The Regulation completes the procedural aspects of the transposition of Directive (EU) 2015/2436 which resulted in the amendment of the current Trademark Act in January 2019. Some of these changes will be implemented progressively in the coming months or years, as the case may be, as we noted in our previous publication of December 2018.
Among the main novelties, the one that will undoubtedly have the most immediate impact on users of the Spanish trademark system will be the possibility of requesting proof of use of basic marks in opposition procedures. The use is therefore considered another variable to maintain the full effectiveness of the exclusive right arising from a trademark registration. However, the first transitory provision of the Regulation establishes the application of this provision to proceedings initiated as from its entry into force, so that there will still be a few months for the different actors in the proceedings before the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office to adapt their practices.
With the transposition of the Directive, Spain strengthens its Intellectual Property defence system, which is thus aligned to an even greater degree with that of other EU countries and with that of the European Union Trademark.
