The CP8 Common Practice ‘Use of a trade mark in a form differing from the one registered’ has been adopted by the EUIPO’s Management Board and Budget Committee.

On 28 April 2020, the second edition of the ASEAN Common Guidelines for the Substantive Examination of Trade Marks was published on the ASEAN IP Portal website and on the ARISE+ IPR website.

The National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia (Sakpatenti) has published three Practice Papers: Distinctiveness - figurative marks containing descriptive/non-distinctive words, Scope of protection of black and white marks, and Likelihood of confusion (impact of non-distinctive/weak components) relative grounds of refusal.

The National Directorate of Industrial Property under the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining of Uruguay (DNPI) has published a Practice Paper concerning the examination of absolute grounds for refusal as regards figurative trade marks with purely descriptive words/expressions.

The EUIPO hosted second online session of the 28th User Group meeting on 15 May 2020.

The Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP), with the support of the EUIPO’s European Cooperation Service, has improved the services it provides to trade mark and design applicants through the launch of new online services.

The EUIPO is hosting the first Online session of the 23rd Liaison Meeting on Trade Marks on 6 May 2020, for the first time through digital means.

From 5 to 7 May, the EUIPO is organising the 10th Software Package Technical Handover workshop.

L’Office des brevets de Lettonie (Patentu valde) a amélioré son portail consacré au e-filing et renforcé son système de back office avec le soutien des projets de coopération européenne de l’EUIPO, permettant ainsi aux demandeurs d’enregistrer divers nouveaux types de marques, conformément à la directive de l’UE relative aux marques.

The Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) is now part of the Common Harmonised Database on Product Indications (HDBPI) in DesignClass.