Summary

Trademarks in Denmark

Normally, a trademark registration in Denmark can be obtained within approx. 4 months from the date of filing.

Upon the filing of a trademark application the Danish PTO checks the mark for registrability per se (absolute grounds) and will furthermore conduct a search for confusingly similar trademarks amongst registered marks and pending applications in Denmark and the EU, and for identical company names and personal names (relative grounds).

If the Examiner has any objection to the registration of the mark, an official action will be issued, currently within 4 or 6 weeks. An objection for absolute grounds may only be overcome by argumentation whereas an objection for relative grounds is only for informative purposes, and if no response is filed within the time limit set, the application will automatically proceed to registration. The Certificate of Registration will thus be issued in the course of 2 or 3 weeks from the expiry of the official deadline, following which the mark will be published for a two months' opposition period. If no opposition is filed within the opposition deadline, the registration becomes final.

If, on the other hand, no hindrances are found, the mark will automatically proceed to registration and publication.

One application may cover multiple classes of goods and/or services in International Classes 1-45. The registration runs for 10 years from the date of registration and the registration is renewable for periods of 10 years at a time.

According to the provisions of the Danish Trades Marks Act a registered trademark may be cancelled in full or in part at the request of a third party if, within a period of 5 years following the date of the completion of the registration procedure, the proprietor has not put the trademark into genuine use in this country for the goods or services in respect of which it is registered, or if such use has been suspended during an uninterrupted period of 5 years.

Power of Attorney and/or other Forms

Power of Attorney is not required.

Despite claim of priority the Danish PTO seldom asks for priority document. If, however, the PTO does ask for such document, a photocopy certified by an attorney-at-law or by two witnesses is sufficient.  Thus no notarization or legalization is required.