products made up of several pieces which can be assembled in different ways (e.g. a toy building set designed for children). Finally, under no circumstances can any design which is contrary to law or morality.

'; d1.title = 'Community design'; glGlossaren['d1'] = d1; //hier var d16 = new Object(); d16.text = '

Any person or legal entity can be the holder of the Community trade mark protection, regardless of his/her nationality, domicile or his/her company headquarters.
The applicant is supposed to be the holder of the right (to the OHIM).
However, when a design is disclosed by a person who has no right on it, the designer may take legal action during three years from the design publication registration date or from the unregistered design disclosure date.
The designer or the assignee owns design.

In theory, if the designer is an employee, the employer owns the design. But if national law stipulates the contrary, this procedure is not valid (e.g. this procedure is not valid in France due to the fact the copyright protection is granted to the designer).

In this case, the designer who is an employee can assign his rights to a third party, generally his employer.

The applicant is not supposed to be the holder of the design protection; he has to prove that he/she is the holder of the design in case of a conflict. He also must prove that the design has been disclosed.

 

'; d16.title = 'Community design owner'; glGlossaren['d16'] = d16; //hier var m16 = new Object(); m16.text = '

Any person or legal entity from a Member State, from a State signatory to the Paris Convention for the protection of Intellectual Property (1883), or from a WTO Member State is entitled to hold a Community trade mark.

As regards members of other States, the Commission recognise them the right to hold a Community trade mark, if their State of origin has a similar system based on reciprocity.

'; m16.title = 'Community trade mark owner'; glGlossaren['m16'] = m16; //hier var m11 = new Object(); m11.text = '

The rights conferred by a registered trade mark include:
• exclusive rights conferred on the proprietor to use his own trade mark. He/she may authorize a third party to use it (e.g. licence),
• the right to forbid a third party to use the trade mark sign.


It should be noted that renowned trade marks enjoy a broader protection. The use of the trade mark for non-similar products may also be forbidden for example when a company profits from another trade mark’s reputation through a similar symbol.

 

The Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEC) stipulates that a trade mark is considered as renowned when it is known by public and throughout a substantial part of the territory. 
When a symbol is protected in a single Member State the proprietor can challenge the registration of a community trade mark.

'; m11.title = 'Conferred rights'; glGlossaren['m11'] = m11; //hier var d8 = new Object(); d8.text = '

The holder of the registered Community design has exclusive rights to use the respective Community design. He can forbid a third party to use the design without his consent, except if the design publication is deferred.

Nevertheless, article 20 of order CE/6/2002 stipulates that the rights conferred on a Community design shall not be exercised over acts carried out independently and having no commercial purposes, acts carried out for experimental purposes, copyright acts carried out with the purpose to illustrate or to offer information about the Community design. Furthermore, the rights conferred on a Community design upon registration shall not be exercised over ship equipments or aircrafts registered in a non EU Member State when they transit the Community airspace, over imported spare parts utilized to repair these vehicles or over repair works carried out on these vehicles.

'; d8.title = 'Conferred rights'; glGlossaren['d8'] = d8; //hier var i2 = new Object(); i2.text = '

Tax rates amount as follows (2006 tariffs) :

• as regard the first design, the registration fee amounts to 230 euros, the publication fee amounts to 120 euros and the deferment fee amounts to 40 euros.
• As regard the second to the tenth design, the registration fee amounts to 115 euros, the publication fee amounts to 60 euros and the deferment fee amounts to 20 euros.
• From the eleventh design, the registration fee amounts to 50 euros, the publication fee amounts to 30 euros and the deferment fee amounts to 10 euros.

Fees must be paid in euros.

'; i2.title = 'Cost'; glGlossaren['i2'] = i2; //hier var i3 = new Object(); i3.text = '

Several taxes must be paid during the registration procedure : (2006 tariffs – individual marks)

• Filling application: for filing a Community trade mark by fax, by post…: the applicant has to pay 900 euros for each of the first three products or services, then 150 euros more for any added product or service.
• On line: 750 for each of the first three products  or services then 150 euros more for any added product or service.
• Registered trade mark: the applicant has to pay 850 euros for each of the first three products or services then 150 euros more for any added product or service.

All taxes must be paid in euros

'; i3.title = 'cost'; glGlossaren['i3'] = i3; //hier var m12 = new Object(); m12.text = 'Customs authorities may detain goods if during a customs control they detect any type of infringement to intellectual property rights.
Goods infringing intellectual property rights may include:
• goods, including the packaging thereof, which bear a non authorized trade mark.
• any trade mark symbol (for example stickers)
• copies made without the consent of the holder of the copyright, i.e. 'pirated goods'
• goods infringing patents, protection certificates, appellations of origins or geographical denominations stipulated under Community legislation.
• instruments used to counterfeit trade mark symbols.
The trade mark name must be protected in the State in which the customs authorities intervene (hence the need for a Community registration).
In order to authorize customs authorities to take action the holders of intellectual property rights may file a written application by filling in a form provided by the European Commission.
This application must include an accurate description of the goods to enable the customs authorities to identify the goods easily.
Community legislation stipulates on the one hand that the application may concern one or several States, and on the other hand that if the design protection is granted, it will be valid for a year. However, this period may be extended.
If no application is made or if customs authorities have doubts about the goods, they may detain them for a period of three working days during which the holder of the intellectual property rights will be informed and will be entitled to file such an application.
The degree to which intellectual property rights have been assessed is in accordance with the legal system of the State in which the goods have been registered.
Customs authorities must warn the holder of the rights if they discover counterfeit goods. He/She then has ten days to refer to the competent court and three days if the goods are perishable.
If no legal action is taken within this period, the goods have to be released by the customs authorities. 
If the goods turn out to be counterfeit, the customs authorities must take appropriate measures to destroy them or to withdraw them from the channels of commerce.
Member States may take other measures, but simply removing the trade marks which have been affixed to the counterfeit goods is not sufficient.
Moreover, there is a simplified procedure to abandon or destroy the goods without proving that the intellectual property rights have been infringed. This procedure requires that the applicant should give his consent. The holder of the rights has to cover the cost of this procedure.
'; m12.title = 'Counterfeit goods'; glGlossaren['m12'] = m12; //hier var d2 = new Object(); d2.text = '

National authorities are entitled to carry out actions of infringement and actions for declarations of non infringement provided that they have been stipulated in the national legislation.
National authorities named “Community design courts” which identify counterfeit goods or the risk of dealing with counterfeit goods, may give the following orders:  
• an order to detain counterfeit products.
• an order to detain instruments which may have been used to manufacture counterfeit goods.
• an order to impose sanctions stipulated in the national legislation.
• an order to prohibit further counterfeiting.

The Community design courts take the appropriate measures to execute these orders in accordance with their national legislation.
Any appeal against a decision made by the Community design courts should be addressed to the Second Instance Court according to the appeal procedures stipulated in the national legislation.

