# Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2015 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (Recast) (Text with EEA relevance), Article 40: Observations by third parties

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

1. Member States may provide that prior to registration of a trade mark, any natural or legal person and any group or body representing manufacturers, producers, suppliers of services, traders or consumers may submit to the office written observations, explaining on which grounds the trade mark should not be registered ex officio.
Persons and groups or bodies, as referred to in the first subparagraph, shall not be parties to the proceedings before the office.
2. In addition to the grounds referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, any natural or legal person and any group or body representing manufacturers, producers, suppliers of services, traders or consumers may submit to the office written observations based on the particular grounds on which the application for a collective mark should be refused under Article 31(1) and (2). This provision may be extended to cover certification and guarantee marks where regulated in Member States.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudr/2015/2436/article/40 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-directive-2015-2436/article-40
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.