We represented an international chain of retail clothing stores in a trademark opposition matter in Latvia. We prepared an urgent opposition application against the registration of the opponent’s trademark and represented the client at a hearing of the Appellate Board of the Latvian Patent Office. The Appellate Board upheld the opposition by invalidating the opponent’s trademark as from the day of its registration.
Trademark registration
This case was particularly interesting, because the Appellate Board upheld the opposition not only on the grounds of earlier rights, but also on the grounds that the opponent had submitted the trademark registration application in bad faith. The most essential aspect in the contention of bad faith was that the opposing party’s earlier rights had existed for a significant amount of time, and thus the trademark registration applicant, being a prudent business-owner, should have known about the existence of such earlier rights when entering the Latvian market.
Our team representing the client
The client was advised by partner Ieva Andersone and senior associate Linda Reneslāce.
