In our office we offer all kind of services related to the protection of intellectual property rights, in particular:
- advice on international brand protection strategies handling of CTM applications, oppositions and cancellation actions as well as all related proceedings to a CTM filing of CD applications and handling cancellation actions against CD registrations
- representing clients in proceedings before the Court of First Instance
- filing of Spanish trade marks and designs advising clients on Spanish IP law and litigation
- conducting trade mark and design availability searches
- coordinating international trade mark and design litigation in various jurisdictions
- offering watch services for trade marks and designs
Over the years our Alicante office has built up considerable expertise regarding national laws and IP rights of the different EU jurisdictions, essential for advising on conflicts between CTMs and earlier national rights from any of the member states. We have handled more than 6,000 CTM applications and about the same number of CTM oppositions (active and passive), as well as numerous cancellation actions, in all languages of the OHIM (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish). Contentious proceedings before OHIM are understood and handled as litigation, and we usually deal with facts and evidence from more than one jurisdiction, sometimes as many as 27. The complexity has risen with the enlargements of the EU in May 2004 and January 2007 since earlier rights from 27 countries can now be invoked.
In recent years we have also extensively advised on Community Design Law, as well as filed numerous Community Design applications. Since 1 April 2003, OHIM has been registering Community Designs (CD) on the basis of the CD Regulation, which came into force on 6 March 2002. We advise clients on the best way to protect their designs, always with a view to how effective the newly created right will be, that is, to potential enforcement before the courts.
In close cooperation with our Madrid office, we are best set up to assist clients with the effective protection and enforcement of their trade marks and designs in Spain. With two of our Spanish attorneys being qualified as Patent and Trade Mark Agents, we have the expertise and qualifications required to represent clients before the Spanish PTO. In conjunction with our specific CTM and CD know-how accumulated over years of specialised services, we are also best placed to provide assistance in litigating over these rights before the CTM Courts in Alicante, which are the only courts in Spain competent to hear CTM and CD cases. This is of particular importance because Alicante is the default jurisdiction for pan-European injunctions based on CTMs and CDs. In line with our global practice, our Spanish domestic services comply with the highest standards of quality and efficiency.