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On 1st January 2024, the UK IPO introduced its new rules requiring an Address for Service (AFS) in the UK, Channel Islands or Gibraltar for UK trade marks (including International Registrations designating the UK). Under the rules, an address within the European Economic Area was no longer accepted in relation to certain proceedings. Trade mark registrations without a UK AFS risked possible loss of rights, and the latter half of 2023 witnessed a surge of applications appointing UK law firms.
In April of this year, the UK IPO set out its plan to take a more proactive approach to use its powers if a UK trade mark failed to meet the AFS requirements. When proceedings commence, whilst the UK IPO will post a letter to the right holder or its currently recorded non-UK representative setting a deadline of 1 month to provide a UK AFS, the UK IPO emphasised that an AFS needs to be effective so that correspondence can be delivered and acted upon promptly by the recipient. If the right holder fails to respond, the proceedings could succeed without its involvement and the trade mark right could ultimately be lost.
As the UK IPO will send its request for a UK AFS via the postal service, there is a real risk of a failure to reply in time and the advice is therefore to appoint a UK-based AFS for relevant marks as soon as possible, rather than face addressing contentious proceedings under tight timelines.
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If you have any questions relating to this article or have any trademark or intellectual property matters you would like to discuss, please contact our commercial team.
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