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Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 (repealed)Show full title

Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 of 26 February 2009 on the European Union trade mark (codified version) (Text with EEA relevance) (repealed)

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TITLE IXU.K.PROCEDURE

SECTION 1U.K.General provisions

Article 75U.K.Statement of reasons on which decisions are based

Decisions of the Office shall state the reasons on which they are based. They shall be based only on reasons or evidence on which the parties concerned have had on opportunity to present their comments.

Article 76U.K.Examination of the facts by the Office of its own motion

1.In proceedings before it the Office shall examine the facts of its own motion; however, in proceedings relating to relative grounds for refusal of registration, the Office shall be restricted in this examination to the facts, evidence and arguments provided by the parties and the relief sought. [F1In invalidity proceedings taken pursuant to Article 52, the Office shall limit its examination to the grounds and arguments submitted by the parties.]

2.The Office may disregard facts or evidence which are not submitted in due time by the parties concerned.

Textual Amendments

Article 77U.K.Oral proceedings

1.If the Office considers that oral proceedings would be expedient they shall be held either at the instance of the Office or at the request of any party to the proceedings.

2.Oral proceedings before the examiners, the Opposition Division and the Administration of Trade Marks and Legal Division shall not be public.

3.Oral proceedings, including delivery of the decision, shall be public before the Cancellation Division and the Boards of Appeal, in so far as the department before which the proceedings are taking place does not decide otherwise in cases where admission of the public could have serious and unjustified disadvantages, in particular for a party to the proceedings.

[F14. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 163a specifying the detailed arrangements for oral proceedings, including the detailed arrangements for the use of languages in accordance with Article 119.]

Textual Amendments

Article 78U.K.Taking of evidence

1.In any proceedings before the Office, the means of giving or obtaining evidence shall include the following:

(a)hearing the parties;

(b)requests for information;

(c)the production of documents and items of evidence;

(d)hearing witnesses;

(e)opinions by experts;

(f)statements in writing sworn or affirmed or having a similar effect under the law of the State in which the statement is drawn up.

2.The relevant department may commission one of its members to examine the evidence adduced.

3.If the Office considers it necessary for a party, witness or expert to give evidence orally, it shall issue a summons to the person concerned to appear before it.

4.The parties shall be informed of the hearing of a witness or expert before the Office. They shall have the right to be present and to put questions to the witness or expert.

[F16. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 163a specifying the detailed arrangements for the taking of evidence.]

Textual Amendments

[F2Article 79 U.K. Notification

5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 163a specifying the detailed arrangements for notification.]

Textual Amendments

[F1Article 79b U.K. Communications to the Office

2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 163a specifying the rules on the means of communication, including the electronic means of communication, to be used by the parties to proceedings before the Office and the forms to be made available by the Office.

Textual Amendments

Article 79c U.K. Time limits

5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 163a specifying the details regarding the calculation and duration of time limits.]

Textual Amendments

Article 80U.K.Revocation of decisions

1.Where the Office has made an entry in the Register or taken a decision which contains an obvious procedural error attributable to the Office, it shall ensure that the entry is cancelled or the decision is revoked. Where there is only one party to the proceedings and the entry or the act affects its rights, cancellation or revocation shall be determined even if the error was not evident to the party.

2.Cancellation or revocation as referred to in paragraph 1 shall be determined, ex officio or at the request of one of the parties to the proceedings, by the department which made the entry or took the decision. Cancellation or revocation shall be determined within six months from the date on which the entry was made in the Register or the decision was taken, after consultation with the parties to the proceedings and any proprietor of rights to the Community trade mark in question that are entered in the Register.

[F23. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 163a specifying the procedure for the revocation of a decision or for the cancellation of an entry in the Register.]

Textual Amendments

Article 81U.K. Restitutio in integrum

1.The applicant for or proprietor of [F2an] [F2EU trade mark] or any other party to proceedings before the Office who, in spite of all due care required by the circumstances having been taken, was unable to comply with a time limit vis-à-vis the Office shall, upon application, have his rights re-established if the obstacle to compliance has the direct consequence, by virtue of the provisions of this Regulation, of causing the loss of any right or means of redress.

2.The application must be filed in writing within two months from the removal of the obstacle to compliance with the time limit. The omitted act must be completed within this period. The application shall only be admissible within the year immediately following the expiry of the unobserved time limit. In the case of non-submission of the request for renewal of registration or of non-payment of a renewal fee, the further period of six months provided in Article 47(3), third sentence, shall be deducted from the period of one year.

