Parts C and E of OHIM's Manual of Trade Mark Practice have been amended. While the amendments described below might seem quite minor, they have the capacity to make a lot of people's lives a little bit easier, which is no bad thing. The changes, which were circulated by OHIM earlier today, are as follows:

Part C, Part 1, Procedural matters

Page 8: As from 1 April 2012,  in oppositions based on earlier CTMs, OHIM will no longer send the applicant the corresponding CTM-online extract attached to the its letter. Instead, it will add a link to the CTM Online database. This lets applicants download information themselves and will save precious time. The Manual on Trade Mark Practice has been amended to reflect this:

"The applicant immediately receives a copy of the notice of opposition (and of any document submitted by the opposing party) for information. In case the opposition is based on a Community trade mark, he is also informed that he can access any information about earlier Community trade marks via CTM-ONLINE, which is available on the Office’s Internet site”. 

Part E. Changes in an application or registration

Page 11: A change in the official designation, name or official address of an applicant or owner will automatically be registered for all CTMs and RCDs. The Manual Part E Section 3 “Changes in the application or registration” has been amended to reflect this practice better.

Further information is included in the April 2012 issue of Alicante News.