For the purposes of Article 38(3) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 where a trans-border application involves only Member States or at least one Member State and at least one third country, the objection procedure shall be applied in all the Member States concerned.
1.Objections referred to in Article 40 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 shall be drawn up on the basis of the form set out in Annex III to this Regulation. The objection shall be submitted to the Commission in paper or electronic form. The date of submission of the objection to the Commission shall be the date on which the objection is entered in the Commission's mail registry. This date is made available to the public by appropriate means.
2.The Commission shall mark the documents making up the objection with the date of receipt and the file number allocated to the objection.
The objector shall receive an acknowledgement of receipt indicating at least the following:
(a)the file number;
(b)the number of pages received; and
(c)the date of receipt of the request.
1.For the purposes of determining whether an objection is admissible, in accordance with Article 40 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008, the Commission shall verify that the objection mentions the prior right(s) claimed and the ground(s) for the objection and was received by the Commission within the deadline.
2.If the objection is based on the existence of an earlier trademark of reputation and renown, in accordance with Article 43(2) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008, the objection shall be accompanied by proof of the filing, registration or use of that earlier trademark, such as the certificate of registration or proof of its use, and proof of its reputation and renown.
3.Any duly substantiated objection shall contain details of the facts, evidence and comments submitted in support of the objection, accompanied by the relevant supporting documents.
The information and evidence to be produced in support of the use of an earlier trademark shall comprise particulars of the location, duration, extent and nature of the use made of the earlier trademark, and of its reputation and renown.
4.If the details of the prior right(s) claimed, ground(s), facts, evidence or comments, or the supporting documents, as referred to in paragraphs 1 to 3, have not been produced at the same time as the objection or if some are missing, the Commission shall inform the opponent accordingly and shall invite him to remedy the deficiencies noted within a period of two months. If the deficiencies are not remedied before the time limit expires, the Commission shall reject the objection as inadmissible. The decision on inadmissibility shall be notified to the objector and to the Member State or the third-country authorities or the applicant established in the third country in question.
5.An objection that is deemed admissible shall be notified to the Member State or the third-country authorities or the applicant established in the third country in question.
1.If the Commission has not rejected the objection in accordance with Article 15(4), it shall communicate the objection to the Member State or the third-country authorities or the applicant established in the third country in question and shall invite him to file observations within two months from the issuance date of such communication. Any observations received within this two months period shall be communicated to the objector.
In the course of the scrutiny of an objection, the Commission shall request the parties to submit comments, if appropriate, within a period of two months from the issuance date of such request, on the communications received from the other parties.
2.If the Member State or the third-country authorities or the applicant established in the third country in question or the objector files no observations in response, or does not respect the time periods, the Commission gives a ruling on the opposition.
3.Any decision to reject or register the designation of origin or geographical indication concerned shall be taken by the Commission on the basis of the evidence available to it. The decision on rejection shall be notified to the objector and to the Member State or the third-country authorities or the applicant established in the third country in question.
4.In the event of multiple objectors, following a preliminary examination of one or more such objections, it may not be possible to accept the application for registration; in such cases, the Commission may suspend the other objection procedures. The Commission shall inform the other objectors of any decision affecting them which was taken in the course of the procedure.
Where an application is rejected, objection procedures which have been suspended shall be deemed to be closed and the objectors concerned shall be duly informed.