Opposition

If a third party has filed a trademark which is confusingly similar to your registered trademark, you may file an opposition against this application. You can instruct your trademark attorney to file the opposition within two months from the publication date of the new filing.

Cooling-off 

Once the opposition has been filed the so-called 'cooling-off'' period will follow. In this period it will be possible to negotiate with the owner of the other trademark. If an out-of-court settlement is impossible or if parties are not interested in reaching a settlement the opposition will be continued. The official authority will decide on whether or not your opposition is ligitimate.

Objection

We recommend objecting to a trademark which is confusingly similar to your trademark. This will help you to build a strong trademark and will prevent other parties from registering an identical or similar trademark for similar goods and services.

Watch service

To keep abreast of new trademark applications, we kindly advise you to have Nederlandsch Octrooibureau carry out a watch for your trademark. This is possible through our watch service subscription.