Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio LogoMinisterior

Preguntas frecuentes

 

Respondemos todas aquellas dudas referentes a los diferentes procesos implicados en la propiedad industrial.

Todas
Propiedad Industrial
Marcas y Nombres Comerciales
Marcas colectivas y de garantía
Prueba de uso
Marcas internacionales
Transformaciones
Patente nacional y modelo de utilidad
Certificado complementario de protección
Patente europea y validación
Solicitud internacional PCT
Restablecimiento de derechos
Transmisiones y licencias
Tasas
Gestión y valoración de patentes
Representación
Agentes de la propiedad industrial (API)
Examen de calificación europeo (EQE)
Representación y Brexit
Clasificaciones

Dependiendo del tipo de signo anterior, podemos definir el momento desde el que se computa ese plazo de cinco años. El momento para iniciar el cómputo de los cinco años dependerá de la modalidad de signo oponente ante la que nos encontremos. Podemos concretar estas fechas:

  • En el caso de las marcas o nombres comerciales españoles anteriores, el plazo de cinco años deberá computarse a partir del día en que su registro es firme. Es decir, una vez que ya no se puedan interponer recursos administrativos o contencioso-administrativos contra su concesión.
  • Para las marcas de la Unión Europea anteriores, el plazo de cinco años se computa a partir de su fecha de registro.
  • En el caso de los registros internacionales anteriores que designan a España, el plazo de cinco años se computa a partir del momento en que se considera que el registro es firme conforme a la normativa española (es decir, de acuerdo con lo indicado en el primer punto).
  • Por último, para los registros internacionales anteriores que designan a la Unión Europea, el plazo de cinco años se computa a partir del momento en que se publica su concesión por la Oficina Europea de Propiedad Intelectual (EUIPO, por sus siglas en inglés) (es decir, de acuerdo con lo indicado en el segundo punto).

Más información

Trademarks and trade names are distinctive signs that are protected through titles awarded by the state. These grant the title holder exclusive right to their use in economic operations and to prevent others from using protected distinctive signs or other identical or similar signs applied to identical or similar products or services in Spain.

Trademarks are signs allowing business people to distinguish their products or services from the products or services of competitors.

Trade names are signs or denominations identifying a company in trade activities and serve to identify it, separate it and distinguish it from other companies undertaking identical or similar activities.

The corporate name is the name that identifies a legal entity in mercantile operations as the subject in legal relations and is therefore subject to rights and obligations.

The trade name does not have to be the same as the corporate name and the two may therefore be different. A natural person or legal entity can have various trade names for identifying business activities which belong to different economic activity sectors.

Therefore, a trouser manufacturer could register the name he uses for his manufacturing business activities as his trade name, which serves to distinguish the company from other business people. The corporate name is the name which must be used, for example, to sign contracts and register employees for the social security. The sign or name with which the trousers are commercialised will be the trademark of the product. All of these can be, at the business owner's choice, the same or different as required.

The corporate name is the equivalent of the "civil name" of a private individual and the trade name is the "artistic name" that the person may use to present to clients in the marketplace.

Trademarks and trade names are registered with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office; corporate names are registered in the Central Mercantile Register.

A trademark is a sign that serves to distinguish products and services on the market.

A trade name does not represent a product or service and instead serves to identify the trade activity undertaken by a company and to differentiate it from all other companies in both the same and different sectors.

The trademark is the distinctive sign par excellence and can be extended internationally through procedures established via the international or European procedure for registering a trademark. In contrast, it is not possible to do this for a trade name, which can only be protected on a country by country basis and in accordance with the national regulations of each State.
 

A trademark is a sign that serves to distinguish products or services and that can include two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms. Industrial design is an exclusive right granted to a product's external appearance and it has different requirements to a trademark. Two-dimensional forms are eligible for protection (for example, the pattern on a tie) as are three-dimensional forms (for example, the shape of a suitcase, the bodywork of a car).