LUXEMBOURG Law and Practice Contributed by: Emmanuèle de Dampierre and Florentine Frias, Elvinger Hoss Prussen
4.8 Dividing a Trade Mark Application It is not possible to divide a Benelux trade mark application, as such. However, the owner of a Benelux trade mark may limit the list of goods or services of the trade mark or assign the trade mark for only some of the goods and services for which it is registered. See also 6.1 Assignment Requirements and Restrictions . 4.9 Incorrect Information in an Application Please see 4.7 Revocation, Change, Amend- ment or Correction of an Application . 4.10 Refusal of Registration Absolute grounds for the refusal of a registration by the BOIP relate to: • signs that cannot constitute a trade mark; • trade marks that are devoid of any distinctive character; • trade marks that consist exclusively of signs or indications that may serve, in trade, to designate the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin or time of production of the goods or of rendering of the service, or other characteristics of the goods or services; • trade marks that consist exclusively of signs or indications that have become customary in the language; • signs that consist exclusively of a character - istic that results from the nature of the goods themselves or that is necessary to obtain a technical result, or that gives substantial value to the goods; • trade marks that are contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality; and • deceiving trade marks. If the examiner finds absolute grounds to refuse the registration, the applicant is notified by the
BOIP – in writing and without delay – of the intention to wholly or partially refuse the registra - tion, and is informed of the grounds for refusal. The applicant is then allowed to respond to such notification, stating all the facts and arguments and providing supporting documentation prov - ing that the trade mark application should be registered. 4.11 The Madrid System Luxembourg (along with Belgium and the Neth - erlands) is a party to the Madrid system. The filing of international trade marks shall therefore take place in accordance with the provisions of the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol. An application for international registration based on a Benelux application may only be filed at the BOIP, located in The Hague. 5. Trade Mark Procedure for Inter Partes Proceedings 5.1 Timeframes for Filing an Opposition or Cancellation Opposition An opposition against the registration of a Ben - elux trade mark application must be filed before the BOIP within two months from the publica - tion of the trade mark application. A potential opponent cannot request extensions of time to file an opposition. The applicant and the opposing party may suspend the opposition proceedings to reach an amicable resolution. They can do so at any time by submitting a joint request to suspend the proceedings, but the suspension will be free of charge only before the start of the opposi - tion proceedings (during the so-called “cooling- off period”) and for the first three suspensions.
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