SPAIN
August 01, 2017
The implementation of the new Patents Act in April of 2017, has allowed for the submission of protective letters, which will be accepted by all courts handling patent cases. Protective letters are to be effective for three months.
This three-month term is one of the differences between the Patents Act and the Unified Patent Court's Rules of Procedure, as the latter establishes that a protective letter is effective for six months, which is extendable for another six months if the party that filed the protective letter requests such an extension (Rule 207.9).
The Spanish Supreme Court issued a resolution a few months ago indicating that the denominative trademark "Toro" is valid and do not incur in any of the absolute prohibitions of the EU Trademark Regulations, even though bulls (toros) may be seen as an icon of Spain. The social use that may be done of a particular image of a "toro" does not render the term generic. However, that denominative trademark "Toro" cannot result in the cancellation of the trademark application "Badtoro", as the addition of the English word "Bad" creates a neologism which does not imply a risk of confusion of the consumers in the market. However, this fight is still not over as the EU Court has to resolve an appeal against the EUIPO decision not to grant the mix trademark "BadToro". According to the Supreme Court, there is no risk of contradiction between the two procedures since the appeal before the EUIPO relates to a mix sign, not a denominative one, which also takes into account the Osborne's mix trademark, which consists in the drawing of a bull, and which enjoys a wide-spread notoriety.