Croatia joined the European Union on 1 July 2013 after a decade of negotiations. Croatia's accession will be welcomed by IP owners, as existing rights in a Community trade mark (CTM), including those
Croatia joined the European Union on 1 July 2013 after a decade of negotiations. Croatia's accession will be welcomed by IP owners, as existing rights in a Community trade mark (CTM), including those protected via an International Registration, or Registered Community Design (RCD) will automatically extend to the EU's 28th Member State from the date of accession.
However, CTMs filed between 1 January 2013 and 1 July 2013 may be subject to Opposition or Invalidation proceedings based on earlier Croatian rights acquired in good faith so IP owners shouldn't be eager to abandon any earlier Croatian national registrations or pending applications just yet. IP owners who wish to trade in Croatia by virtue of an existing CTM registration alone should also be aware that they may be prohibited from doing so on the basis of an earlier right in Croatia acquired in good faith prior to 1st July 2013.
On the other hand, CTMs filed before 1st July 2013 will not be refused registration simply because grounds for refusal arise from Croatia's accession e.g. an application will not be refused because the mark is descriptive in Croatian. Similarly existing registrations cannot be invalidated on this basis.
However, CTMs filed between 1 January 2013 and 1 July 2013 may be subject to Opposition or Invalidation proceedings based on earlier Croatian rights acquired in good faith so IP owners shouldn't be eager to abandon any earlier Croatian national registrations or pending applications just yet. IP owners who wish to trade in Croatia by virtue of an existing CTM registration alone should also be aware that they may be prohibited from doing so on the basis of an earlier right in Croatia acquired in good faith prior to 1st July 2013.
On the other hand, CTMs filed before 1st July 2013 will not be refused registration simply because grounds for refusal arise from Croatia's accession e.g. an application will not be refused because the mark is descriptive in Croatian. Similarly existing registrations cannot be invalidated on this basis.