CHAPTER IIIU.K.GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS

Article 27U.K.Opposition procedure

1.Within three months from the date [F1on which the product specification and single document are published in accordance with Article 26(2), a natural or legal person having a legitimate interest (whether established in Great Britain or elsewhere), or the authorities of a third country,] may submit a notice of opposition to the [F2Secretary of State].

F3...

A notice of opposition shall contain a declaration that the application might infringe the requirements of this Chapter.

A notice of opposition that does not contain such a declaration shall be void.

The [F4Secretary of State] shall forward the notice of opposition without delay to the [F5applicant or authority] that submitted the application.

2.If a notice of opposition is submitted to the [F6Secretary of State] and is followed within two months by a reasoned statement of opposition, the [F6Secretary of State] shall check the admissibility of this reasoned statement of opposition.

3.Within two months from the receipt of an admissible reasoned statement of opposition, the [F7Secretary of State] shall invite the authority or person that submitted the opposition and the [F8applicant or authority] that submitted the application to engage in appropriate consultations for a period that shall not exceed three months. That deadline shall start on the date when the invitation to the interested parties is delivered by electronic means.

The authority or person that submitted the opposition and the [F9applicant or authority] that submitted the application shall start such appropriate consultations without undue delay. They shall provide each other with the relevant information to assess whether the application for registration complies with the requirements of this Chapter. If no agreement is reached, that information shall also be provided to the [F10Secretary of State].

When the interested parties reach an agreement, the [F11applicant that submitted the application or the authorities] of the third country from which the application was submitted shall notify the [F12Secretary of State] of all the factors which enabled that agreement to be reached, including the opinions of the applicant and of the authorities F13... of a third country, or of other natural and legal persons having submitted an opposition.

Irrespective of whether an agreement has been reached or not, the notification to the [F14Secretary of State] shall be made within one month from the end of the consultations.

At any time during those three months, the [F14Secretary of State] may, at the request of the applicant extend the deadline for the consultations by a maximum of three months.

4.Where, following the appropriate consultations referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, the details published in accordance with Article 26(2) have been substantially amended, the [F15Secretary of State] shall repeat the scrutiny referred to in Article 26.

5.The notice of opposition, the reasoned statement of opposition and the related documents which are sent to the [F16Secretary of State] in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 4 shall be in one of the official languages of the Union.

Textual Amendments