Mr. António Campinos, the president of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs), (OHIM), issued a statement regarding the upcoming accession to the European Union of the Republic of Croatia.
In the said statement, he emphasized that the accession will provide for the extension of EU trademarks to the Republic of Croatia. Additionally, with regards to the exceptions on the rights to objection, pursuant to Article 159a (3) of the EU Trademark Law, all community trademarks filed between January 1st and June 30th of this year may be subjected to objection based on prior rights established in the Republic of Croatia. Furthermore, following the accession, community trademark and design applications may be filed in Croatian language as well.
