The Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina implements CP4

Today, 7 July 2022, the Institute for Intellectual Property (IIP) of Bosnia and Herzegovina has published a practice paper on the scope of protection of black and white marks, different handlings of trade marks in black and white and/or greyscale as regards priority, relative grounds, and genuine use.

The publication of this practice paper is the outcome of the IIP’s work on finding common grounds with the criteria listed in the Common Communication on the Common Practice on the scope of Protection of Black and White Marks (CP4). The principles of the practice will be applied generally, and aim to cover the vast majority of cases.

This document is the result of the combined effort of the IIP and the EUIPO within the framework of their international cooperation activities. The practice paper provides a clear and comprehensive explanation of the principles on which the practice is based and its publication aims to increase clarity, transparency, legal certainty and predictability for the benefit of users and examiners of the IP Offices. It intends to be a reference for these and all other interested parties.

The practice paper can be found below in Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian and English. The document is divided into two parts. The first summarises the key messages and main statements of the practice principles. The second part provides a clear and comprehensive explanation of those principles.

To add clarity to examination practices, in December 2021 the IIP also published a practice paper on figurative marks containing descriptive/non-distinctive words (CP3), addressing when a figurative mark containing purely descriptive/non-distinctive words passes the absolute grounds examination because the figurative element renders the mark as a whole sufficiently distinctive. This is also available in Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian and English.