A little piece on Bosnia-Herzegovina

Being a football fan, I like to take inspiration from my favourite sport (e.g. here) and this week is no different. It's been World Cup 2014 qualification week and whilst I am delighted that England have qualified, I also like to see new teams qualify for the big stage too.

Brazil 2014 will see the first appearance of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

To be accurate, Bosnian players could have appeared for Yugoslavia in 1930, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1982 and 1990. There are also three other possible first-timers still in the hunt for qualification, although I feel their participation is unlikely.

Enough football and allow me to take a look at the IP landscape in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Institute of Intellectual Property manages intellectual property in the country. Delays are known to be encountered with the processing of trade mark applications filed locally although these have lessened of late.

International routes for trade mark protection and industrial design protection through the Madrid and Hague Systems are available. I was therefore quite surprised to see a large number of national design and trade mark applications from foreigners in the latest Gazette published on their website.

Bosnia-Herzegovina adopted a new trade mark law at the beginning of 2011. This introduced an opposition procedure. Previously, it relied on its relative and absolute grounds examination - this made a large contribution to the delays that were experienced. It also formalised procedures for making registration with Customs for IP rights.

EU accession would appear to be a goal for Bosnia-Herzegovina, but it is far behind other countries in the region. Croatia and Slovenia are already in the EU and Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia are official candidate countries. Even Albania is ahead in the queue having submitted an application.

Croatia's recent accession to the EU means Bosnia-Herzegovina borders the European Union. To the naked eye, Bosnia-Herzegovina can appear to be landlocked on a map, but it actually has a small coastline on the Adriatic Sea around the town of Neum, which juts into Croatia. This makes the territory around the city of Dubrovnik an isolated exclave of Croatia and of the EU. Travelling to this part of the EU from another part of the EU by road therefore means traversing some territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The horrific Bosnian War of the 1990s ended with the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord which set up Bosnia-Herzegovina as a federal state. There are two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (mostly inhabited by Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats) and the Republika Srpska (mostly inhabited by ethnic Serbs). It's a jigsaw of a country where the internal borders have been meticulously drawn. On the ground, political conflicts between the two entities are common though.

So much so that it would cause little surprise if Republika Srpska were to declare independence. This would fracture the region even more and, selfishly speaking, we would have another IP jurisdiction on our hands. One that might not be entirely welcome in the international arena (see also Kosovo).

Perhaps if they can have a successful 2014 World Cup, this will be a unifying experience for Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Hague movements, Brunei joins

After a quiet 2013 in the international world of designs comes some news from WIPO of the accession of Brunei to the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs.

It will be possible to designate Brunei in a Hague application from 24 December 2013.

As a word of caution, Brunei is a common law jurisdiction and should therefore reflect its membership of international treaties by making reference to them in their local laws. I cannot see that this has been done, although I may not have access to the latest legislation. In the absence of legislative amendments there could be some doubt regarding the enforceability of International design registrations in Brunei.

Although a wealthy country, Brunei is not quite the major Asian economy to join the Hague System with there being talk of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea all acceding. The United States is scheduled to join up in the near future and this may prove to be the catalyst for a more rapid expansion to new jurisdictions.

For now though, welcome aboard to Brunei.

Another separate IP jurisdiction: French Polynesia

This blog likes to explore exciting and exotic places that the writer has, unfortunately, little chance of visiting in person!

This week is no difference as it heads to Tahiti, the main island of French Polynesia.

Some of us may be used to "extending" UK trade mark registrations to the likes of Jersey and other current and former overseas British Crown dependencies and territories. A similar concept is now being applied to French Polynesia and French National trade mark registrations and other National IP rights.

The situation is not straightforward and relates to French Polynesia's unique constitutional status as an "Overseas country of France", and when they attained this status.

3 March 2004 is a key date. National IP applications filed in France before this date (and still in force, naturally) apply to French Polynesia automatically and without any action required.

Those filed between 3 March 2004 and 31 August 2013 can be "extended" to French Polynesia by making an application to the authorities in French Polynesia, namely, the Direction Générale des Affaires Economiques ("DGAE").

