Slovenian IPO Joins Seniority Project

Slovenian IPO Joins Seniority Project

The Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) has recently implemented the Seniority Project, a joint project between the Office of Harmonization for the Internal Market (OHIM) and the PTOs of member states.

The project aims to establish links among the seniority data in the national and Community databases and make this information accessible online.

Having accurate seniority data is important for the Community trademark (CTM) owners who have previously registered an identical trademark, in an EU member state, which has been surrendered or allowed to lapse. A seniority claim allows CTM owners to continue having the same rights, within all member states, which they would have had if the earlier trademark had continued to be valid.

At present, eight national offices (Portugal, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Ireland, Slovenia, Benelux and Bulgaria) have implemented the Seniority Project.