TRADEMARK OPPOSITION PAKISTAN
Opposition Procedure in Pakistan
Once the trademark is published in the Trademark Journal, any aggrieved person can oppose the registration by filing the notice of opposition with the Registrar, within two months from the publication of the mark.
- Procedure of Opposition:
- Notice of Opposition As per Rule 30(1) of the Trade Mark Rules 2004, any aggrieved person may file a Notice of Opposition with the Registrar through the Form TM-5 along with the statement of grounds for opposition within two months from the date of advertisement or re-advertisement of the mark, which is extendable upto two months. The copy of notice and statement shall be sent to the Applicant by Registrar.
- Counter Statement Within one month from the receipt of the Notice of Opposition, extendable upto two months, the Applicant shall file the counter-statement with Registrar by way of Form TM-6 and if the Applicant does not send the counter-statement then the said application shall be deemed to have abandoned. The Registrar shall send a copy of counterstatement to the opponent.
- Rejoinder As per Rule 30(3) of the Trade Marks Rules 2004, the Opponent, within one month from the receipt of counter-statement, extendable upto two months, may file a rejoinder if necessary. The Registrar shall send the copy of the same to the Applicant.
- Evidence in Support of Opposition The Opponent, within two months from the date of receipt of counter-statement, extendable upto three months, shall file evidence by way of statutory declaration or affidavit and shall send the copy to the Applicant. In case no evidence has been filed under sub- rule (5) of Rule 30, the said opposition shall be deemed to have abandoned.
- Evidence in Support of Application The Applicant, within two months from the receipt of Evidence in Support of Opposition, extendable upto three months, shall file such evidence by way of statutory declaration or affidavit as he may consider necessary to support his application and shall send a copy to the Opponent.
- Evidence in Reply / Counter-Evidence As per Rule 30(8) of the Trade Marks Rule, 2004, the Opponent, within one month from the receipt of Evidence in Support of Application, extendable upto three months, may file evidence in reply by way of statutory declaration or affidavit which shall strictly be confined to the matters in reply to Applicant’s evidence and shall send a copy to the Applicant. When any document or exhibit is in any language other than English, the attested translation thereof in English shall be furnished in duplicate.
- Hearing As per Rule 30(12) of the Trade Marks Rules, 2004, upon the completion of evidence, the Registrar shall give notice to the parties and schedule a date to hear the arguments. The hearing scheduled shall be for a date at least one month after the date of notice. Within fourteen days from the receipt of hearing notice, both the parties are required to notify their intention to appear by way of Form TM-7. Any party who does not notify the Registrar may be treated as not desiring to be heard and Registrar may act accordingly.
- Decision The Registrar shall notify the decision in writing to the Opponent and Applicant. For the purpose of any appeal against the Registrar’s decision the date of the decision shall be the date when notice of the decision is sent under sub-rule (l) of Rule 31.
- APPEAL TO DECISION OF THE OPPOSITION
In an event that any party is unsatisfied with the decision of the IPO, an appeal can be filed with the High Court within two months from the date of receipt of the notice
- DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO FILE AN OPPOSITION
- Simply executed Power of Attorney in the name of the Opponent
- Relevant evidence of use of the mark (if any) in Pakistan or any other jurisdiction
For more information on trademark opposition in Pakistan please write to us at info@ssrana.com