“Operational Directions of Third-party Observations for Trademark Applications” comes into force from now
2019/07/25 TaiwanDate Posted：2019-07-25
On June 20, 2019, TIPO announced that the Operational Directions of Third-party Observations for Trademark Applications would come into force. The new rules are expected to help trademark examiners gather more evidence when they conduct inquisition ex officio, so as to curb bad faith registration attempts while supporting genuine trademark registration. The goal is to make sure the third-party observation mechanism is clear and useful enough for examination.
The main topics of the Directions are: objective, the observer, period of observations and supplementary observations, the reason for and method of observations, the examiner’s handling of cases, the ways to propose opposing comments, applicable regulations, and format samples. Particularly with regard to the evidence that should be attached to the letter of third-party observations, depending on the circumstances which forbid a trademark from registration, the eligible ways to provide objective evidence are listed in detail. TIPO believes that these are of much referential value and all members of society are encouraged to draw reference from the Directions.
For more information(in Mandarin), please click the following link:
https://www.tipo.gov.tw/dl.asp?fileName=96201145954.pdf
Intellectual Property Office Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C.