3.The application must state the grounds on which it is based and must set out the facts on which it relies. It shall not be deemed to be filed until the fee for re-establishment of rights has been paid.

4.The department competent to decide on the omitted act shall decide upon the application.

5.This Article shall not be applicable to the time limits referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, Article 41(1) and (3) and Article 82.

6.Where the applicant for or proprietor of [F2an] [F2EU trade mark has his rights re-established, he may not invoke his rights vis-à-vis a third party who, in good faith, has put goods on the market or supplied services under a sign which is identical with, or similar to, the EU trade mark in the course of the period between the loss of rights in the application or in the EU trade mark] and publication of the mention of re-establishment of those rights.

7.A third party who may avail himself of the provisions of paragraph 6 may bring third party proceedings against the decision re-establishing the rights of the applicant for or proprietor of [F2an] [F2EU trade mark] within a period of two months as from the date of publication of the mention of re-establishment of those rights.

8.Nothing in this Article shall limit the right of a Member State to grant restitutio in integrum in respect of time limits provided for in this Regulation and to be observed vis-à-vis the authorities of such State.

Textual Amendments

Article 82U.K.Continuation of proceedings

1.An applicant for or proprietor of [F2an] [F2EU trade mark] or any other party to proceedings before the Office who has omitted to observe a time limit vis-à-vis the Office may, upon request, obtain the continuation of proceedings, provided that at the time the request is made the omitted act has been carried out. The request for continuation of proceedings shall be admissible only if it is presented within two months following the expiry of the unobserved time limit. The request shall not be deemed to have been filed until the fee for continuation of the proceedings has been paid.

2.This Article shall not be applicable to the time limits laid down in Article 25(3), Article 27, Article 29(1), Article 33(1), Article 36(2), Article 41, Article 42, Article 47(3), Article 60, Article 62, Article 65(5), Article 81, Article 112, or to the time limits laid down in this Article or the time limits laid down by the Implementing Regulation for claiming, after the application has been filed, priority within the meaning of Article 30, exhibition priority within the meaning of Article 33 or seniority within the meaning of Article 34.

3.The department competent to decide on the omitted act shall decide upon the application.

[F24. If the Office accepts the application, the consequences of having failed to observe the time limit shall be deemed not to have occurred. If a decision has been taken between the expiry of that time limit and the request for the continuation of proceedings, the department competent to decide on the omitted act shall review the decision and, where completion of the omitted act itself is sufficient, take a different decision. If, following the review, the Office concludes that the original decision does not require to be altered, it shall confirm that decision in writing.]

5.If the Office rejects the application, the fee shall be refunded.

Textual Amendments

[F1Article 82a U.K. Interruption of proceedings

3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 163a specifying the detailed arrangements for the resumption of proceedings before the Office.]

Textual Amendments

Article 83U.K.Reference to general principles

In the absence of procedural provisions in this Regulation, the Implementing Regulation, the fees regulations or the rules of procedure of the Boards of Appeal, the Office shall take into account the principles of procedural law generally recognised in the Member States.

Article 84U.K.Termination of financial obligations

1.Rights of the Office to the payment of a fee shall be extinguished after four years from the end of the calendar year in which the fee fell due.

2.Rights against the Office for the refunding of fees or sums of money paid in excess of a fee shall be extinguished after four years from the end of the calendar year in which the right arose.

3.The period laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be interrupted, in the case covered by paragraph 1, by a request for payment of the fee, and in the case covered by paragraph 2, by a reasoned claim in writing. On interruption it shall begin again immediately and shall end at the latest six years after the end of the year in which it originally began, unless, in the meantime, judicial proceedings to enforce the right have begun; in this case the period shall end at the earliest one year after the judgment has acquired the authority of a final decision.

SECTION 2U.K.Costs

Article 85U.K.Costs

1.The losing party in opposition proceedings, proceedings for revocation, proceedings for a declaration of invalidity or appeal proceedings shall bear the fees incurred by the other party as well as all costs, without prejudice to Article 119(6), incurred by him essential to the proceedings, including travel and subsistence and the remuneration of an agent, adviser or advocate, within the limits of the scales set for each category of costs under the conditions laid down in the Implementing Regulation.

[F11a. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts specifying the maximum rates for costs essential to the proceedings and actually incurred by the successful party. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 163(2).

