On February 9, 2023 the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia in the third reading adopted amendments to the Industrial Property Institutions and Procedures Law and the Trademarks Law, implementing the provisions of Directive 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the administrative procedure for the annulment and invalidation of a trademark registration. With the entry into force of the amendments, it will be possible to initiate the procedures for the annulment and invalidation of the trademark registration not only before the court, but also in the Industrial Property Board of Appeal. It is expected that amendments will reduce the costs of the parties and speed up the dispute resolution process, as well as reduce the workload of the courts. Also disclaimer provisions were removed from the Trademarks Law and technical improvements were made in the Laws. The amendments entered into force on March 7, 2023.
The senior lawyer of the Agency TRIA ROBIT, trademark attorney Bronislavs Baltrumovics participated in the process of developing the amendments.