Cap. 597 Art. 10Lack of distinctive character or of reputation of an earlier trademark precluding a declaration of invalidity of a registered trademark.

An action for a declaration of invalidity on the basis of an earlier trademark shall not succeed at the date of the action for invalidation if it would not have been successful at the filing date or the priority date of the later trademark for any of the following reasons:

(a) the earlier trademark liable to be declared invalid pursuant to article 5(1)(b), (c) or (d) had not yet acquired a distinctive character as referred to in article 5(8);

(b) the application for a declaration of invalidity is based on article 6(1)(b) and the earlier trademark had not yet become sufficiently distinctive to support a finding of likelihood of confusion within the meaning of article 6(1)(b);

(c) the application for a declaration of invalidity is based on article 6(3)(a) and the earlier trademark had not yet acquired a reputation within the meaning of article 6(3)(a).