Opposition proceedings: stages and deadlines

An opposition against an EU trade mark application runs through a fixed sequence: formal checks, a negotiation window, an evidence exchange, and a decision by the Office. Deadlines are set and published by the Office at each stage. Missing one closes that stage; the case then moves forward on the record as it stands.

What changes once an opposition is filed

Filing or receiving an opposition changes the calendar for both sides. The application stops moving towards registration and stays open until the case is closed. Each stage carries its own deadline, published by the Office rather than agreed between the parties. A missed deadline does not restart the clock; the file simply proceeds without the missing submission.

For the applicant, this means the mark cannot be relied on commercially as a registered right while the opposition is pending. For the opponent, it means the window to negotiate, restrict, or contest the case is finite and does not extend itself. Both sides work from the same published timetable, and neither side can shorten it unilaterally.

Stages at a glance

Action checklist

1. Confirm the filing date and check that the opposition is admissible before responding — the applicant's counsel reads the notice the Office sends and calendars every deadline in it.
2. Map every earlier right the opponent relies on and compare it against your own filing — the trade mark team runs this comparison before any strategy call is made.
3. Decide, before the cooling-off period closes, whether to negotiate, restrict the goods and services, or contest the case on the merits — the business owner makes this call together with counsel.
4. Assemble the evidence the case needs, such as proof of use, licences, or priority documents — the in-house team gathers the material; counsel checks whether it is sufficient.
5. File observations by the date the Office sets, not by a date calculated independently — counsel submits and confirms receipt in writing.
6. Track the decision and, if an appeal is warranted, instruct it within the window stated in the ruling itself — counsel handles the appeal filing and the supporting brief.

Who decides and where

The European Union Intellectual Property Office, referred to here simply as the Office, examines the case at first instance through its Opposition Division. It decides from the written file alone; there is no hearing at this stage, and no submission arrives late without consequence.

Either side may ask the Board of Appeal to review the decision. From there, a further review can reach the courts of the European Union. Each forum works only from the record built at the stage before it — evidence not filed on time at the first instance does not reappear later simply because a party asks for it.

Common variations

Portfolios rarely stop at one register. A competitor filing a patent application next to your product raises a comparable priority question in a different registry, and the two proceedings often run on separate calendars rather than a shared one. For the sequence that applies there, see A competitor files a patent application next to your situation guide.

Settlement talks during the cooling-off period sometimes turn into a wider commercial agreement rather than a simple withdrawal. A staged agreement of that kind carries its own checkpoints and its own deadlines, structured in a comparable way — see How benchmarking clause technology contract runs in practice for a parallel example from technology contracts.

Brand portfolios that extend into tokenised products meet a parallel review point elsewhere in the file. Where a mark sits inside a digital offering, the relevant checkpoint is described in Update of the offering document: what the decision maker looks at when marks move into that context.

What this page does not cover

This page covers the opposition procedure itself: the stages, the deciding body, and the deadlines the Office sets between them. It does not cover the underlying commercial value of the assets a portfolio protects, and it does not cover how a register entry is verified once a right has already been granted.

For that layer of detail, on a different registry entirely, see Asset in Slovakia in detail. It sits outside this procedure and answers a different question: what can be established about an asset, not how a dispute over a mark is decided.

Verified

Verified: 15 January 2025. This page describes procedural stages and deadlines as they run in practice; it does not cite individual statutory provisions. The decision-making body, the stage sequence, and the timetable mechanics follow the Office's own published case-handling practice, which is updated from time to time and should be checked against the current published guidance before a deadline is relied on.

Related publications

See How invalidity and revocation trade mark runs in practice for the parallel procedure that applies once a mark is already registered, rather than while it is still pending.

FAQ

How long do opposition proceedings take in practice?

Duration depends on the number of parties, the volume of evidence, and whether the parties extend the negotiation window. The Office publishes the deadline for each stage as the case moves forward, so there is no single fixed timetable that applies to every file in the same way.

Which documents are needed to start?

A notice identifying the earlier right relied on, the goods or services affected, and the grounds for the opposition. Evidence of use or reputation is filed later, once the case moves past the negotiation stage, on the date the Office sets for that filing.

What happens if the other side does not respond?

The Office decides on the file as it stands. Silence does not amount to agreement with the opposition, but it removes the silent party's chance to contest the facts the other side has put forward at that stage.

— Ruta Kavaliauskaite, AURELIS