When specifying such amounts with respect to travel and subsistence costs, the Commission shall take into account the distance between the place of residence or business of the party, representative or witness or expert and the place where the oral proceedings are held, the procedural stage at which the costs have been incurred, and, as far as costs of representation within the meaning of Article 93(1) are concerned, the need to ensure that the obligation to bear the costs may not be misused for tactical reasons by the other party. Subsistence expenses shall be calculated in accordance with the Staff Regulations of Officials of the Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the Union, laid down in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 (1) .

The losing party shall bear the costs for one opposing party only and, where applicable, one representative only.]

2.However, where each party succeeds on some and fails on other heads, or if reasons of equity so dictate, the Opposition Division, Cancellation Division or Board of Appeal shall decide a different apportionment of costs.

3.The party who terminates the proceedings by withdrawing the [F2EU trade mark application, the opposition, the application for revocation of rights, the application for a declaration of invalidity or the appeal, or by not renewing registration of the EU trade mark or by surrendering the EU trade mark], shall bear the fees and the costs incurred by the other party as stipulated in paragraphs 1 and 2.

4.Where a case does not proceed to judgment the costs shall be at the discretion of the Opposition Division, Cancellation Division or Board of Appeal.

5.Where the parties conclude before the Opposition Division, Cancellation Division or Board of Appeal a settlement of costs differing from that provided for in the preceding paragraphs, the department concerned shall take note of that agreement.

6.The Opposition Division or Cancellation Division or Board of Appeal shall fix the amount of the costs to be paid pursuant to the preceding paragraphs when the costs to be paid are limited to the fees paid to the Office and the representation costs. In all other cases, the registry of the Board of Appeal or a member of the staff of the Opposition Division or Cancellation Division shall fix the amount of the costs to be reimbursed on request. The request is admissible only within two months of the date on which the decision for which an application was made for the costs to be fixed became final. The amount so determined may be reviewed by a decision of the Opposition Division or Cancellation Division or Board of Appeal on a request filed within the prescribed period.

Textual Amendments

Article 86U.K.Enforcement of decisions fixing the amount of costs

1.Any final decision of the Office fixing the amount of costs shall be enforceable.

2.Enforcement shall be governed by the rules of civil procedure in force in the State in the territory of which it is carried out. [F2Each Member State shall designate a single authority responsible for verifying the authenticity of the decision referred to in paragraph 1 and shall communicate its contact details to the Office, the Court of Justice and the Commission. The order for the enforcement of the decision shall be appended to the decision by that authority, with the verification of the authenticity of the decision as the sole formality.]

3.When these formalities have been completed on application by the party concerned, the latter may proceed to enforcement in accordance with the national law, by bringing the matter directly before the competent authority.

4.Enforcement may be suspended only by a decision of the Court of Justice. However, the courts of the country concerned shall have jurisdiction over complaints that enforcement is being carried out in an irregular manner.

Textual Amendments

SECTION 3U.K.Information which may be made available to the public and of the authorities of the Member States

[F2Article 87 U.K. Register of EU trade marks

1. The Office shall keep a Register of EU trade marks which it shall keep up to date.

2. The Register shall contain the following entries relating to EU trade mark applications and registrations:

(a) the date of filing the application;

(b) the file number of the application;

(c) the date of the publication of the application;

(d) the name and address of the applicant;

(e) the name and business address of the representative, other than a representative as referred to in the first sentence of Article 92(3);

(f) the representation of the mark, with indications as to its nature; and, where applicable, a description of the mark;

(g) an indication of the goods and services by their names;

(h) particulars of claims of priority pursuant to Article 30;

(i) particulars of claims of exhibition priority pursuant to Article 33;

(j) particulars of claims of seniority of a registered earlier trade mark as referred to in Article 34;

(k) a statement that the mark has become distinctive in consequence of the use which has been made of it, pursuant to Article 7(3);

(l) an indication that the mark is a collective mark;

(n) the language in which the application was filed and the second language which the applicant has indicated in his application, pursuant to Article 119(3);

(o) the date of registration of the mark in the Register and the registration number;

(p) a statement that the application is the result of a transformation of an international registration designating the Union, pursuant to Article 161 of this Regulation, together with the date of the international registration pursuant to Article 3(4) of the Madrid Protocol or the date on which the territorial extension to the Union made subsequent to the international registration pursuant to Article 3 ter (2) of the Madrid Protocol was recorded and, where applicable, the date of priority of the international registration.