'; d2.title = 'Counterfeit goods'; glGlossaren['d2'] = d2; //hier var i4 = new Object(); i4.text = '

The registration application must contain the following information: the written registration application i.e. the OHIM form, the identity of the applicant, a reproduction of the design, the classes of products for which this design has been created, the foreign language chosen for the registration procedure, and the proof that a registration fee has been paid.

The application may also include the applicant’s request to defer the design publication, a design description of no more than a hundred words, the designer’s name or a deposition in which he declares he gives up his rights in favour of a third party, and finally the identity of the professional representative acting on behalf of the applicant.

'; i4.title = 'Design application'; glGlossaren['i4'] = i4; //hier var d9 = new Object(); d9.text = '

The design is protected during five years starting from the filing date.

This period can be prolonged for one or several 5 year protection periods. The design can be protected during a maximum of twenty-five years starting from the filing date.

The renewal fee must be paid at the latest the last day of the month during which the design protection period comes to an end. An extra six month delay can be granted, but the holder must pay an additional fee.

'; d9.title = 'Design protection period'; glGlossaren['d9'] = d9; //hier var d34 = new Object(); d34.text = '

The OHIM formally examines the application and verifies that the protection criteria are respected. (cf. Community design, the design protection criteria). The OHIM can ask the applicant to correct some irregularities.

If the application meets these requirements, the design is registered with the Design Register and then published in the Community design journal. The registration date coincides with the date when the OHMI receive the design application file. Unless the design publication is deferred, the design is published in the Community design Journal once it has been registered.

'; d34.title = 'Design registration- Authorised person'; glGlossaren['d34'] = d34; //hier var d6 = new Object(); d6.text = '

The protection period begins once the design is disclosed.
The design is not considered as being disclosed if the initiatives to disclose it are not generally recognized as such by professionals operating within the Community.

A disclosure initiative means publishing, disclosing or using the design in sales outlets, or any other means to disclose it provided that professionals are “reasonably” well-informed.

A disclosure initiative has to be taken within the EU so that new rights can be conferred on the applicant.

This prevents the applicants who are not citizens of EU Member State to claim Community protection until they disclose their designs within the EU.

'; d6.title = 'Disclosure'; glGlossaren['d6'] = d6; //hier var m8 = new Object(); m8.text = 'Trade marks must be identified by a distinctive sign which is likely to be represented graphically, i.e. a sign (e.g. a word, a number…) that can distinguish the goods and services of one company from those of another.
Colours and their combinations, smell, sounds can also be protected if they are represented graphically.
This requirement concerning smells and sounds can be surprising but the CJEC (Court of Justice of the European Communities) explains that consumers can identify clearly the trade mark.
The filing application for a sound mark can be presented with a tape. The filing application for a smell can also be presented with a chemical formula or a written description. However, the CJEC considers these requirements as not enough if the applicant does not supply a graphic representation.
'; m8.title = 'Distinctive signs'; glGlossaren['m8'] = m8; //hier var i5 = new Object(); i5.text = 'There are two ways of dealing with conflicts with an earlier trade mark:
• if the signs are identical, the protection is absolute. The OHIM is entitled to declare the nullity of any prior trade mark.
• if the signs are similar, the holder of the earlier trade mark will have to prove there is a confusion risk for consumers. This means that people may believe that products are produced by the same company or by its partners. This confusion risk must be assessed in concreto, i.e. separately in accordance with the technique of the collection of indications.
However, the holder of the earlier trade mark who has authorized the use of any prior trade mark over more than five years is not entitled to challenge it. This is usually called debarment by tolerance.
'; i5.title = 'Earlier (Conflict with an earlier trade mark)'; glGlossaren['i5'] = i5; //hier var i6 = new Object(); i6.text = '

Before the filing date for an earlier application, any third party having used in good faith a Community design which has already been protected, and which therefore can not be considered to be a copy can then pretend he has a right based on an earlier trade mark use.

In this case, the third party may continue to exercise his design rights but he can neither remove a license nor assign his right (except for the case in which the design right is assigned to a company and for an activity which corresponds to the initial design use).

'; i6.title = 'Earlier (Use of a trade mark)'; glGlossaren['i6'] = i6; //hier var m3 = new Object(); m3.text = 'A visual sign represents the figurative element of a trade mark.
A figurative trade mark refers to a particular verbal sign, a graphic sign or the combination of these two elements. A figurative trade mark can be drawn in colour or in black and white (e.g. a logo, a number, a word...).
A complex figurative trade mark consists of two or several sign categories combining letters and graphics for example.
'; m3.title = 'Figurative mark'; glGlossaren['m3'] = m3; //hier var i7 = new Object(); i7.text = '

The registration application must contain the following information: the written registration application i.e. the OHIM form, the identity of the applicant, a reproduction of the design, the classes of products for which this design has been created, the foreign language chosen for the registration procedure, and the proof that a registration fee has been paid.

The application may also include the applicant’s request to defer the design publication, a design description of no more than a hundred words, the designer’s name or a deposition in which he declares he gives up his rights in favour of a third party, and finally the identity of the professional representative acting on behalf of the applicant.

'; i7.title = 'Filling the registration file'; glGlossaren['i7'] = i7; //hier var i8 = new Object(); i8.text = '

The trade mark registration file should contain the following elements:
• the trade mark sign which should have previously been verified by the OHIM which should confirm that the trade mark sign has not already been used in another EU Member State and that no one has any earlier exclusive rights to use it. The applicant should ask the intellectual property rights Committee to draw up a Community research report in which all the earlier Community registered trade mark signs are mentioned. If the report proves that the sign has previously been used, the trade mark will not be registered.
It is important to underline that this procedure requires a reproduction of the sign and that a simple written description of the trade mark sing is not enough. (including for the olfactory, the sound or the word trade mark registration applications)

• The trade mark registration form can be found at http://oami.europa.eu/fr/mark/marque/efentry.htm

This form contains information about the trade mark holder, the holder’s potential legal representative, the trade mark contents and the list of the products and services which will bear the respective trade mark.

'; i8.title = 'filling the registration file'; glGlossaren['i8'] = i8; //hier var i9 = new Object(); i9.text = '

The registration application can be filed in all the 21 official EU languages.

However, the applicant can choose a second foreign language among the 5 official OHIM foreign languages, i.e.  English, French, Spanish, German and Italian, should he make a design registration appeal to the OHIM.

The applicant/comptroller will then have the choice between the two languages the applicant has previously chosen.

'; i9.title = 'Foreign languages used'; glGlossaren['i9'] = i9; //hier var i10 = new Object(); i10.text = '

The trade mark registration application can be filed in all the 21 official EU languages.

However, the applicant can choose a second foreign language among the 5 official OHIM foreign languages, i.e.  English, French, Spanish, German and Italian, which he can use should he make a trade mark registration appeal before the OHIM.
 
The applicant/comptroller will then have the choice between the two languages he has previously chosen in his registration application.

