Russia Considers Trademark Opposition System

In June 2016, the Russian PTO announced the beginning of public discussions on the introduction of the trademark opposition system in Russia, the main goal of which is to shorten the trademark registration process from the current 12-18 month period to 6-12 months.

The proposed trademark opposition procedure stipulates that, once a trademark application is received, the Russian PTO conducts a formal examination on absolute grounds within 3 months of receiving the application and if no absolute grounds for refusal are found, the application is published so that third parties can file oppositions, within the next 3 months.

If nobody objects to the application, the registration process continues; if an opposition is filed and the parties fail to reach an agreement within 6 months, the examiner considers the opposition and issues the final decision.

The current trademark legislation already provides for certain elements of the opposition procedure, as anyone may file a written notice against any published application before the issuance of the final decision. However, it does not outline a procedure for the consideration of the filed notice, and the other party may not receive a copy of the issued office action or final decision.

The public discussion on the new procedure is still ongoing. During a recent roundtable, a Russian PTO official stated that the new procedure has recently led to an active discussion among professionals, with 49,6% voting in favor of it, 14,1% in favor of it under certain conditions and 36,3% against it.

Prepared by: Alla Prikhodko and Tatyana Kulikova

For more information, please contact russia@petosevic.com.

Source: Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property