This news item from the French INPI in Paris explains the situation - in French, of course. Note that there is a deadline, such applications must be on file by 1 September 2015.

That does seem a long time away, but don't lose sight of it if you have French national registrations from 3 March 2004 on your records.

The "extension" applications are not exactly expensive: 2680 CFP for a trade mark, 900 CFP for designs, as examples. The CFP (Change Franc Pacifique) is pegged to the Euro and these amount to €22.46 and €7.54 respectively.

The official form is in French only (not in any Polynesian language) and it does not seem necessary to appoint a local agent in French Polynesia. In practice, having someone on the ground in French Polynesia may prove helpful but I would not anticipate any problems working with the Office for agents from Europe. A Power of Attorney is required for agents.

Community Trade Marks will continue in force in French Polynesia as will, from 7 March 2013, Registered Community Designs according to INPI's news item if I've understood it correctly. I must admit this is not how I understood it as French Polynesia is not an Outermost Region of the European Union and not part of the EU so the situation could be considered ambiguous.

It also says International treaties on intellectual property continue to apply in French Polynesia so I understand that trade mark registrations and design registrations under the Madrid and Hague systems that designate France will continue in force in French Polynesia.

It's not entirely clear to me what will happen to French applications filed from 1 September 2013 to the end of the year. However, I understand that from 1 January 2014 it is possible to file applications at the INPI and ask for an extension of protection to French Polynesia to obtain parallel corresponding rights. The applicant will then receive simultaneous protection of their IP in France and in French Polynesia. I get the impression it's a box ticking exercise on the French application form. There will be additional official fees due although if they're at a similar level already mentioned they are going to be fairly incremental.

It is expected during the second half of 2014 that it will be possible to make applications directly to the DGAE in French Polynesia. This will be of assistance for Polynesian businesses that only have a need to protect their IP locally and also, for example, for some international brand owners who may market different brands in the Pacific than they do in Europe (although other French possessions in the Pacific, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna, would still need to be covered through the French national route in Paris).

What will happen with renewals is unclear. For example, you could have a French national case filed on 10 March 2004 and could therefore extend this to French Polynesia, say, by the end of this month. The French registration will fall due for renewal by the end of March 2014 so perhaps there will be a box tick option to have this renewed to cover French Polynesia too.

The world gets smaller yet here we are with another new and separate IP jurisdiction. As France may grant more autonomy to its overseas possessions, we could see this scenario repeating. Keep an eye out for New Caledonia, in particular, with an independence referendum slated in the next few years.

WIPO - Official fees

WIPO have recently issued Information Notice No. 29/2013 explaining how to pay official fees to them for registrations under the Madrid Protocol.

Those of you that deal with WIPO will know they can be a bit of bureaucratic organisation and the language of their Information Notice may be testament to this.

If you do not have a deposit account with WIPO - and many firms don't - then you will probably be required to transfer payment of official fees by bank transfer and this is why the Information Notice has issued. WIPO are regularly being short changed as users do not instruct their bank that they are to incur all the bank charges. This causes a headache and delay with WIPO and the user when it is necessary to request a second payment, which is usually fairly incremental.

If you have a deposit account with the UK Intellectual Property Office and you are filing a Madrid application through them as Office of origin then you can ask them to make the official fee payment (in Swiss francs) on your behalf and debit your deposit account. However, not many Offices of origin offer this service.

If you're based in Switzerland or Liechtenstein (or even in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia) then making payments in Swiss francs is not difficult. But most of us will not have a Swiss bank account.

Payment by credit card is not available at the time of filing Madrid Protocol applications because these are filed through an appropriate Office of origin and not WIPO directly. Nevertheless, I understand it is possible to wait for an Irregularity Notice to issue and then make payment by credit card through WIPO's E-payment tool. This is not exactly ideal as again it results in a delay.

WIPO also released their latest magazine 'Madrid Highlights' this week and this contained two fees related features.

Firstly, they will soon be launching a new on-line tool for filing Subsequent Designations with a credit card payment facility. This will not help with the initial filing of a Madrid application but I anticipate it making adding countries to an existing International Registration substantially easier - and hopefully quicker.