'; i10.title = 'Foreign languages used'; glGlossaren['i10'] = i10; //hier var M18 = new Object(); M18.text = '

Legal representatives for trade marks, legal representatives for designs who are not representatives for trade marks as well as lawyers who work in one of the Member States are allowed to represent any applicant before the OHIM.
Applicants are not required to be represented when applications are filed for those who have neither a domicile nor a registered office, nor a place of business in the Community.
However, applicants have to be represented at the OHIM for all other proceedings.
The list of legal representatives is available at http://oami.europa.eu/search/agent/la/fr_Agents_search.cfm

 

'; M18.title = 'Legal representative'; glGlossaren['M18'] = M18; //hier var d18 = new Object(); d18.text = '

Legal representatives for trade marks, legal representatives for designs who are not representatives for trade marks as well as lawyers who work in one of the Member States are allowed to represent any applicant before the OHIM.
Applicants are not required to be represented when applications are filed for those who have neither a domicile nor a registered office, nor a place of business in the Community.
However, applicants have to be represented at the OHIM for all other proceedings.
The list of legal representatives is available at http://oami.europa.eu/search/agent/la/fr_Agents_search.cfm

 

'; d18.title = 'Legal representative'; glGlossaren['d18'] = d18; //hier var i11 = new Object(); i11.text = '

Legal representatives for trade marks, legal representatives for designs who are not representatives for trade marks as well as lawyers who work in one of the Member States are allowed to represent any applicant before the OHIM.
Applicants are not required to be represented when applications are filed for those who have neither a domicile nor a registered office, nor a place of business in the Community.
However, applicants have to be represented at the OHIM for all other proceedings.
The list of legal representatives is available at http://oami.europa.eu/search/agent/la/fr_Agents_search.cfm

 

'; i11.title = 'legql representative'; glGlossaren['i11'] = i11; //hier var i12 = new Object(); i12.text = '

The design holder can file a multiple application which could regard several designs provided that the products for which they were designed belong to the same range of products in accordance with the Locarno classification (cf http://oami.europa.eu/FR/design/eurolocarno8th.htm).

This enables the holder to save on registration costs because taxes are reduced when the proprietor submits other additional design registration applications.
The holder may also have the opportunity to save on registration costs when he submits registration applications for complex products.

'; i12.title = 'Multiple application'; glGlossaren['i12'] = i12; //hier var d14 = new Object(); d14.text = '

Community protection does not replace national protection, but it introduces an unique system, directly valid all over the EU. This system is also simplified because only one application is necessary and fees are generally lower.
Designs can always be registered at a national level with the national competent body, but the Community protection is more advantageous.

Indeed, this protection enables a company operating on a domestic market, to expand to other Member States (e.g. through a distribution contract) without running any risks since the design is protected all over the EU.

'; d14.title = 'National protection system'; glGlossaren['d14'] = d14; //hier var m10 = new Object(); m10.text = 'A national trade mark has to be registered with a national trade mark Office. National legislation governs national trade marks which are only valid within the national territory.'; m10.title = 'National trade mark'; glGlossaren['m10'] = m10; //hier var d31 = new Object(); d31.text = 'The design is not legally valid if :
• it is not in accordance with the definition given in the article 3 of order CE/6/2002,
• conditions for protection are not met (i.e. the innovative feature, the distinctive feature, etc.)
• the design creator or his assignee has not applied for registration,
• an ealier design has already been registered or a registration application has been filed,
• it contains a distinctive sign which has been protected,
• it is illegal because a work benefits from a protection concerning copyrights in a Member State,
• it makes abusive use of signs, emblems which are particularly important for a Member State, or protected elements listed in the Paris Convention (1883).
A design which has been declared nullified can be maintained in a modified form if the causes for nullity are proved to be false.
Once the design has been nullified, it is not legally valid anymore and this decision comes into effect retroactively.
This decision has no direct effect on contracts which were entered into or executed before the nullity, but assignees are entitled to ask for their money back. 
This decision has no effect on actions of infringement for counterfeit which benefit from the authority of judgements before the design nullity has been declared.
'; d31.title = 'Nullity (Causes for nullity for the design)'; glGlossaren['d31'] = d31; //hier var m33 = new Object(); m33.text = 'Absolute causes for nullity (c.f. article 7 of order 40/94) are the following:
• trade marks without any distinctive feature,
• trade marks which exclusively consist of signs used in trade to refer to a kind of products or services, quality, amount, purpose, value, origin, the production date,
• trade marks which exclusively consist of common signs in the usual language or in the habits and customs in trade,
• signs which exclusively consist of a shape required for a kind of product or a shape which is necessary to achieve the expected technical goals of a product or a shape which gives a substantial value to a product,
• trade marks which are contrary to low and morality.
'; m33.title = 'Nullity / (Causes for nullity for the trademark)'; glGlossaren['m33'] = m33; //hier var i13 = new Object(); i13.text = '

If the holder is not using his trade marks his rights may be withdrawn.
It means that his/her products or services must be sold on a market.

If a trade mark is not continuously used during five years, its holder may have his rights withdrawn unless he provides sufficient proofs (e.g. his/her pharmaceutical product is not authorised to be sold on the market). A trade mark is considered to be used if it has utilized in one Member State.

'; i13.title = 'Obligation of being put to a real and genuine use'; glGlossaren['i13'] = i13; //hier var m40 = new Object(); m40.text = '

If the holder is not using his trade marks his rights may be withdrawn.
It means that his/her products or services must be sold on a market.

If a trade mark is not continuously used during five years, its holder may have his rights withdrawn unless he provides sufficient proofs (e.g. his/her pharmaceutical product is not authorised to be sold on the market). A trade mark is considered to be used if it has utilized in one Member State.

'; m40.title = 'Obligation of using a right'; glGlossaren['m40'] = m40; //hier var d19 = new Object(); d19.text = 'The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) is a Community institution which is allowed to register, on the one hand, Community trade marks and, on the other hand, Community designs.
Contact details :
OHIM (Trade marks and designs)
Avenida de Europa, 4
E-03008 Alicante
SPAIN
Telephone number : + 34 96 513 9100
Fax number : + 34 96 513 1344
'; d19.title = 'OHIM (Institution)'; glGlossaren['d19'] = d19; //hier var m22 = new Object(); m22.text = 'The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) is a Community institution which is allowed to register, on the one hand, Community trade marks and, on the other hand, Community designs.
Contact details :
OHIM (Trade marks and designs)
Avenida de Europa, 4
E-03008 Alicante
SPAIN
Telephone number : + 34 96 513 9100
Fax number : + 34 96 513 1344
'; m22.title = 'OHIM (Institution)'; glGlossaren['m22'] = m22; //hier var i14 = new Object(); i14.text = '

The OHIM formally examines the application and verifies that the protection criteria are respected. (cf. Community design, the design protection criteria). The OHIM can ask the applicant to correct some irregularities.

