EUIPO Boards of Appeal Where have they been? Where are they going? - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

EUIPO Boards of Appeal Where have they been? Where are they going?

THEN AND NOW • 1997: starting from zero • End 2016 : almost 2,500 appeals files and 2,900 decisions taken • 2017: 19 Members • A third of the EU General Court’s case load is trademark work

BUILDING • Late 90s: Building from diversity • Constructing case law (shape marks, slogans, smell marks, colors, tarnishment..)

MEETING THE CONERNS OF PROFESSIONALS • Independence (impartiality; objective panel decisions; secret deliberations; President and presidium as guardians of independence) • Quality (90% + notification within 8 months; GC confirmation rates, ISO, mediation and conciliation) • Speed (written proceedings; one round submissions; 5 languages) • Consistency and coherence (Grand Board; Appeals Knowledge Circle; role of national/previous decisions).

PREPARING FOR CHANGE (1) Administrative • Contact with practitioners (case law laboratories / conferences; inter Office working groups; surveys) • Aim for excellence (best practices)

PREPARING FOR CHANGE (2) Legal • Abolition of need for graphical representation (obstacles of clear & precise and another characteristic) • PGIs & PDOs • Collective and certification marks • Internet evidence • Brexit