On December 21, 2015, Law No. 27,222 was enacted, by which article 18 of "Mediation" Law No. 26,589 and the articles 16 and 17 of the Trademark Law No. 22,362 were modified.
According to local legislation, there is an annual term established by law to overcome oppositions. Oppositions are published in the Official Gazette. During that time the applicant should negotiate with the opponent the withdrawal of the opposition, under the penalty of abandonment. If there is no success in these negotiations, the next step would be the initiation of the mediation instance. It should be said that mediation is a preliminary and compulsory stage before Court instance, which gives the possibility to continue negotiations between the parties involved.
According to the "older" Argentinian Law and the disposition 2038/2010 of the Trademark Office, the initiation of the mediation stage suspended the annual deadline that the applicants have to overcome oppositions.
Law No. 27,222 establishes that the suspensive effect of prescription and limitation periods because of the initiation of mediation procedure shall not apply to the process of applying to trademark registrations and also to opposition procedures. The new law aims to avoid pre-trial mediation proceedings from suspending the 1-year term provided by article 16 of Law 22,362. This means that, after Law No. 27.222 comes into force, the initiation of mediation within the annual term will not suspend the corresponding annual deadline.
Law 27.222 will enter into force on March 23, 2016.
Source: www.boletinoficial.gov.ar
Previously published on 12 January 2016
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