2020/01 > Industrial Property: What’s new in 2020
Pacte legislation and Patents:
The implementing decree no. 2020 of 8 January 2020 published in the JORF of 9 January 2020 provides details on the new measures relating to utility certificates and provisional patent applications (See our specific news Flash).
Trade mark package:
The Ordinance n°2019-1169 of 13 November 2019 is supplemented by the implementing decrees of 9 December 2019 notably to fix the new amounts of fees collected by the INPI. The decrees specify also the new conditions for the representation of trade marks now that the requirement for a graphical representation has been eliminated.
The opposition proceedings are opened up to new prior rights and several may be invoked in the same application. The investigation phase is amended and extended and no draft of the opposition decision will be rendered any longer. Proof of the use of the mark, when it is subject to the obligation of use, must be reported over the period of five years from the date of filing or priority and no longer from the date of the request for proof of use, and the use must cover all the goods and services on which the opposition is based. The appeal procedure is unchanged.
Competence is given to the INPI to hear actions for revocation and invalidity on absolute grounds as well as on the basis of the prior rights which may be invoked in an opposition.
These revocation and invalidity procedures will come into effect on April 1, 2020. The Courts retain jurisdiction for actions based on another right (for example, copyright) as well as for actions including infringement actions and interim measures.
Design Law and spare parts:
The provisions of the Law of mobility orientation (regarding transport policy) definitively adopted on 19 November 2019, which provided for the liberalisation of the market in certain spare parts for the repair of motor vehicles in order to restore their original appearance, was censured by the Constitutional Council on the grounds that they were unrelated, even indirectly, with the provisions enabling the Government to legislate (Decision n° 2019-794 DC of 20 december 2019).
Brexit and Industrial Property rights:
The exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union took place on 31 January 2020. Brexit impacts European trademark rights, model rights, supplementary protection certificates, plant varieties, domain names, copyright and related rights, the Customs Regulation 608/2013, as well as the very advanced draft relating to the unitary patent and its accompanying unitary court
As of 31 January 2020, there will be a transition period until 31 December 2020, during which the UK and the EU can negotiate additional arrangements. During this period, the United Kingdom will remain subject to European rules. The provisions already agreed upon concerning the maintenance of industrial property rights are not called into question and will therefore apply to the end of this transitional period.
Our previous information on these various topics can be consulted on our website www.bdl-ip.com on the page IP News.