If you have exceeded a period of 6 months after the renewal deadline for your French trademark, it is no longer possible to “revive” your old trademark. You have therefore lost your prior trademark rights to your name and logo.
However, all may not be lost, since rights to a sign may also be claimed, if they exist, as a company name, a trade name, a brand name, a domain name, etc. In addition, if a third party has since filed a new trademark, other legal arguments could perhaps be invoked against this new filing or even this new use.
These grounds must therefore be examined as quickly as possible, and a new application will certainly be necessary to ensure optimum protection.
However, if you find yourself in this situation, don’t re-file your trademark on your own while waiting for the possible consequences!
We are at your disposal to examine the situation and advise you as best as we can on your protection strategy. What’s more, we can manage your existing trademarks to help you keep track of them and make sure that next time, if you don’t renew your trademarks, it’s because you really decided to do so!
If you are not yet in this situation, congratulations! But don’t wait until you are…
