A trademark owner can oppose a registration of a trademark without priority. Whether a trademark with earlier priority has already been registered or filed for registration is not important.

What are the chances for a successful opposition?

In order to oppose an application successfully you have to:

  • observe an opposition period of three months
  • pay an opposition fee
  • state your reasons for opposing the application
  • demonstrate the possibility of confusion of the trademarks in question

The likelihood of confusion may concern both the trademark itself and the goods and services for which the trademark is to be registered.

General rule: The closer the classes of goods and services, the more the trademark name should differ in order to avoid the danger of confusion.