Their Madrid Tips section also explains some scenarios regarding the official fees payable for renewals. These can seem ridiculously complicated at times although if you can use WIPO's E-Renewal tool this should auto-calculate the correct fees for you.

The Catalan Way (and IP)

Wednesday (11 September 2013) marked an impressive show of support for the independence of Catalonia, currently an autonomous part of Spain, when a human chain, the Catalan Way, spread for 400km/250 miles.

Its inspiration was drawn from the Baltic Way of 1989 which preceded the re-establishment of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as independent countries from their occupation by the Soviet Union.

Catalonia is one of the wealthier parts of Spain and the current economic woes of the Eurozone have increased desire for independence. Football has widely been an outlet for Catalan pride with the world famous FC Barcelona, as well as the Catalonia national team (although unrecognised by FIFA or UEFA)

With a population of over 7 million it would be larger than some existing EU member states, and this is just the population of the current autonomous community; it excludes that of the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands which are also part of the Països Catalans within Spain. (Perhaps of note is that OHIM's home of Alicante is in the Valencian Community although this is a predominantly Spanish-speaking city.)

The Catalan language is also more widely spoken than some other national languages within the EU.

I have previously blogged on Scotland and if she votes for independence in 2014 what the impact could be on trade mark rights. Should the Catalans involved in this recent human chain get their way and Catalonia becomes independent then I would envisage a similar approach.

1. Community Trade Marks would automatically cover Catalonia (this presumes Catalonia is automatically accepted as a new member of the EU).
2. Spanish National Trade Marks would automatically cover Catalonia or they would require revalidation locally in Catalonia. However, the latter option would penalise local companies who have previously needed to register in Madrid when their trade mark is only really needed on a local basis.
3. International Registrations designating the European Community would automatically cover Catalonia (this presumes Catalonia is automatically accepted as a new member of the EU).
4. International Registrations designating Spain would need to have Continuation of Effects applications filed. There would be some small costs involved to cover WIPO's administration.

Back in 2006 - some time before this recent wave of ever expanding TLDs - the .cat TLD came into play for the Catalan-speaking community. However, it would be likely that a new two-letter ccTLD would be introduced for Catalonia, should it become independent.

As someone that grew up when there was the USSR, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia and then saw them disintegrate, I have had an avid interest in new countries.

However, independence - perhaps more so when you're a part of the "EU Club" anyway - might not always be the answer. Denmark and the Netherlands have developed a different approach. Taking Denmark as an example, the Kingdom of Denmark includes Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. It's arguable that this set up gives independence in many respects (e.g. neither the Faroes or Greenland are, through choice, part of the EU, unlike Denmark proper) whilst being able to share some of the infrastructure. In this instance trade mark registrations granted by the Danish Patent and Trademark Office cover the Faroe Islands and Greenland, and there is no provision to register locally in either the Faroe Islands or Greenland.

This is a world that is becoming smaller in many respects and in my field of trade marks the Madrid Protocol is a clear indication of this. Yet we may have to take into account more and more countries as desires for self determination can be realised.

Holiday season

August is Europe's traditional holiday season and is reflected with blogs where news to blog about dries up somewhat. Aside from some short jaunts to Germany, Switzerland, Yorkshire and God's own county of Hertfordshire, I have not been on a proper holiday (sun, sea and sangria-style).

I appreciate this is a bit of a 'filler' but I decided to check if any of our IP Offices around the world made a planned shut down. It would appear not.

Unsurprisingly, employees at the USPTO are only granted leave for Federal holidays, which for 2014 will look like this. This has been this way since the mid-late 1980s.

In the UK, where we complain about our lack of public holidays compared to our European cousins, the UK IPO is closed on one day less than the USPTO. Of course, staff will receive more annual leave than their American counterparts and our public sector is known for being generous with this.

In Geneva, home of WIPO, their public holidays are more extensive including many typical European and Christian holidays as well as the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha and a purely local Geneva holiday.