If the application meets these requirements, the design is registered with the Design Register and then published in the Community design journal. The registration date coincides with the date when the OHMI receive the design application file. Unless the design publication is deferred, the design is published in the Community design Journal once it has been registered.

'; i14.title = 'OHIM (Role of the)'; glGlossaren['i14'] = i14; //hier var i15 = new Object(); i15.text = '

The trade mark registration date normally corresponds to the date when the OHIM departments receive the application file.

If the application file contains all the required documents, the Community trade mark Office confers registration date on the trade mark application file.

The filing fee must be paid by the trade mark holder within a month of filing the application.
Once the trade mark registration application is dated, the Community trade mark Office starts looking for any earlier Community trade marks. 
The Community trade mark Office demands all the national trade mark protection Offices to search for all the national trade marks registered beforehand.
However, some domestic trade mark protection offices refuse to carry out this type of research.
The applicant is advised to ask for a research report on all the national trade marks registered beforehand.
The trade mark registration office draws up such a report and sends it to the applicant.

Following this report the applicant may decide to withdraw his/her trade mark registration application (e.g. if there is a trade mark registered beforehand under the same name).
The trade mark registration office tests whether or not the trade mark meets all the legal requirements (e.g. if the trade mark is in accordance with the public policy or of the accepted principles of morality), and then if there are no specific reasons to reject the registration application, the trade mark registration office will publish the trade mark in the Community trade mark Journal.
The trade mark can be definitively registered only 3 months after the date when the trade mark is published. This period gives the owner of a national earlier trade mark the right to start legal opposition proceedings against any later trade mark registration applications.

If no legal opposition proceedings are started or if the opposition proceedings have been rejected, the OHIM can proceed with the trade mark registration process.

A registration fee has to be paid within 2 months.

'; i15.title = 'OHIM (Role of the)'; glGlossaren['i15'] = i15; //hier var m5 = new Object(); m5.text = '

An olfactory trade mark refers to a smell (e.g. perfume).
Nevertheless, the olfactory trade mark also involves graphics, i.e. images, lines or characters. Graphics have to be clear, precise, easily accessible, intelligible, durable and objective.
It should be pointed out that the OHIM and the Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEC) assess graphics very strictly. Graphics are rarely authorized by them.
 “A chemical formula, a description in words, a sample of a smell or the combination of these elements don not meet the requirements for graphics.”
Therefore, in actual fact it is difficult to register an olfactory trade mark.

 

'; m5.title = 'Olfactory mark'; glGlossaren['m5'] = m5; //hier var i16 = new Object(); i16.text = 'The owner of an earlier Community registered trade mark may challenge any later OHIM trade mark registration decision within three months following the date when the later trade mark registration application was filed. In this case the OHIM informs the holder of the later registered trade mark, who may either withdraw hisr registration application within two months if he considers that the opposition proceedings are justified, or try to come to an amicable agreement with his opponent, or go through with his trade mark registration application.
If the OHIM rejects the opposition proceedings, the trade mark is registered.
The opposition proceedings can be made only in one of the five OHIM official languages (i.e. English, French, German, Spanish and Italian) which have previously been chosen by the applicant (in his/her trade mark registration application).
'; i16.title = 'Opposition (proceeding)'; glGlossaren['i16'] = i16; //hier var d5 = new Object(); d5.text = '

The design Community protection only applies to the appearance of the product and not to its technical function which means that the patent can be differentiated from the design by its innovative technical or technological function. The design simply has an esthetic feature whereas the patent has a functional feature; it is merely a mechanism. Patents are protected by a different legal system.

'; d5.title = 'Patent'; glGlossaren['d5'] = d5; //hier var d10 = new Object(); d10.text = 'Generally the design is published as soon as the application has been filed. However the applicant may postpone the publication date, if for example he intends to keep the design secret until the product is launched. The deferment of publication is of 30 months from the filing date.
Nevertheless, until the design is not published, a minimum protection can be guaranteed and only its reproduction may be punished. The design will be published when the applicant requests it, and the publication fee will then have to be paid. 
Should there be multiple registrations to make, only the publication of some of the designs may be deferred.
'; d10.title = 'Postponment (of publication)'; glGlossaren['d10'] = d10; //hier var i17 = new Object(); i17.text = 'All the applicants who submit registration requests for a previous application within a State which ratified the Paris Convention Treaty (1883) or within a WTO Member State, enjoy a priority right valid during 6 month period after having submitted their first design registration application in order to register its design with the OHIM.  
A similar priority right is granted to the applicant who has revealed his/her designs during an international exhibition recognized as such by the Paris Convention Treaty. (1928)
'; i17.title = 'Priority rights'; glGlossaren['i17'] = i17; //hier var d3 = new Object(); d3.text = '

The Community protection has to meet  two conditions :
• the design has to contain an innovative feature, i.e. no identical design has been disclosed to the public before. A new design is considered to be identical to a prior design if “its features are different through minor details”.

• The design has to contain a distinctive feature. This means that the overall impression it makes on an informed user is different from the impression of all the designs which have already been disclosed to the public. The design has to be distinct from all other existing designs. The distinctive feature is assessed in accordance with the nature of product and the sector concerned. Indeed, the creator may have more or less leeway according to the sectors (e.g. : the fashion designer enjoys little leeway). Finally, the distinctive feature is assessed by polling a well-informed user, i.e. from the point of view of a perceptive consumer. From that point, judges will have to identify the economic sector as well as the value of prior designs.
As regards complex products the various parts of a product as well as the overall product are likely to be protected if they remain visible for consumers once they are put together and if they meet the requirements concerning the innovative feature and the distinctive feature.

'; d3.title = 'Protection (criteria)'; glGlossaren['d3'] = d3; //hier var i18 = new Object(); i18.text = '

The Community protection has to meet  two conditions :
• the design has to contain an innovative feature, i.e. no identical design has been disclosed to the public before. A new design is considered to be identical to a prior design if “its features are different through minor details”.

• The design has to contain a distinctive feature. This means that the overall impression it makes on an informed user is different from the impression of all the designs which have already been disclosed to the public. The design has to be distinct from all other existing designs. The distinctive feature is assessed in accordance with the nature of product and the sector concerned. Indeed, the creator may have more or less leeway according to the sectors (e.g. : the fashion designer enjoys little leeway). Finally, the distinctive feature is assessed by polling a well-informed user, i.e. from the point of view of a perceptive consumer. From that point, judges will have to identify the economic sector as well as the value of prior designs.
As regards complex products the various parts of a product as well as the overall product are likely to be protected if they remain visible for consumers once they are put together and if they meet the requirements concerning the innovative feature and the distinctive feature.

