The Department of Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver (DRCOR) in Cyprus has successfully completed the digitisation of its registry books relating to trade marks on 28 July 2020, under the ECP5 project: Capture and Store Historical Files.

The EUIPO has published the third draft of the Common Practices CP11 ‘New Types of Mark: Examination of formal requirements and grounds for refusal’ and CP12 ‘Evidence in Trade Mark Appeal Proceedings’, following two successful drafting workshops for the CP11 and CP12 Convergence Projects during May 2020.

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.