There is an established Public Holiday Law in Japan which the Japan Patent Office follows. I was also interested to learn of Japan's 'Happy Monday System' whereby some holidays have been moved to a Monday to create a longer weekend. We have something similar in the UK, albeit without such a cool name, whereas in continental Europe if a holiday falls on a weekend it's tough, it won't be rolled over to the following Monday.

It will come as little shock to many that OHIM closes for the longest period of time - 18 days, with seven of these coming at Christmas and New Year. Being in Alicante on Spain's Costa Blanca, the weather isn't too bad either. For jobs at OHIM go here!

I hope readers of this blog enjoyed their holiday season. I hope I have more substantial things to blog about in the coming months.

Closed Trade Marks Registers still existing

There are a handful of former Trade Marks Registers that have since merged into other Registers but for many intents and purposes are still in existence.

Some old Registers may not add new cases but their old registrations remain on record

Having an unhealthy collection of modern atlases as a child (in the days before the internet), I was aghast when I began working in this field and first came across a trade mark in Sabah. What? Where? I thought I'd heard of every country...

Sabah, formerly the British Crown Colony of North Borneo, had its own Trade Marks Registry operating from the capital Jesselton (now known as Kota Kinabalu). The same is true of neighbouring Sarawak.

Sabah and Sarawak joined with Malaya to form Malaysia. The region of Malaya, with connotations of its British colonial past, is now more properly referred to as Peninsular Malaysia.

The separate Trade Marks Registers remained in place although no new applications were possible; filing a Malaysian application was now required. For a stage, I understand it was possible to merge identical registrations in Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak into a single Malaysian registration but this is no longer possible. This is why there are still registrations in Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak being renewed (and assigned, etc.). However, they are all maintained and renewed at the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia with headquarters in Kuala Lumpur but branch offices in Sabah and Sarawak.

These registrations provide protection in their relevant geographic area and there is a possibility that the owners of identical or highly similar marks may not be the same in different parts of Malaysia.

It is perhaps worth noting that Malaysia now contains three federal territories. Two of these are in Peninsula Malaysia (Malaya) but the other, the wealthy island of Labuan, was ceded by Sabah to the federal Malaysian government in 1984. As such it is possible that an owner of identical Malaya/Sabah/Sarawak registrations would not have coverage for the whole modern day country of Malaysia. (In this event it would, of course, be possible to make a new application in Malaysia.)

Flag of Transkei, one of three bantustans that had their own trade marks law

Of more notorious note are the three trade mark jurisdictions derived from former bantustans in South Africa. Four of these achieved independence, albeit unrecognised by the international community, the so-called "TBVC States" of Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei. The latter introduced intellectual property legislation in respect of copyright only so it was just the first three that had Trade Marks Registers.

Flag of Venda

Following the end of apartheid, these Registers were generally incorporated into the South African Register unless there were overlapping rights in which case they continued to cover the applicable geographic area (with provisions to cover the whole of South Africa if the overlapping rights lapsed or were cancelled). I have no idea how many Transkei/Bophuthatswana/Venda registrations now exist - I imagine they would be mostly held by local companies and they are relatively few in number. They have a special numbering in place. They are managed by the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission in Pretoria.

The flag of Bophuthatswana

Bophuthatswana was arguably the most well known of the bantustans as it contained Sun City (casinos being illegal in apartheid South Africa) and was the setting of an infamous coup in 1994 that saw the bantustan's last leader, Lucas Mangope, trying to cling to power and an invasion by Eugène Terre'Blanche's Afrikaner Resistance Movement.

Elsewhere in Africa, OAPI has grown at various junctures. Mali joined up in 1984 and was followed in 1990 by Guinea. Other countries have followed suit, but in the case of Guinea and Mali they had Trade Marks Registers of their own prior to OAPI accession (the others were Cautionary Notice countries).

Flag of Guinea

Mali's Register has now ceased to exist, but Guinea's is still - somewhat questionably - operational for renewals, assignments, etc.