'; i18.title = 'Protection criteria'; glGlossaren['i18'] = i18; //hier var i19 = new Object(); i19.text = 'Generally the design is published as soon as the application has been filed. However the applicant may postpone the publication date, if for example he intends to keep the design secret until the product is launched. The deferment of publication is of 30 months from the filing date.
Nevertheless, until the design is not published, a minimum protection can be guaranteed and only its reproduction may be punished. The design will be published when the applicant requests it, and the publication fee will then have to be paid. 
Should there be multiple registrations to make, only the publication of some of the designs may be deferred.
'; i19.title = 'Publication'; glGlossaren['i19'] = i19; //hier var i20 = new Object(); i20.text = '

The design holder can file a multiple application which could regard several designs provided that the products for which they were designed belong to the same range of products in accordance with the Locarno classification (cf http://oami.europa.eu/FR/design/eurolocarno8th.htm).

This enables the holder to save on registration costs because taxes are reduced when the proprietor submits other additional design registration applications.
The holder may also have the opportunity to save on registration costs when he submits registration applications for complex products.

'; i20.title = 'Ranges of products - The Locarno Classification'; glGlossaren['i20'] = i20; //hier var d15 = new Object(); d15.text = 'Community design protection cannot be granted to particular raw materials (for example wood, metal).
The fact that a product is made of wood or metal is only considered as a secondary element of the appearance.
The conferred right does not give the right to production exclusivity of a particular wooden or metal product.
'; d15.title = 'Raw materials'; glGlossaren['d15'] = d15; //hier var d33 = new Object(); d33.text = '

The registration application must contain the following information: the written registration application i.e. the OHIM form, the identity of the applicant, a reproduction of the design, the classes of products for which this design has been created, the foreign language chosen for the registration procedure, and the proof that a registration fee has been paid.

The application may also include the applicant’s request to defer the design publication, a design description of no more than a hundred words, the designer’s name or a deposition in which he declares he gives up his rights in favour of a third party, and finally the identity of the professional representative acting on behalf of the applicant.

'; d33.title = 'Registration - Filling the application form'; glGlossaren['d33'] = d33; //hier var i21 = new Object(); i21.text = '

The application can be submitted by post, by fax, on-line at http://oami.europa.eu/fr/design/efentry.htm or directly at the OHIM headquarters.

 

'; i21.title = 'Registration file - Means of sending the registration file'; glGlossaren['i21'] = i21; //hier var i22 = new Object(); i22.text = '

There are several ways in which the applicant can be filed his registration application:

• Preferably on the OHIM website at: http://oami.europa.eu/fr/mark/marque/efentry.htm 
• by post, fax or submitting it directly to the OHIM headquarters. 

 

A signed original of the application in question should be filed to the OHIM.

 

'; i22.title = 'Registration file - Means of sending the registration file'; glGlossaren['i22'] = i22; //hier var i23 = new Object(); i23.text = '

The trade mark registration date normally corresponds to the date when the OHIM departments receive the application file.

If the application file contains all the required documents, the Community trade mark Office confers registration date on the trade mark application file.

The filing fee must be paid by the trade mark holder within a month of filing the application.
Once the trade mark registration application is dated, the Community trade mark Office starts looking for any earlier Community trade marks. 
The Community trade mark Office demands all the national trade mark protection Offices to search for all the national trade marks registered beforehand.
However, some domestic trade mark protection offices refuse to carry out this type of research.
The applicant is advised to ask for a research report on all the national trade marks registered beforehand.
The trade mark registration office draws up such a report and sends it to the applicant.

Following this report the applicant may decide to withdraw his/her trade mark registration application (e.g. if there is a trade mark registered beforehand under the same name).
The trade mark registration office tests whether or not the trade mark meets all the legal requirements (e.g. if the trade mark is in accordance with the public policy or of the accepted principles of morality), and then if there are no specific reasons to reject the registration application, the trade mark registration office will publish the trade mark in the Community trade mark Journal.
The trade mark can be definitively registered only 3 months after the date when the trade mark is published. This period gives the owner of a national earlier trade mark the right to start legal opposition proceedings against any later trade mark registration applications.

If no legal opposition proceedings are started or if the opposition proceedings have been rejected, the OHIM can proceed with the trade mark registration process.

A registration fee has to be paid within 2 months.

'; i23.title = 'Registration procedure'; glGlossaren['i23'] = i23; //hier var i24 = new Object(); i24.text = '

The OHIM formally examines the application and verifies that the protection criteria are respected. (cf. Community design, the design protection criteria). The OHIM can ask the applicant to correct some irregularities.

If the application meets these requirements, the design is registered with the Design Register and then published in the Community design journal. The registration date coincides with the date when the OHMI receive the design application file. Unless the design publication is deferred, the design is published in the Community design Journal once it has been registered.

'; i24.title = 'Registration procedure'; glGlossaren['i24'] = i24; //hier var i25 = new Object(); i25.text = '

Legal representatives for trade marks, legal representatives for designs who are not representatives for trade marks as well as lawyers who work in one of the Member States are allowed to represent any applicant before the OHIM.
Applicants are not required to be represented when applications are filed for those who have neither a domicile nor a registered office, nor a place of business in the Community.
However, applicants have to be represented at the OHIM for all other proceedings.
The list of legal representatives is available at http://oami.europa.eu/search/agent/la/fr_Agents_search.cfm

 

'; i25.title = 'Representation'; glGlossaren['i25'] = i25; //hier var i26 = new Object(); i26.text = '

Legal representatives for trade marks, legal representatives for designs who are not representatives for trade marks as well as lawyers who work in one of the Member States are allowed to represent any applicant before the OHIM.
Applicants are not required to be represented when applications are filed for those who have neither a domicile nor a registered office, nor a place of business in the Community.
However, applicants have to be represented at the OHIM for all other proceedings.
The list of legal representatives is available at http://oami.europa.eu/search/agent/la/fr_Agents_search.cfm

 

'; i26.title = 'Representation'; glGlossaren['i26'] = i26; //hier var m4 = new Object(); m4.text = 'A sound mark refers to a melody that enables consumers to immediately recognise a trade mark.
Products and services provided by a company can be distinguished from those provided by another company through sounds, which therefore, may be considered as a trade mark.
A sound mark involves graphics, i.e. images, lines or characters. Graphics have to be clear, precise, complete, easily accessible, intelligible, durable and objective (e.g. a stave beginning with a clef, musical notes, etc.)
'; m4.title = 'Sound mark'; glGlossaren['m4'] = m4; //hier var m19 = new Object(); m19.text = '

Several taxes must be paid during the registration procedure : (2006 tariffs – individual marks)

• Filling application: for filing a Community trade mark by fax, by post…: the applicant has to pay 900 euros for each of the first three products or services, then 150 euros more for any added product or service.
• On line: 750 for each of the first three products  or services then 150 euros more for any added product or service.
• Registered trade mark: the applicant has to pay 850 euros for each of the first three products or services then 150 euros more for any added product or service.

