Nota informativa relativa a medidas de la Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas sobre plazos y trámites de solicitantes afectados por el terremoto y tsunami de fecha 11 de marzo de 2011

Wed Mar 16 16:47:00 CET 2011

In view of the tragic events that occurred in Japan on March 11th, the Spanish Patents and Trademark Office would like to remind all parties of the measures provided by national legislation with an end to resolving situations of failure to comply with deadlines and procedures faced by applicants, owners, opponents and correspondents who are resident, domiciled or have a commercial establishment in the zones affected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

In accordance with the legislation in force and taking into account the rights of third parties involved in the procedures, the measure to be applied on a case by case basis by the SPTO are as follows:

• Re-establishment of rights (art. 25 of the Trademark Act, applicable to all other categories of industrial property)
• Reinstatement of patent rights (art. 117 of the Trademark Act)
• Extension of deadlines (art. 36 of the Patent Regulation)
• Those which apply as a result of irregularities in the mail service (art. 48 PCT and Rule 82 of its Implementation Regulation)