Finally, at the tip of Africa is Tangier (sometimes Tangiers). Prior to independence, Morocco was largely governed by France and Spain, except the city of Tangier which was under the administration of various countries as the Tangier International Zone. The city enjoyed libertarianism unlike the rest of Morocco and even much of Europe and became the home for a number of escapist residents. It also had its own trade mark law which remained when it was integrated into Morocco upon independence in 1956.

Flag of Tangier International Zone

Parallel to this was a trade mark regime in "Morocco (Casablanca)"; the Casablanca often being added as this was the location of the Trade Marks Office and to distinguish it from Tangier. Registrations in Morocco (Casablanca) covered the whole of Morocco except Tangier.

In late 2004, a new trade mark law was introduced in Morocco to cover the entire country. Existing Morocco (Casablanca) and Tangier registrations would remain in force, each covering the whole country. Many trade mark owners would register in both. Upon renewal they will now only have to renew one of the registrations. This could be as late as 2024 in view of the 20-year registrations terms governed by the old laws in Morocco and Tangier.

These registrations can all be marked as covering Morocco, but many records may not have been amended to show this so you may still come across registrations in Tangier and/or Morocco (Casablanca).

Pay attention with country codes

Be careful with respect to country codes as codes used for these jurisdictions are often created internally or by database companies and then may come into use for other countries internationally. SS was commonly used for Sabah, but this is now the country code for South Sudan, independent since 2011. I have seen TK used for Transkei, but Tokelau is assigned this country code. Tokelau does not have a trade mark law (New Zealand registrations currently cover the territory) but it does possess a Domain Name Registry using this as its ccTLD.

We can come across many obscure countries when managing trade marks around the world. When it comes to post-registration matters like renewals then it is apparent that we have a few more jurisdictions to take into account.

'Fast track' opposition procedure

The UK is planning on introducing a 'fast track' opposition procedure for trade marks.

It is designed specifically with SMEs in mind and is evidence of the UK IPO's proactive efforts to help these businesses. Their outreach programme sees them regularly at business conferences and seminars as speakers and/or exhibitors. They are also approachable (with restrictions on the advice they can give) when it comes to "DIY" applicants and a large number of UK trade mark applications are self-filed.

SMEs tend to like (in all areas of their business) - and I speak from my own experiences as a business owner here - fixed indications of costs as much as possible. I believe most can handle a scale, e.g. from £x to £y. Transparency of costs is important to them. The IPO identified that the current opposition process can be unwieldy with uncertain cost outcomes and less than predictable timelines. The 'fast track' procedure will be designed to bring more certainty to the table.

OHIM (and WIPO) also have sections for SME's (here and here), but perhaps a more extensive role in engaging with SMEs will/should/must fall more within the duties of national IPOs. It is possible to envisage a future where national applications are predominantly filed by local SMEs/start-ups with the Community Trade Mark being the preferred vehicle for larger businesses; the ONEL case may also have a bearing on this. Of course, trade mark needs are determined by the nature of the products, services and markets so this is a bit of a simplistic view meant as food for thought. Larger companies will continue to use national routes when there is a purely local trade mark need or to form a less risky basis to a Madrid application, as examples, and SMEs will have reasons for filing Community Trade Marks as they do for filing in other foreign jurisdictions.

Trade Mark Watching

A challenge faced by some SMEs - particularly those that represent themselves but includes others that show reluctance to spend the additional money - is with trade mark watching. Many of these SMEs will not have set up a watching service. Owners of UK national trade marks will receive notifications from the IPO when they search subsequent applications. These may not be as extensive as a commercial watching service, but it should catch identical and near identical marks. With an SME on a limited budget in mind, it's free. Trade mark professionals can argue that the IPO's notifications are not sufficient, but the free aspect can represent value to many SMEs and we tend to have different personal definitions of "value".

What this does overlook though is Community Trade Marks. An owner of a UK national registration - or any other national registration in an EU member state (including Ireland, Sweden and those others still with relative grounds examination) - will not get notified of any Community Trade Marks even if for an identical mark with identical goods or services. If they have no watching service set up how will they find out about such a mark? If you've ever tried downloading the CTM Bulletin, published on-line every working day, then you'll know that conducting your own checks is not particularly realistic. Identical searches can be conducted periodically but you would have to remember to do them.