All taxes must be paid in euros

'; m19.title = 'Taxes'; glGlossaren['m19'] = m19; //hier var d37 = new Object(); d37.text = '

Tax rates amount as follows (2006 tariffs) :

• as regard the first design, the registration fee amounts to 230 euros, the publication fee amounts to 120 euros and the deferment fee amounts to 40 euros.
• As regard the second to the tenth design, the registration fee amounts to 115 euros, the publication fee amounts to 60 euros and the deferment fee amounts to 20 euros.
• From the eleventh design, the registration fee amounts to 50 euros, the publication fee amounts to 30 euros and the deferment fee amounts to 10 euros.

Fees must be paid in euros.

'; d37.title = 'Taxes'; glGlossaren['d37'] = d37; //hier var m30 = new Object(); m30.text = 'R (CE) nr. 40/94'; m30.title = 'Text of reference'; glGlossaren['m30'] = m30; //hier var d30 = new Object(); d30.text = 'R (CE) nr. 6/2002'; d30.title = 'Text of reference'; glGlossaren['d30'] = d30; //hier var d35 = new Object(); d35.text = '

The application can be submitted by post, by fax, on-line at http://oami.europa.eu/fr/design/efentry.htm or directly at the OHIM headquarters.

 

'; d35.title = 'The design registration - Means of sending the design registration file'; glGlossaren['d35'] = d35; //hier var d17 = new Object(); d17.text = '

The design holder can file a multiple application which could regard several designs provided that the products for which they were designed belong to the same range of products in accordance with the Locarno classification (cf http://oami.europa.eu/FR/design/eurolocarno8th.htm).

This enables the holder to save on registration costs because taxes are reduced when the proprietor submits other additional design registration applications.
The holder may also have the opportunity to save on registration costs when he submits registration applications for complex products.

'; d17.title = 'The design registration - Multiple design registration application'; glGlossaren['d17'] = d17; //hier var i27 = new Object(); i27.text = '

Tax rates amount as follows (2006 tariffs) :

• as regard the first design, the registration fee amounts to 230 euros, the publication fee amounts to 120 euros and the deferment fee amounts to 40 euros.
• As regard the second to the tenth design, the registration fee amounts to 115 euros, the publication fee amounts to 60 euros and the deferment fee amounts to 20 euros.
• From the eleventh design, the registration fee amounts to 50 euros, the publication fee amounts to 30 euros and the deferment fee amounts to 10 euros.

Fees must be paid in euros.

'; i27.title = 'The design registration - The cost of the registration procedure'; glGlossaren['i27'] = i27; //hier var d36 = new Object(); d36.text = '

The registration application can be filed in all the 21 official EU languages.

However, the applicant can choose a second foreign language among the 5 official OHIM foreign languages, i.e.  English, French, Spanish, German and Italian, should he make a design registration appeal to the OHIM.

The applicant/comptroller will then have the choice between the two languages the applicant has previously chosen.

'; d36.title = 'The design registration application - Foreign languages'; glGlossaren['d36'] = d36; //hier var d20 = new Object(); d20.text = 'The design application should be filed and registered either at the OHIM headquarters or at any of its national administrative centres which are due to send the design registration application to the OHIM headquarters within two weeks.
The OHIM sends a filing receipt to the applicant.
'; d20.title = 'The design registration- Design registration centres (the OHIM)'; glGlossaren['d20'] = d20; //hier var d38 = new Object(); d38.text = 'All the applicants who submit registration requests for a previous application within a State which ratified the Paris Convention Treaty (1883) or within a WTO Member State, enjoy a priority right valid during 6 month period after having submitted their first design registration application in order to register its design with the OHIM.  
A similar priority right is granted to the applicant who has revealed his/her designs during an international exhibition recognized as such by the Paris Convention Treaty. (1928)
'; d38.title = 'The design registration- the priority right /the right of priority'; glGlossaren['d38'] = d38; //hier var d13 = new Object(); d13.text = 'Once the holder of a Community design introduces or authorizes his products to be sold on an EU Member State market, he will no longer have the right to invoke opposition proceedings against his products being sold in another EU Member State.'; d13.title = 'The exhaustion of the design conferred rights'; glGlossaren['d13'] = d13; //hier var m41 = new Object(); m41.text = '

Once the owner of a Community trade mark introduces or authorizes his/her products to be sold on an EU Member State market, he/she will no longer have the right to invoke opposition proceedings against his/her products being sold in another EU Member State. 

In this way the trade mark holder is prevented from dividing up a market and from selling the same product at different prices in different Member States.
There are some exceptions to this rule for any legitimate reasons.
For example, no changes which might alter the packaging original form should be made.
Furthermore, the stockist should not act disloyally with regard to the trade mark owner’s legitimate interests (e.g. as far as his/her advertising decisions are concerned).
The exhaustion of the trade mark conferred rights does not apply to any business relationships with any non EU Member State.

'; m41.title = 'The exhaustion of the trade mark conferred rights'; glGlossaren['m41'] = m41; //hier var m23 = new Object(); m23.text = 'The Madrid Protocol is an international treaty which was signed in 1989 by the European Community and implements a legal system for the registration of trade marks worldwide.
Thanks to the Madrid Protocol companies are not required to apply for trade mark and design registrations in all Member States.
Companies apply to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) in Geneva and choose the States (which are parties to the treaty) where they want to protect their trade marks.
The designated Member States then have 18 months to refuse the registration application. If no answer is sent to the applicant, the registration application is considered to be accepted.
Before applying to the WIPO, the trade marks have to be legally registered with the trade mark Office of a State which is signatory to the Madrid Protocol.
This means that, on the one hand, companies operating in the Community may benefit from a protection which is extended to other Member States without filing any application directly to these third States, and on the other hand, the companies operating in these third party States which are signatories to the Madrid Protocol are entitled to benefit from the Community protection without applying to the OHIM.
The application for international registration may be based on an actual national registration or even an application for national registration.
National trade mark offices are entitled to charge companies individual fees.
'; m23.title = 'The Madrid Protocol'; glGlossaren['m23'] = m23; //hier var d12 = new Object(); d12.text = 'The period of grace enables the designer not to disclose his design during a twelve month period from the filing date. Therefore during this period the design innovative feature can be kept and registered designs can be protected.
This enables companies to test their products on the market before deciding whether or not they should protect their designs. Therefore they may reduce their costs since a fee must be paid when the application is registered.
However, once the design disclosed the proprietor has only one year to file a registration application to the OHIM.
'; d12.title = 'The period of grace'; glGlossaren['d12'] = d12; //hier var i28 = new Object(); i28.text = '

Several taxes must be paid during the registration procedure : (2006 tariffs – individual marks)

• Filling application: for filing a Community trade mark by fax, by post…: the applicant has to pay 900 euros for each of the first three products or services, then 150 euros more for any added product or service.
• On line: 750 for each of the first three products  or services then 150 euros more for any added product or service.
• Registered trade mark: the applicant has to pay 850 euros for each of the first three products or services then 150 euros more for any added product or service.

All taxes must be paid in euros

'; i28.title = 'The trade mark registration - The cost of the registration procedure'; glGlossaren['i28'] = i28; //hier var m7 = new Object(); m7.text = 'A three-dimensional mark refers to a three-dimensional object or product which is manufactured to recognise it from a common object or product. (e.g. a plastic bottle with an original shape).
The object or product must have a distinctive feature and has to be graphically represented.
The OHIM is demanding to accept a distinctive feature.   
'; m7.title = 'Three-dimensional mark'; glGlossaren['m7'] = m7; //hier var i29 = new Object(); i29.text = 'A Community trade mark can be turned into a national trade mark. A Community trade mark application can be turned into a national trade mark application.
Should the trade mark registration be refused by a Community body, this conversion enables a company to appeal to a national body.
This conversion may be made when the Community trade mark is refused, repealed or stripped.
If there is no reason to refuse or repeal the Community trade mark at national level, trade marks will not be granted national protection.
The national application date is actually the OHIM filing date.
A conversion request must be introduced before the OHIM. Then, national offices decide on the national registration.
A registration fee must be paid.
'; i29.title = 'Trade mark - Change'; glGlossaren['i29'] = i29; //hier var m25 = new Object(); m25.text = 'A collective trade mark means that a group of applicants (e.g. an association) may apply to register a trade mark.
Generally the collective mark conforms to the same legal system as the individual trade mark with few exceptions : for example the registration of a collective trade mark has to contain regulations for the use of the trade mark.
'; m25.title = 'Trade mark - Collective mark'; glGlossaren['m25'] = m25; //hier var m9 = new Object(); m9.text = 'Community trade marks are filed to the OHIM. Only the Community law stipulates the rules of Community trade marks which are in force within the European Union (EU).
Thanks to the Community protection the protection of a trade mark which is initially only registered for a domestic market can then be extended to other Member States (e.g. through a distribution contract) without running any risks since the trade mark is protected all over the EU.
The Community protection is therefore more convenient since the area which is covered by the Community protection is wider and enables the holder of the Community trade mark to save money. 
'; m9.title = 'Trade mark - Community trade mark'; glGlossaren['m9'] = m9; //hier var m1 = new Object(); m1.text = 'A trade mark is a distinctive sign (cf. Distinctive sign) that enables consumers to recognise a product or a service.'; m1.title = 'Trade mark - Contents'; glGlossaren['m1'] = m1; //hier var i30 = new Object(); i30.text = '

Any person or legal entity from a Member State, from a State signatory to the Paris Convention for the protection of Intellectual Property (1883), or from a WTO Member State is entitled to hold a Community trade mark.

As regards members of other States, the Commission recognise them the right to hold a Community trade mark, if their State of origin has a similar system based on reciprocity.

'; i30.title = 'Trade mark - owner'; glGlossaren['i30'] = i30; //hier var m31 = new Object(); m31.text = 'There are two ways of dealing with conflicts with an earlier trade mark:
• if the signs are identical, the protection is absolute. The OHIM is entitled to declare the nullity of any prior trade mark.
• if the signs are similar, the holder of the earlier trade mark will have to prove there is a confusion risk for consumers. This means that people may believe that products are produced by the same company or by its partners. This confusion risk must be assessed in concreto, i.e. separately in accordance with the technique of the collection of indications.
However, the holder of the earlier trade mark who has authorized the use of any prior trade mark over more than five years is not entitled to challenge it. This is usually called debarment by tolerance.
'; m31.title = 'Trade mark - Prior trade mark conflict'; glGlossaren['m31'] = m31; //hier var i31 = new Object(); i31.text = 'The trade mark registration application should be submitted and registered either at the OHIM headquarters or at any of its national administrative centres which are due to send the trade mark registration application to the OHIM headquarters within a month period.'; i31.title = 'Trade mark application'; glGlossaren['i31'] = i31; //hier var m24 = new Object(); m24.text = 'Once registered, a trade mark is valid for 10 years and can be renewed indefinitely. The trade mark cannot be modified. '; m24.title = 'Trade Mark protection period'; glGlossaren['m24'] = m24; //hier var m34 = new Object(); m34.text = '

The trade mark registration file should contain the following elements:
• the trade mark sign which should have previously been verified by the OHIM which should confirm that the trade mark sign has not already been used in another EU Member State and that no one has any earlier exclusive rights to use it. The applicant should ask the intellectual property rights Committee to draw up a Community research report in which all the earlier Community registered trade mark signs are mentioned. If the report proves that the sign has previously been used, the trade mark will not be registered.
It is important to underline that this procedure requires a reproduction of the sign and that a simple written description of the trade mark sing is not enough. (including for the olfactory, the sound or the word trade mark registration applications)

• The trade mark registration form can be found at http://oami.europa.eu/fr/mark/marque/efentry.htm

This form contains information about the trade mark holder, the holder’s potential legal representative, the trade mark contents and the list of the products and services which will bear the respective trade mark.

'; m34.title = 'Trade mark registration - Filling the application form'; glGlossaren['m34'] = m34; //hier var m36 = new Object(); m36.text = '

The trade mark registration application can be filed in all the 21 official EU languages.

However, the applicant can choose a second foreign language among the 5 official OHIM foreign languages, i.e.  English, French, Spanish, German and Italian, which he can use should he make a trade mark registration appeal before the OHIM.
 
The applicant/comptroller will then have the choice between the two languages he has previously chosen in his registration application.

'; m36.title = 'Trade mark registration - Foreign languages'; glGlossaren['m36'] = m36; //hier var m37 = new Object(); m37.text = '

There are several ways in which the applicant can be filed his registration application:

• Preferably on the OHIM website at: http://oami.europa.eu/fr/mark/marque/efentry.htm 
• by post, fax or submitting it directly to the OHIM headquarters. 

 

A signed original of the application in question should be filed to the OHIM.

 

'; m37.title = 'Trade mark registration - Means of sending the application form'; glGlossaren['m37'] = m37; //hier var m32 = new Object(); m32.text = '

The trade mark registration date normally corresponds to the date when the OHIM departments receive the application file.

If the application file contains all the required documents, the Community trade mark Office confers registration date on the trade mark application file.

The filing fee must be paid by the trade mark holder within a month of filing the application.
Once the trade mark registration application is dated, the Community trade mark Office starts looking for any earlier Community trade marks. 
The Community trade mark Office demands all the national trade mark protection Offices to search for all the national trade marks registered beforehand.
However, some domestic trade mark protection offices refuse to carry out this type of research.
The applicant is advised to ask for a research report on all the national trade marks registered beforehand.
The trade mark registration office draws up such a report and sends it to the applicant.

Following this report the applicant may decide to withdraw his/her trade mark registration application (e.g. if there is a trade mark registered beforehand under the same name).
The trade mark registration office tests whether or not the trade mark meets all the legal requirements (e.g. if the trade mark is in accordance with the public policy or of the accepted principles of morality), and then if there are no specific reasons to reject the registration application, the trade mark registration office will publish the trade mark in the Community trade mark Journal.
The trade mark can be definitively registered only 3 months after the date when the trade mark is published. This period gives the owner of a national earlier trade mark the right to start legal opposition proceedings against any later trade mark registration applications.

