New INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPILING AND SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADEMARKS have been prescribed by the Patent Office. The instructions came into force on 04 February 1997. We have pointed out some differences as compared to the earlier instructions.
According to the new instructions the POWER OF ATTORNEY must be filed within TWO MONTHS from the filing date of the application. Also the term for filing priority documents, in case the priority is sought, is much longer. Now the PRIORITY DOCUMENTS must be filed with the Patent Office within THREE MONTHS from the date of filing the application for registration. Before the time limits were two weeks and one month, respectively.
If the verbal part of a trademark is identical with a company's name (or business name) which has been entered into the Business Register of Estonia, the corresponding LETTER OF CONSENT from this company IS REQUIRED, irrespective of the major field of activities of the company. Before the consent was necessary only if the company's field of activity was similar or close to the goods/services marked by the trademark.
As for the application the main field of activity of the applicant and the date of starting business must also be mentioned. All documents are submitted to the Patent Office in Estonian or with the proper translation into Estonian. It concerns also the trademark itself. A word mark or verbal part of the trademark must be always translated into Estonian.
Now it is also obligatory always to give the list of goods or services in the application. THE EXPRESSION "ALL GOODS(SERVICES) IN CLASS ... " IS NOT ACCEPTED ANY MORE. In class 42 it is not allowed to use the expression "services which do not belong to other classes".
As different from the earlier practice, the PATENT OFFICE now ACCEPTS ALSO DOCUMENTS SENT BY FACSIMILE. Only THE ORIGINALS MUST FOLLOW WITHIN A MONTH. Still the other ways of electronic mail are not accepted yet.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
See More Popular Content From