Consent

Where a conflicting earlier right has been identified in the examination report, consent from the earlier right holder may be filed to overcome the need for notification.

Section 5(5) of the Act states:

'Nothing in this section prevents the registration of a trade mark where the proprietor of the earlier mark or earlier right consents to the registration'

We will accept a letter of consent or a formal agreement between the parties. If the specification is not referred to it will be assumed that the specification applied for is acceptable to the party providing consent. Where consent is provided the party providing the consent will not be notified when the trade mark proceeds to advertisement.

Proprietors seeking consent will be allowed to request extensions of time while negotiations are proceeding.

Following the issue of the examination report where a period of two months is granted for a response, two further two month extensions may be requested in order to obtain consent.

The total time allowed will be restricted to a maximun of six months following the issue of the examination report.

If consent has not been obtained by the end of this period, unless the applicant chooses to withdraw the application, the trade mark will proceed to be advertised with notification being sent to the earlier rights holder.

Further details regarding consent can be found in Chapter 3 "Examination and Practice" (2.4Mb) of the work manual at paragraph 56.2.