A trademark must be used genuinely in the Community within five years after registration, otherwise it may be revoked. But what is 'genuine use in the Community'? In a recent decision the Benelux Bureau of Intellectual Property (BBIE) holds that the Community Trademark 'ONEL' would not have been used genuinely, as the use was limited to the Netherlands. In other words: use in only one member state would not be sufficient as genuine use as a trademark in the Community. The decision caused some rumour on several blog sites, such as Boek9 and IPkat. Justified rumour. The decision seems a nuke on the CTM system. And it might even be that the BOIP now holds that use in the Netherlands only is not use as a (Benelux) trademark in the Benelux, meaning that such Benelux trademark could be revoked when used in the Netherlands or Belgium only. This point of view highly surprises me. Even the OHIM saw a reason to publish a statement (disagreeing: use in one member state is sufficient). With oppositions at a Community level other criteria seem to apply than when opposing before the BOIP in the Benelux. In the end the ECJ will have to decide on this. In the meantime, I see hardly any noses being in line with BOIP's nose.
Maarten Haak
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A trademark must be used genuinely in the Community within five years after registration, otherwise it may be revoked. But what is 'genuine use in the Community'? In a recent decision the Benelux Bureau of Intellectual Property (BBIE) holds that the Community Trademark 'ONEL' would not have been used genuinely, as the use was limited to the Netherlands. In other words: use in only one member state would not be sufficient as genuine use as a trademark in the Community. The decision caused some rumour on several blog sites, such as Boek9 and IPkat. Justified rumour. The decision seems a nuke on the CTM system. And it might even be that the BOIP now holds that use in the Netherlands only is not use as a (Benelux) trademark in the Benelux, meaning that such Benelux trademark could be revoked when used in the Netherlands or Belgium only. This point of view highly surprises me. Even the OHIM saw a reason to publish a statement (disagreeing: use in one member state is sufficient). With oppositions at a Community level other criteria seem to apply than when opposing before the BOIP in the Benelux. In the end the ECJ will have to decide on this. In the meantime, I see hardly any noses being in line with BOIP's nose.
Maarten Haak