CWB is engaged in litigation in Oman, highlighting the impact of deeming provisions in undefended trade mark opposition matters.
Briefly, a trade mark applicant had appealed an adverse, default opposition decision before the local courts, because the applicant failed to file a defence before the Trade Mark Office within the allocated period of time, under the GCC Trade Mark Law. On appeal, the applicant traversed merits considerations at length, including on the nature of rights relied upon by the opponent, operative provisions in the law, and, on our reading, going so far as to question whether opposition proceedings are relevant at all.
The formal exchanges by the Registry before the Court, also being a cited respondent in the proceedings, were curt: since no defence had been filed in time, the Registry was free to reject the opposition (out of hand), without needing to delve into challenges over merits and procedural considerations. We agreed, also referring the Court to the deeming provision in the relevant law.
The applicant had already lost the first round of appeal, with the second-level appeal ongoing.
The proceedings are instructive on statutory deadlines in our region. In contrast to jurisdictions with eased access and procedures, filings in our region require developed, specialised guidance on formal requirements, for example, in the authentication of Powers of Attorney (particularly, where super-legalisation is required, and late filing is not possible); in the collection and translation of supporting evidence (where primary documents need to be translated into Arabic in Middle Eastern countries, often with certified translations); and, overall, in the development of instructions.
CWB takes pride in considered, timely guidance to our existing and new clients.