3. The Register shall also contain the following entries, each accompanied by the date of recording of such entry:

(a) changes in the name, address or nationality of the proprietor of an EU trade mark or a change in the State in which he is domiciled or has his seat or establishment;

(b) changes in the name or business address of the representative, other than a representative as referred to in the first sentence of Article 92(3);

(c) where a new representative is appointed, the name and business address of that representative;

(d) amendments and alterations of the mark, pursuant to Articles 43 and 48, and corrections of errors;

(e) notice of amendments to the regulations governing the use of the collective mark pursuant to Article 71;

(f) particulars of claims of seniority of a registered earlier trade mark as referred to in Article 34, pursuant to Article 35;

(g) total or partial transfers pursuant to Article 17;

(h) creation or transfer of a right in rem pursuant to Article 19, and the nature of the right in rem ;

(i) levy of execution pursuant to Article 20 and insolvency proceedings pursuant to Article 21;

(j) the grant or transfer of a licence pursuant to Article 22 and, where applicable, the type of licence;

(k) renewal of a registration pursuant to Article 47, the date from which it takes effect and any restrictions pursuant to Article 47(4);

(l) a record of a determination of the expiry of a registration pursuant to Article 47;

(m) declarations of withdrawal or surrender by the proprietor of the mark pursuant to Articles 43 and 50 respectively;

(n) the date of submission and the particulars of an opposition pursuant to Article 41, of an application pursuant to Article 56, or a counterclaim pursuant to Article 100(4) for revocation, or for a declaration of invalidity, or of an appeal pursuant to Article 60;

(o) the date and content of a decision on an opposition, on an application or counterclaim pursuant to Article 57(6) or the third sentence of Article 100(6), or on an appeal pursuant to Article 64;

(p) a record of the receipt of a request for conversion pursuant to Article 113(2);

(q) the cancellation of the representative recorded pursuant to point (e) of paragraph 2 of this Article;

(r) the cancellation of the seniority of a national mark;

(s) the modification to or cancellation from the Register of the items referred to in points (h), (i) and (j) of this paragraph;

(t) the replacement of the EU trade mark by an international registration pursuant to Article 157;

(u) the date and number of international registrations based on the EU trade mark application which has been registered as an EU trade mark pursuant to Article 148(1);

(v) the date and number of international registrations based on the EU trade mark pursuant to Article 148(2);

(w) the division of an application pursuant to Article 44 and the division of a registration pursuant to Article 49, together with the items referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article in respect of the divisional registration, as well as the list of goods and services of the original registration as amended;

(x) the revocation of a decision or an entry in the Register pursuant to Article 80, where the revocation concerns a decision or entry which has been published.

4. The Executive Director may determine that items other than those referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article are to be entered in the Register, subject to Article 123(4).

5. The Register may be maintained in electronic form. The Office shall collect, organise, make public and store the items referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3, including any personal data, for the purposes laid down in paragraph 9. The Office shall keep the register easily accessible for public inspection.

6. The proprietor of an EU trade mark shall be notified of any change in the Register.

7. The Office shall provide certified or uncertified extracts from the Register on request and on payment of a fee.

8. The processing of the data concerning the entries set out in paragraphs 2 and 3, including any personal data, shall take place for the purposes of:

(a) administering the applications and/or registrations as described in this Regulation and acts adopted pursuant to it;

(b) maintaining a public register for inspection by, and the information of, public authorities and economic operators, in order to enable them to exercise the rights conferred on them by this Regulation and be informed about the existence of prior rights belonging to third parties; and

(c) producing reports and statistics enabling the Office to optimise its operations and improve the functioning of the system.

9. All the data, including personal data, concerning the entries in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be considered to be of public interest and may be accessed by any third party. For reasons of legal certainty, the entries in the Register shall be kept for an indefinite period of time.]

Textual Amendments

[F1Article 87a U.K. Database

1. In addition to the obligation to keep a Register within the meaning of Article 87, the Office shall collect and store in an electronic database all the particulars provided by applicants or any other party to the proceedings under this Regulation or acts adopted pursuant to it.

2. The electronic database may include personal data, beyond those included in the Register pursuant to Article 87, to the extent that such particulars are required by this Regulation or acts adopted pursuant to it. The collection, storage and processing of such data shall serve the purposes of:

(a) administering the applications and/or registrations as described in this Regulation and acts adopted pursuant to it;

(b) accessing the information necessary for conducting the relevant proceedings more easily and efficiently;

(c) communicating with the applicants and other parties to the proceedings;

(d) producing reports and statistics enabling the Office to optimise its operations and improve the functioning of the system.

