EFIS 25, May 2009 : Intellectual Property

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Under rule 19 of the Trade Marks Rules 2008, the Registrar has the power to issue a preliminary indication which provides the parties in a dispute with a provisional opinion as to the likely outcome of their case.

The UK Intellectual Property Office has amended TM7 and TM8 to enable the parties in a dispute to request the issue of a preliminary indication from 11th May.

In future, preliminary indications will no longer be issued on a routine basis. However, in certain circumstances, the Registrar will retain residual power to issue a preliminary indication even when the parties do not request it.

Current editions of TM7 and TM8 will not be accepted after 11th June.

We recommend that intellectual property practitioners should use the amended versions of TM7 and TM8 for applications submitted on or after 11th May.

Forms affected

TM7	Notice of opposition and statement of grounds		New/Amended
TM8	Notice of defence and counterstatement		New/Amended

Crown copyright forms are reproduced with the permission of the Controller of the Stationery Office. Law Society forms are reproduced with the permission of the Law Society. Legal Aid Forms are produced with the permission of the LSC.