The Estonian Trade Mark Gazette is an official periodic publication of the Patent Office, in which, among other things, notices of the registration decisions of trade marks are published. An interested party, such as the proprietor of an earlier similar trade mark or business name, who wishes to prevent the granting of legal protection to a later mark, may file an opposition within two months as of the date of publication of the notice of registration of the mark in the trade mark gazette.
Until now, the trade mark gazette has been published once a month, namely on the first working day of each month. Due to the accelerated procedure and the shortened waiting list, it was necessary to publish notices of registration decisions of marks more frequently, so that the advantages arising from the accelerated procedure would not be lost in anticipation of publication and the end of the period for contestation. Changing the frequency of publication became possible after the entry into force of the amendments to the Trade Mark Regulation on 11 September 2023.
After that, it was decided that the trade mark gazette would be published twice a month and technical preparations for the implementation began. As a result of this work, from January 2024 the trade mark gazette will be published on the 1st and 15th day of each month. If the date falls on a holiday or weekend, the page will appear on the following working day.
The purpose of changing the frequency of publication is to speed up the trade mark procedure, and in particular, more frequent publication should meet the expectations of the applicants who opted for the accelerated procedure. This step shortens the stages following the examination - publication, contestation and entry into the register.