UAE: Brief Notice of Trademark Opposition Is No Longer Sufficient To Start Proceedings
Analysis
During the process of registration, and once the technical examination for the applied mark is successfully completed, the trademark office requests from applicants permission to publish the approved marks in the UAE official gazette for third party opposition to meet the statutory requirements. Third parties (i.e. trademark owners of conflicting marks or preexisting rights) are legally entitled to challenge the acceptance decision and lodge administrative oppositions before the Trademark Office within 30 days from publication date. Through the opposition proceedings the opponents are given a chance to object to the decision made by the Trademark office in accepting the trademark. The registration process is halted until a decision is made.