On 3 June 2016 Bulgaria became the 10th country to ratify the Unitary Patent Convention (UPC) Agreement. The other countries so far are Finland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Malta, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, France and Austria. The unitary patent system requires 13 countries to ratify, including the UK, France and Germany. So apart from the UK and Germany,…
EUTM application rejected because of likelihood of confusion (comparison of figurative signs – HIPO LAND / HIPO)
Hipoland AD, represented by the team of IP Consulting, Ltd. filed an opposition against all the goods of European Union trade mark application No 13 399 456 hipo, applied by HIPO – P.G. GOLDA. The opponent is owner of a group of trade marks – Hippoland containing the element – HIPPO and an image of…
United States of America and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs – first HAGUE design already registered
On 13.02. 2015, the United States of America deposited its instrument of ratification to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (“Hague Agreement”) with the International Bureau of World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”). This marked the last step in the membership process for the United States to become…
Lack of statement of ground leads to dismissing an appeal as inadmissible
In its decision of 16 October 2015, the Third Board of Аppeal dismissed an appeal against a decision made by Invalidity Division rejecting an application for declaration of invalidity. A.B.A S.R.L. filed an application for declaration of invalidity against registered community design No. 1 965 104 for “Spray Bottles”, owned by VESMAR 23 EOOD and…
Double identity case in OHIM
OHIM confirms the practice of art. 8(1)(a) – “double identity” in the case ULTRA CHOCO vrs. ULTRA CHOCO Agroekola EOOD, represented by the team of IP Consulting and owner of registered Community trade mark No 9 221 111 ULTRA CHOCO filed an Opposition against all the goods of Community trade mark application No 9 571…
Opposition, based on non-registered trade mark rejected as the opponent cannot show actual commercial use, but only intention for use
Bulgarian Patent Office (BPO) rejects an opposition based on a non-registered prior trade mark due to the fact that the opponent cannot fulfils the condition that the prior use should be related to commercial activity. The opposition was filed against trade mark application No 133612 – ТеРаПро (TeRaPro). The trade mark is represented by the…
Decision which clarifies the conditions for cancelation of trade mark registration, based on prior non-registered trade mark
Bulgarian Patent Office (BPO) has decided to reject a request for partial cancellation of a registered trademark because one the requirements under Art.38b, par.1 from Law on Marks and Geographical Indications is not met, namely the applied trademark witch is claimed to be in prior commercial use is not the same trademark as the already…
The specifics of the trade mark opposition system in Bulgaria – IP Consulting article in ECTA magazine
IP Consulting article in ECTA magazine The founder of IP Consulting Mr. Ing. Ivan Ivanov and the partner in the company Mrs. Aglika Ivanova, ECTA members The article is a presentation of the trademark opposition system in Bulgaria – four years after its implementation, for the readers of ECTA magazine. Both authors are Bulgarian and European…
European Trademark ( CTM ) – the progress of the reform
European Trademark ( CTM ) – the progress of the reform On 10 June 2015, the Council’s Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) approved a compromise agreement on the reform of the European trade mark system. The reform of the current system will improve the conditions for businesses to innovate and to benefit from more effective trade mark protection against counterfeits,…
“Trademarks – oppositions”- bottlenecks in opposition proceedings
The post “Trademarks – oppositions”- bottlenecks in opposition proceedings appeared first on IP Bulgaria We talked about the new book of publishing house IPbulgaria “Trademarks – oppositions”, by the authors att. Aglika Ivanova and Ivan Ivanov, with Mrs. Iveta Borisova – Chairman of the Bulgarian National Group of AIPPI (International Association for the Protection of…