20 November, 2017 Juan Fernando Marqués

PROCESSING OF A SPANISH TRADEMARK APPLICATION

PRESENTATION OF THE APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF TRADEMARK before the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office via telematics or in person.

EXAMINATION OF FORM-. Once the application is received, the trademark office will examine if it complies with all the formal filing requirements. In the event that there is a defect in the documentation presented, the applicant will be informed so that they can be remedied within a month or two, in the case of a residence abroad, if the observed defect refers to the minimum data for get a filing date.

SUBMISSION OF THE FILE TO THE OEPM-. If the formal requirements of the submitted application are met or if they have been corrected by the applicant, the request will be sent, with everything done to the OEPM when the competent body to conduct the formal examination was an Autonomous Community. In case the defects have not been corrected or the notification has not been answered, the request will be considered as abandoned. If the defects not corrected will only affect a part of the application, the request may be considered partially withdrawn.

EXAMINATION OF LICITUDE-. Once the formal exam has been passed, the OEPM will carry out the legality examination. If the OEPM observes any defect of lawfulness, it will inform the applicant so that within a month he / she alleges what he / she considers appropriate. If this exam is not passed, the application will be denied.

PUBLICATION IN THE BOPI-. Once the lawfulness examination has been completed, the application will be published in the Official Bulletin of Industrial Property for a period of two months, so that third parties can oppose it if they consider that their rights are affected by the application submitted.

The OEPM, prior to ordering the publication, will check if the request can affect third-party holders of already registered trademarks, and will inform them that the application submitted will be published soon, in case they wish to express opposition to the submitted request.

EXAMINATION OF SUBSTANTIVE-. After this two-month opposition period, the application is examined to determine whether it affects any of the absolute prohibitions on registration. If no one has filed an opposition to the registration and there are no objections of form or substance, then they will favorably resolve the trademark registration within a period of between 5 and 6 months.

CONCESSION – REFUSAL-. If the mark applied for does not incur any prohibition and if no objections have been filed, the OEPM proceeds to the concession of the trademark. Also, after the deadline set for the answer to the suspension, whether or not the applicant has answered, the registration will be granted or denied, in whole or in part, as appropriate. This resolution may be appealed within a period of one month after its publication in the BOPI, this prior and mandatory recourse to go to the contentious way. If the trademark is granted, its owner must withdraw the title registration of the same and will not be obliged to pay any fee, until it has to renew the registration of the same, after 10 years from its date of application.

THE DURATION OF THE PROCESSING-. The Trademark Law establishes a maximum period for processing the trademark registration of twelve months, when there is no opposition, and for twenty months in the case of a trademark whose registration they have opposed. However, currently, the registration of the trademark is usually processed in a few months.