Both in ex parte and in inter partes cases,
parties occasionally file original items such as catalogues or invoices. Attention
is drawn to the fact that these documents become part of the files of the respective
Community trade mark application or registration, in the same way as any other
document, and therefore cannot be returned to the person who has submitted that
document. Requests to that end will be refused by the Office.
The Office accepts all documents in the form of originals
or photocopies or telecopy transmissions (cf. Rule 80 of the Implementing Regulation).
The files are kept in electronic form. The documents are immediately converted
into electronic files. Access to the original documents filed by the party to
the proceedings, which remain for the time being in the archive, is not granted
(cf. paragraph 7.5.8.2 of the Guidelines on the Inspection of Files, OJ 1998,
804). Parties to the proceedings who wish to avoid giving away original documents
because the originals are needed for their own purposes or because they contain,
in addition to the information required for the purposes of the proceedings
before the Office, confidential information on other issues, are reminded that
they have the following three options (cf. paragraph 7.4.1.3 of the Guidelines
on Inspection of Files). They can either file photocopies only of the relevant
pages of the respective original document, or they can file photocopies of the
original documents in which certain passages have been blacked out. They may
also request that a particular part of the file be excluded from inspection
because of a special interest in keeping a part of the file confidential, pursuant
to Rule 88(c) of the Implementing Regulation; in this case, however, the relevant
document will be communicated to the other party of an inter partes proceeding
(cf. paragraph 7.4.2 of the Guidelines on Inspection of Files).
It is also recalled that it is possible to obtain a certified
or uncertified copy of the respective original document, subject to the payment
of a fee of 30 Euro (in case of an uncertified copy: 10 Euro) plus 1 Euro for
each page exceeding 10 (Article 140(2)(11) of the Community Trade Mark Regulation,
Rule 89 (4) of the Implementing Regulation, and Article 2(28)(b) of the Fees
Regulation).
Jean-Claude Combaldieu
President