- Inés Cantero, legal adviser in the ABG IP Trademark department and former examiner of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has lectured on “The process of registration of the EU trade mark: application, processing, opposition and appeals before the EUIPO”
The first day on which EU trade mark applications could be filed was 1 April 1996. One month later, more 20,000 applications had already been received. “The European Union trademark application is a faster and cheaper system than making a national trademark application in each of the 28 member states,” said Inés Cantero, legal adviser in the ABG Trademark department, to the students of the Master’s degree in Intellectual and Industrial Property and New Technologies of the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid (UAM) on Monday, 20th January.
The reason, as she pointed out, is that, unlike the European patent system, in the case of trademarks a single trademark application filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) can obtain trademark protection in all 28 EU Member States. It means that there is no need to validate the title of protection in all 28 member states.
Inés Cantero was an examiner of the EUIPO, so she knows in depth both the procedures and the organization of the agency that is responsible for granting protection to Community Trademarks and Designs.
European Union Trademarks
Throughout the 4 hours of the session that Inés Cantero teaches for the fifth consecutive year, she has explained all the requirements for the trademark registration in the European Union and its formalities. She also explained the opposition procedure which may prevent the registration of a trademark application by competitors, the evidence of use and the appeals before EUIPO with real practical examples.
This presentation is part of the Master Degree’s programme in IP that is taught at the UAM since the 2005-2006 academic year. From September until May, more than 40 students participate in the training and have the possibility to carry out professional internships.
