THE AMENDED LAW HAS COME INTO EFFECT Brand owners need to be vigilant

The law concerning brand names (no. 84/ 1998) revised now requires rights holders to defend their interests and to oppose any attempt to register a brand that infringes on those rights. Whereas. until now, the State Department for Inventions and Brand Names (OSIM) would by default oppose the registration of brands similar or identical to those that already exist. From now on it will be up to each brand name owner, either directly or through specialists to permanently monitor the databases to see whether any third party attempts to register a similar or identical brand and to oppose such registration on legal grounds. In case the legal owner of the brand name does not oppose the registration, the identical /similar brand name will be registered and the only legal recourse will be to contest the registration in court, according to a press release by "Allegra Consulting".

A major benefit of the new law is to ensure a quicker registration of the brand, both by shortening the required period (6 months compared to 9-12 months prior to the amendment), as well as the option to pay a fee for emergency registration of the brand (meaning the registration can be shortened to three months). Another benefit of the law is the fact that once its rules of implementation will be complete applicants will be able to file brand name registration requests online.

Sound signals and holograms can also be protected as brand names. It has also been decided the owner of a brand name can oppose the registration of a similar/identical brand for two years after its expiration. Another change is the fact that any application to register a brand in the European Union can now be submitted to the OSIM, as long as the legally required fee is paid.