3. The Executive Director shall determine the conditions of access to the electronic database and the manner in which its contents, other than the personal data referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article but including those listed in Article 87, may be made available in machine-readable form, including the charge for such access.

4. Access to the personal data referred to in paragraph 2 shall be restricted and such data shall not be made publicly available unless the party concerned has given his express consent.

5. All data shall be kept indefinitely. However, the party concerned may request the removal of any personal data from the database after 18 months from the expiry of the trade mark or the closure of the relevant inter partes procedure. The party concerned shall have the right to obtain the correction of inaccurate or erroneous data at any time.

Textual Amendments

Article 87b U.K. Online access to decisions

1. The decisions of the Office shall be made available online for the information and consultation of the general public in the interest of transparency and predictability. Any party to the proceedings that led to the adoption of the decision may request the removal of any personal data included in the decision.

2. The Office may provide online access to judgments of national and Union courts related to its tasks in order to raise public awareness of intellectual property matters and promote convergence of practices. The Office shall respect the conditions of the initial publication with regard to personal data.]

Textual Amendments

Article 88U.K.Inspection of files

1.The files relating to [F2EU trade mark] applications which have not yet been published shall not be made available for inspection without the consent of the applicant.

2.Any person who can prove that the applicant for [F2an] [F2EU trade mark] has stated that after the trade mark has been registered he will invoke the rights under it against him may obtain inspection of the files prior to the publication of that application and without the consent of the applicant.

3.Subsequent to the publication of the [F2EU trade mark] application, the files relating to such application and the resulting trade mark may be inspected on request.

[F24. Where the files are inspected pursuant to paragraph 2 or 3 of this Article, documents relating to exclusion or objection pursuant to Article 137, draft decisions and opinions, and all other internal documents used for the preparation of decisions and opinions, as well as parts of the file which the party concerned showed a special interest in keeping confidential before the request for inspection of the files was made, unless inspection of such parts of the file is justified by overriding, legitimate interests of the party seeking inspection, may be withheld from inspection.]

[F15. Inspection of the files of EU trade mark applications and of registered EU trade marks shall be of the original document, or of copies thereof, or of technical means of storage if the files are stored in this way. The Executive Director shall determine the means of inspection.

6. Where inspection of files takes place as provided for in paragraph 7, the request for inspection of the files shall not be deemed to have been made until the required fee has been paid. No fee shall be payable if inspection of technical means of storage takes place online.

7. Inspection of the files shall take place at the premises of the Office. On request, inspection of the files shall be effected by means of issuing copies of file documents. The issuing of such copies shall be conditional on the payment of a fee. The Office shall also issue on request certified or uncertified copies of the application for an EU trade mark upon payment of a fee.

8. The files kept by the Office relating to international registrations designating the Union may be inspected on request as from the date of publication referred to in Article 152(1), in accordance with the conditions laid down in paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of this Article.

9. Subject to the restrictions provided for in paragraph 4, the Office may, on request, communicate information from any file of an EU trade mark applied for or of a registered EU trade mark, subject to payment of a fee. However, the Office may require the exercise of the option to obtain inspection of the file itself should it deem this to be appropriate in view of the quantity of information to be supplied.]

Textual Amendments

[F1Article 88a U.K. Keeping of files

1. The Office shall keep the files of any procedure relating to an EU trade mark application or EU trade mark registration. The Executive Director shall determine the form in which those files shall be kept.

2. Where the files are kept in electronic format, the electronic files, or back-up copies thereof, shall be kept indefinitely. The original documents filed by parties to the proceedings, and forming the basis of such electronic files, shall be disposed of after a period following their reception by the Office, which shall be determined by the Executive Director.

3. Where and to the extent that files or parts of the files are kept in any form other than electronically, documents or items of evidence constituting part of such files shall be kept for at least five years from the end of the year in which the application is rejected or withdrawn or is deemed to be withdrawn, the registration of the EU trade mark expires completely pursuant to Article 47, the complete surrender of the EU trade mark is registered pursuant to Article 50, or the EU trade mark is completely removed from the Register pursuant to Article 57(6) or 100(6).]

Textual Amendments

[F2Article 89 U.K. Periodical publications

4. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts specifying:

(a) the date to be taken as the date of publication in the European Union Trade Marks Bulletin;

(b) the manner of publication of entries regarding the registration of a trade mark which do not contain changes as compared to the publication of the application;

(c) the forms in which editions of the Official Journal of the Office may be made available to the public.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 163(2).]

