In a letter to practitioners the Registrar of Trade Marks has announced a change in procedure, regarding applications for extensions of time to oppose trade mark applications which have been published as accepted.
The statutory term for filing a notice of opposition is two months from advertisement and for many years the official practice was to grant reasonably liberal extensions to a potential opponent. The custom was thought to be within the powers of the Registrar and to be helpful in permitting negotiations with the applicant and enabling settlement of the grounds and wording of the notice of opposition.
Under the revised policy announced by the Registrar the two-month term will be strictly enforced and time will not be extended for initial submission of the notice of opposition. Once that is on the file, however, the Registrar will be more ready to grant extensions of time for subsequent stages of the proceedings.
The change is intended to rationalise the operations of the Trade Marks Office and is based on the Registrar’s view that the prescribed term is sufficient for its purpose.
After consideration and discussions Spoor & Fisher Jersey have decided that the new regime shall be accepted, save possibly in exceptional cases. Accordingly, clients who may be interested in opposing an advertised Zambia trade mark application will be advised to proceed immediately with the formal notice on whatever grounds are immediately apparent. Any negotiations and fine-tuning of the grounds of objection will be dealt with at greater leisure, at later stages.
Mac Spence
Spoor & Fisher Jersey