Rule 2 InterpretationI1

In these Rules—

• “the Act” means the Trade Marks Act 1994;

• F1“fast track opposition” means an opposition—

  1. (a)

     brought solely on grounds under section 5(1) or 5(2) of the Act,

  2. (b)

     based on no more than 3 earlier trade marks, each of which is registered in the UK or in the EU, F2or is protected in the UK as an international trade mark (UK),

  3. (c)

     where proof of use of the earlier marks can be provided with the notice of opposition, and

  4. (d)

     which the opponent considers may be determined without the need for further evidence and without an oral hearing.

• “the Journal” means the Trade Marks Journal published in accordance with rule 81;

• “the “Nice Agreement” means the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks of 15th June 1957^f1, which was last amended on 28th September 1979;

• “the “Nice Classification” means the system of classification under the Nice Agreement^f2;

• F3“the Office” means the Patent Office which operates under the name “Intellectual Property Office”;

• “send” includes give;

• “specification” means the statement of goods or services in respect of which a trade mark is registered or proposed to be registered;

• “transformation application” means an application to register a trade mark under the Act where that mark was the subject of an international registration prior to that registration being cancelled.

In these Rules a reference to a section is a reference to that section in the Act F4, a reference to a schedule is a reference to that schedule to the Act and a reference to a form is a reference to that form as published under rule 3.

Terms defined in Part 5 of Schedules 2A and 2B have the same meaning in these Rules.

In these Rules references to the filing of any application, notice or other document, unless the contrary intention appears, are to be construed as references to its being delivered to the registrar at the Office.