Sweden

Sweden is one of the most developed markets in Western Europe and, as such, has a sophisticated system for registering and enforcing trademarks. This regime has been further updated with the new Trademarks Act, which came into force in July 2011. The act will allow the country to accede to the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks; in addition, it modernises the previous legislation and reflects developments that have occurred since the 1960s. The main features of the new act include more efficient trademark registration processes and the possibility for registrations to be cancelled through administrative proceedings at the Swedish Patent and Registration Office. Practitioners agree that the act is unlikely to have a major impact on clients, as it mainly codifies existing case law and introduces only minor procedural changes.