Nevertheless, OHIM do conduct searches - much like the UK IPO - of their own Community Trade Mark Register only and they too send notifications to the owners of these earlier marks. I understand they are looking to abolish these (this is perhaps evidence of this), but arguably it could be better to extend them. How?

Extend them by allowing owners of national registrations to notify OHIM of their rights. There could be a mechanism within TMView for doing this (so sorry owners of Greek national registrations until your country is on board you'd be ruled out). It would not need to cost anything as it would all be done on-line. It would be just as easy for OHIM to do their checks through TMView (which I imagine could easily be specially adapted for this purpose) as it is to do them on just their own Register.

Representatives could add their clients marks to this system pro-actively, particularly when they have been unable to convince a client of the merits of a watching service. This may then still give them access to avenues of possible opposition work.

OHIM may consider this as a way of helping SMEs, start-ups and those with cost constraints. It is not something national Offices can set up so while they may take the lead in meeting and educating many SMEs in their respective countries, this sort of initiative would need to be led by OHIM.

I do not believe the searches conducted are as comprehensive as a trade mark watch performed by commercial companies and I am not suggesting they are an alternative to having a proper watch in place. However, aside from cost pressures for SMEs, IPOs are not in a position to refer trade mark owners to specialist watching companies and SMEs may be reluctant to go to companies they do not know.

I should mention that the Danish Patent and Trademark Office provides a trade mark watching service as do their Swedish counterparts (neither of which are particularly cheap, I may add) but most offices do not; the UK Office has moved away from providing non-statutory, commercial services.

In conclusion, improvements to processes that make them quicker should be welcomed (when quality does not go down), but with national and Community Trade Marks working in parallel more could be done to ensure awareness if not alignment. It could be in the remit of the Convergence programme and Cooperation Fund to undertake some work in this area. National offices should bring such agenda items to the table. It's all well and good that SME owners of UK registrations can cost-effectively and quickly oppose conflicting UK applications but helping them ensure conflicting Community Trade Mark applications do not escape their radars is something that could be better addressed by the authorities.

Guam set to create "Trademark Commission"

Information from the Pacific News Center suggests Guam will look to refresh its trademark legislation shortly and help better protect its own cultural brand.

US Federal registrations automatically protect all US states and territories, the Act stating, "The United States includes and embraces all territory which is under its jurisdiction and control."

In Guam, which is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States, a local registration system is also in place. There are two routes to protection under this. Firstly, a purely local route which requires evidence of use to be filed in order to obtain a Certificate of Registration and is akin to individual State trademark laws.

Secondly, it is also possible to re-register a US Federal registration in Guam, notwithstanding that such a Federal registration should already cover Guam.

It is not clear how the law will change things. It cannot overrule any Federal law. However, Puerto Rico is often considered a separate trademark jurisdiction from the "mainland" USA.

Tourism and the provision of retail services of designer goods are big business in the Guam economy and, in particular, businesses involved in these fields may wish to keep an eye on the situation in Guam with a view to securing local trademark registrations.

Furthermore, new legislation is planned to increase protection of the island's local culture, traditional knowledge and brand.

TMView gets stronger and stronger

Earlier this month the TMView grew with the addition of over 1.1 million new trade marks when the Registers of Croatia, Cyprus, Mexico and Norway were added to the system.

This follows the earlier announcement that Morocco was to be integrated with TMView.

Croatia joined the EU at the beginning of the month.

Cyprus - an EU member since 2004 - has a relatively small Trade Marks Register but it was known for needing manual searches so this is a very welcome addition.

Norway is outside of the European Union, but its membership of the European Economic Area means it is very closely linked to the EU economically.

Mexico becomes the first non-European country to "go live" in TMView and represents excellent news for global rights holders.

It leaves Greece as the only EU member state without its Trade Marks Register available on TMView. Neighbouring Turkey is slated to join the TMView project at some point in the future.

TMView is positioning itself well as a free go-to database for initial knock-out searches not just for the European Union but further afield too.