Oppositions

Oppositions are an important part of the trademark registration process.

One of the purposes of a trademark is to protect the distinctiveness of a brand from infringement. One of the ways a brand can be infringed upon is by new trademark applications. This is usually not done out of malice; instead, new applicants don't realise that their new mark is confusingly similar to the mark of another, meaning they are infringing upon the rights of someone else. Therefore, during the trademark registration process, a set period exists to allow owners of previously registered trademarks to oppose the new application if they believe they have a strong enough claim that their mark and the new mark could be considered confusingly similar.

Below, you can find the most common questions about oppositions: