Executive Director of the EUIPO congratulates Institute on the implementation of CP5

Alicante, 6 June 2024 – Executive Director of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), João Negrão, congratulated the Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the adoption of a common practice regarding nondistinctive/weak elements of trademarks when assessing the likelihood of confusion (CP5).

"This achievement is another example of your country's efforts to bring national trademark and design systems in line with European standards and practices to increase transparency, legal certainty and predictability for the benefit of intellectual property users, rights holders and IP examiners," reads the EUIPO Executive Director's congratulatory message. 

On 17 May, the Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina published in the official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina the document Common Practice on Relative Grounds for Refusal (impact of nondistinctive/weak components), as a result of the combined efforts of the Institute and the EUIPO to find common grounds with the criteria listed under CP5.

Executive Director Negrão underlined that the Institute is an important partner for the EUIPO and looks forward to continuing cooperation in areas where this strong partnership could be further consolidated, such as the development of new common practices, the integration of EUIPN tools or the building of an intellectual property network among partners from the Balkans.

European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is the European Union (EU) agency responsible for managing the EU trade marks (EUTMs), the registered Community design (RCDs), the Geographical Indications (GIs) for craft and industrial products and the European and international cooperation in the field of intellectual property (IP), as well as the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights.