Cap. 597 Art. 50Opposition procedure.

(1) The proprietor of an earlier trademark as referred to in article 6(2) and article 6(3)(a), and the person authorised under the relevant law to exercise the rights arising from a protected designation of origin or geographical indication as referred to in article 6(3)(c) shall be entitled to file a notice of opposition to the registration of a trademark before the Comptroller. A notice of opposition may be filed on the basis of one or more earlier rights, provided that they all belong to the same proprietor, and on the basis of part or the totality of the goods or services in respect of which the earlier right is protected or applied for, and may be directed against part or the totality of the goods or services in respect of which the contested mark is applied for.

(2) The parties shall be granted, at their joint request, a period of up to 90 working days from the date of the notification by the Office of the opposition to the applicant in order to allow for the possibility of a friendly settlement between the opposing party and the applicant.

(3) The Minister may make regulations in respect of all aspects relevant to the opposition procedure.