6-2-1 The cancellation proceedings

Cancellation proceedings are A. initiated B. finalised with the submission of an application for revocation or for a declaration of invalidity (the ‘application for cancellation’) against A. an EUTM application B. a registered EUTM . An application for cancellation against an EUTM application that has not yet been registered A. is not admissible B. is admissible .

Once the application for cancellation is received, the Office checks that the corresponding cancellation fee has been paid. If the fee has not been paid, the application is A. deemed not to have been filed B rejected .

Next, the Office carries out a preliminary assessment of the admissibility A. entitlements B. requirements . The Office also notifies the EUTM proprietor of the A. decision B. application . If there are any deficiencies related to relative admissibility requirements, the Office will ask the cancellation applicant (the applicant) to remedy them A. within B. without a specified time limit.

Once the admissibility check has been completed, the Office will make A. an entry B. an entrance in the Register of the pending cancellation proceedings for the contested EUTM (Article 87(3)(n) EUTMR). This is to inform A. third B. opposition parties about them. In parallel, the adversarial part of the proceedings is A. closed B. opened and the parties are invited to submit observations (and, if A. admissible B. applicable , proof of use).

There are usually two rounds of A. decisions B. observations , after which the adversarial part is closed and the file is ready for a decision. Once the decision becomes A. preliminary B. final (i.e. if no appeal has been filed within the prescribed time limit or when the appeal proceedings are closed), the Office will make the A. correspondence B. corresponding entry in the Register, in accordance with Article 57(6) EUTMR.

[Source: Guidelines for Examination in the Office, adapted].