Textual Amendments

Article 90U.K.Administrative cooperation

[F11.] Unless otherwise provided in this Regulation or in national laws, the Office and the courts or authorities of the Member States shall on request give assistance to each other by communicating information or opening files for inspection. Where the Office lays files open to inspection by courts, Public Prosecutors' Offices or central industrial property offices, the inspection shall not be subject to the restrictions laid down in Article 88.

[F12. The Office shall not charge fees for the communication of information or the opening of files for inspection.

3. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts specifying the detailed arrangements as to how the Office and the authorities of the Member States are to exchange information between each other and open files for inspection, taking into account the restrictions to which the inspection of files relating to EU trade mark applications or registrations is subject, pursuant to Article 88, when it is opened to third parties. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 163(2).]

Textual Amendments

Article 91U.K.Exchange of publications

1.The Office and the central industrial property offices of the Member States shall despatch to each other on request and for their own use one or more copies of their respective publications free of charge.

2.The Office may conclude agreements relating to the exchange or supply of publications.

SECTION 4U.K.Representation

Article 92U.K.General principles of representation

1.Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2, no person shall be compelled to be represented before the Office.

[F22. Without prejudice to the second sentence of paragraph 3 of this Article, natural or legal persons having neither their domicile nor their principal place of business or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the European Economic Area shall be represented before the Office in accordance with Article 93(1) in all proceedings provided for by this Regulation, other than the filing of an application for an EU trade mark.

3. Natural or legal persons having their domicile or principal place of business or a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment in the European Economic Area may be represented before the Office by an employee. An employee of a legal person to which this paragraph applies may also represent other legal persons which have economic connections with the first legal person, even if those other legal persons have neither their domicile nor their principal place of business nor a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment within the European Economic Area. Employees who represent persons, within the meaning of this paragraph, shall, at the request of the Office or, where appropriate, of the party to the proceedings, file with it a signed authorisation for insertion in the files.

4. Where there is more than one applicant or more than one third party acting in common, a common representative shall be appointed.]

Textual Amendments

Article 93U.K.Professional representatives

[F21. Representation of natural or legal persons before the Office may only be undertaken by:

(a) a legal practitioner qualified in one of the Member States of the European Economic Area and having his place of business within the European Economic Area, to the extent that he is entitled, within the said Member State, to act as a representative in trade mark matters;

(b) professional representatives whose names appear on the list maintained for this purpose by the Office.

Representatives acting before the Office shall, at the request of the Office or, where appropriate, of the other party to the proceedings, file with it a signed authorisation for insertion on the files.

2. Any natural person who fulfils the following conditions may be entered on the list of professional representatives:

(a) being a national of one of the Member States of the European Economic Area;

(b) having his place of business or employment in the European Economic Area;

(c) being entitled to represent natural or legal persons in trade mark matters before the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property or before the central industrial property office of a Member State of the European Economic Area. Where, in the State concerned, the entitlement is not conditional upon the requirement of special professional qualifications, persons applying to be entered on the list who act in trade mark matters before the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property or those central industrial property offices shall have habitually so acted for at least five years. However, persons whose professional qualification to represent natural or legal persons in trade mark matters before the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property or those central industrial property offices is officially recognised in accordance with the regulations laid down by the State concerned shall not be required to have exercised the profession.]

3.Entry shall be effected upon request, accompanied by a certificate furnished by the central industrial property office of the Member State concerned, which must indicate that the conditions laid down in paragraph 2 are fulfilled.

[F24. The Executive Director may grant an exemption from:

(a) the requirement in the second sentence of paragraph 2(c), if the applicant furnishes proof that he has acquired the requisite qualification in another way;

(b) the requirement set out in paragraph 2(a) in the case of highly qualified professionals, provided that the requirements set out in paragraphs 2(b) and (c) are fulfilled.

5. A person may be removed from the list of professional representatives at his request or when no longer in a capacity to represent. The amendments of the list of professional representatives shall be published in the Official Journal of the Office.]

Textual Amendments

[F1Article 93a U.K. Delegation of powers

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 163a specifying:

(a)

the conditions and the procedure for the appointment of a common representative as referred to in Article 92(4);

(b)

the conditions under which employees referred to in Article 92(3) and professional representatives referred to in Article 93(1) shall file with the Office a signed authorisation in order to undertake representation, and the content of that authorisation;

(c)

the circumstances in which a person may be removed from the list of professional representatives referred to in Article 93(5).]

Textual Amendments

Textual Amendments

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