Situations can vary. We have already expressed our opinion in other materials on how we proceed when the trademark our customer wishes to register is already in use on the market. But what happens when the customer is the one that owns the trademark that a competitor wishes to register for the marketed products?

The procedure followed is similar to the one in which the customer wishes to register an already existing mark. Specifically, our client, a well-known pharmaceutical company, uses a brand under which it sells food supplements. An application for an identical trademark has been filed by another pharma company with the purpose to bring medical products, such as cement for arthroplasty, to the market.

In order to reach consensus with the adversary, we have started negotiations aiming to conclude with a coexistence agreement. In the event that we won’t reach an agreement that suits both parties and does not damage in any way our client’s brand, then we will go to EUIPO (the European Union Intellectual Property Office), the institution that manages trademark cases across the EU, and we will file an opposition to defend our client’s rights.