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Draft Law Partially Amending Law 17/2001 of 7 December, on Trade Marks

On the occasion of the approval of Directive (EU) 2015/2436, of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2015 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks, it is necessary to align their standards to the legal systems of the Member States and, consequently, to the Spanish legal system.

The purpose of the draft law is to align and harmonise the national trade mark registration system with the EU trade mark registration system (EUIPO). In addition, it incorporates certain regulatory improvements laid down both by the practical experience gained and by jurisprudence or scientific doctrine.

The most important amendments are:

• Legal standing is granted to any individual or legal entity.
• The formal requirement on the trade mark concept concerning “graphic representation” is replaced with "representation".
• Absolute grounds for refusal will be reordered in a uniform and exhaustive manner, in particular those referring to designations of origin (DO) and protected geographical indications (PGI).
• There will be no distinction between a well-known trade mark and a renowned trade mark, this distinction shall be replaced by a single category of enhanced protection: Renowned trade mark.
• The opposing holder may be requested to provide proof of use of the trade mark on which his opposition is based.
• The SPTO is empowered to directly invalidate or revoke a trade mark, as are the courts through a counterclaim.
• There will be a new fee when filing a request for invalidity or revocation before the SPTO.

All amendments will be effective, prior approval of the draft law, on 14 January 2019, except for the SPTO's power to directly invalidate or revoke trade marks that is delayed to 14 January 2023.