If no legal opposition proceedings are started or if the opposition proceedings have been rejected, the OHIM can proceed with the trade mark registration process.

A registration fee has to be paid within 2 months.

'; m32.title = 'Trade mark registration - the trade mark registration procedure'; glGlossaren['m32'] = m32; //hier var m38 = new Object(); m38.text = 'The trade mark registration rights are the following ones :
• the priority right: the trade mark registration priority right is established on the date when the application is filed;
• the exhibition priority right: if a trade mark was revealed during an official exhibition and if the application was registered during a 6 month period following the day when the application was filed, then the trade mark registration priority right is established on the exhibition date.
• the domestic trade mark seniority right. The trade mark seniority right conferred on national trade marks has been extended (at an European level) and is now conferred on all Community trade marks. This extension is valid only in the EU Member State in which the trade mark has already been protected. 
'; m38.title = 'Trade mark registration - Trade mark registration rights'; glGlossaren['m38'] = m38; //hier var i32 = new Object(); i32.text = 'Once registered, a trade mark is valid for 10 years and can be renewed indefinitely. The trade mark cannot be modified. '; i32.title = 'Trade mark registration procedure period'; glGlossaren['i32'] = i32; //hier var i33 = new Object(); i33.text = '

Any person or legal entity from a Member State, from a State signatory to the Paris Convention for the protection of Intellectual Property (1883), or from a WTO Member State is entitled to hold a Community trade mark.

As regards members of other States, the Commission recognise them the right to hold a Community trade mark, if their State of origin has a similar system based on reciprocity.

'; i33.title = 'Trade mark registration- Authorized person'; glGlossaren['i33'] = i33; //hier var m35 = new Object(); m35.text = 'The owner of an earlier Community registered trade mark may challenge any later OHIM trade mark registration decision within three months following the date when the later trade mark registration application was filed. In this case the OHIM informs the holder of the later registered trade mark, who may either withdraw hisr registration application within two months if he considers that the opposition proceedings are justified, or try to come to an amicable agreement with his opponent, or go through with his trade mark registration application.
If the OHIM rejects the opposition proceedings, the trade mark is registered.
The opposition proceedings can be made only in one of the five OHIM official languages (i.e. English, French, German, Spanish and Italian) which have previously been chosen by the applicant (in his/her trade mark registration application).
'; m35.title = 'Trade mark registration- Opposition proceedings'; glGlossaren['m35'] = m35; //hier var m15 = new Object(); m15.text = 'The trade mark registration application should be submitted and registered either at the OHIM headquarters or at any of its national administrative centres which are due to send the trade mark registration application to the OHIM headquarters within a month period.'; m15.title = 'Trade mark registration-the Trade mark registration centres (the OHIM)'; glGlossaren['m15'] = m15; //hier var i34 = new Object(); i34.text = '

The rights conferred by a registered trade mark include:
• exclusive rights conferred on the proprietor to use his own trade mark. He/she may authorize a third party to use it (e.g. licence),
• the right to forbid a third party to use the trade mark sign.


It should be noted that renowned trade marks enjoy a broader protection. The use of the trade mark for non-similar products may also be forbidden for example when a company profits from another trade mark’s reputation through a similar symbol.

 

The Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEC) stipulates that a trade mark is considered as renowned when it is known by public and throughout a substantial part of the territory. 
When a symbol is protected in a single Member State the proprietor can challenge the registration of a community trade mark.

'; i34.title = 'Unauthorised third parties'; glGlossaren['i34'] = i34; //hier var i35 = new Object(); i35.text = '

Legal representatives for trade marks, legal representatives for designs who are not representatives for trade marks as well as lawyers who work in one of the Member States are allowed to represent any applicant before the OHIM.
Applicants are not required to be represented when applications are filed for those who have neither a domicile nor a registered office, nor a place of business in the Community.
However, applicants have to be represented at the OHIM for all other proceedings.
The list of legal representatives is available at http://oami.europa.eu/search/agent/la/fr_Agents_search.cfm

 

'; i35.title = 'Unauthorised third parties'; glGlossaren['i35'] = i35; //hier var d7 = new Object(); d7.text = 'Community legislation also includes legal regulations to protect the UCDs. It aims to meet the demands of certain economic sectors which produce a large number of designs with short life cycles.
These designs benefit from a short term protection involving fewer administrative formalities. Such protection is granted automatically becoming valid immediately all over the Community. National legislation does not confer such a similar protection. An individual or legal entity can claim protection regardless of their domiciliation or nationality. The two forms of protection, registered or unregistered, can be combined.
'; d7.title = 'Unregistered Community Design (UCD) -Definition'; glGlossaren['d7'] = d7; //hier var d39 = new Object(); d39.text = '

The design is protected as soon as it has been disclosed. Its protection has to meet certain requirements concerning the design innovative and distinctive features. It is valid for a three year period. However, unlike the protection granted to RCDs, this form of protection only concerns copyrights. No one is entitled to ask for exclusive rights. Nevertheless, this extent of this form of protection is larger than the copyright-related protection.

The two forms of protection (i.e. RCDs & UCDs) can be combined thanks to the period of grace granted to RCDs. Indeed, in accordance with the period of grace, the designer can claim that RCD protection should be applied during one year starting from the date when the design was disclosed since it is better than UCD protection.

The designer will then benefit from UCD protection for two years.

Therefore, by combining the two forms of protection, the designer will benefit from larger protection during the first year following the day of disclosure.

 In the event that a third party creates a new design which has already been protected, this design will not be considered as a copyright if it was independently created and if the third party proves he was not aware of its original existence.

The applicant for a UCD is not supposed to be the person who benefits from this protection, has to provide the appropriate evidence in case of conflicts. The applicant also has to prove he has not taken any initiatives to disclose the design.

 

'; d39.title = 'Unregistered Community Design - UCD'; glGlossaren['d39'] = d39; //hier var d4 = new Object(); d4.text = '

Before the filing date for an earlier application, any third party having used in good faith a Community design which has already been protected, and which therefore can not be considered to be a copy can then pretend he has a right based on an earlier trade mark use.

In this case, the third party may continue to exercise his design rights but he can neither remove a license nor assign his right (except for the case in which the design right is assigned to a company and for an activity which corresponds to the initial design use).

'; d4.title = 'Use of an earlier trade mark in good faith'; glGlossaren['d4'] = d4; //hier var m6 = new Object(); m6.text = 'A word mark refers to the prononciation of the name of the trade mark.
A word mark consists exclusively of letters, words or word association, which are written in block capitals without any particular graphic sign.
'; m6.title = 'Word mark'; glGlossaren['m6'] = m6;