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| Iamege taken from the Internet |
The Administrative Court of the City of Maputo has issued an unfavorable decision for Paddy's Restaurante & Discos Sociedade Unipessoal, Lda, in case number 10/2024-CA. The decision, dated December 26, 2024, rejects the appeal filed by the company against the administrative act of registering the mixed trade mark "AUNTY'S IRISH PUB," class 43, case number 48032/2023, carried out by the Director of the Industrial Property Institute (IPI).
The appeal for annulment named Aunty Corn Fish e
Chips, Sociedade Unipessoal, Lda, as the interested party. However, the Court
did not analyze the merits of the case, upholding the preliminary issue raised
by the Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the expiry of Paddy's Restaurant's
right to appeal.
According to the case records, the legal deadline
to file an opposition to the registration of the "AUNTY'S IRISH PUB"
trade mark expired on July 14, 2023. However, Paddy's Restaurant only formalized
its opposition on July 31, 2023, exceeding the 30-day period stipulated by
paragraph 1 of Article 130 of Decree No. 47/2015, of December 31, which
approves the Industrial Property Code.
The Court based its decision on the peremptory
nature of the opposition period. Failure to file an opposition within the legal
deadline is interpreted as tacit acceptance of the administrative act, as
provided for in Article 156 of Law No. 14/2011[1],
of August 10, and paragraph 1 of Article 46 of Law No. 7/2014[2],
of February 28.
The failure to file the opposition within the
legally established period, therefore, constituted a tacit acceptance of the
trademark registration, leading the Court to consider the right of appeal as
expired, under the terms of subparagraph i) of paragraph 2 of Article 58 of Law
No. 7/2014, of February 28.
The Administrative Court also cited Article 328
of the Civil Code, applicable by virtue of Article 2 of Law No. 7/2014, which
establishes that limitation periods are neither suspended nor interrupted,
except in cases provided for by law, and that their assessment is ex officio.
Thus, the decision of the Administrative Court
of the City of Maputo was to reject the contentious appeal filed by Paddy's
Restaurante & Discos Sociedade Unipessoal, Lda., based on the expiry of the
right to appeal.
This decision underscores the importance of
strict compliance with legal deadlines in administrative proceedings,
especially in matters of industrial property. Paddy's Restaurante & Discos
Sociedade Unipessoal, Lda., had its appeal denied not due to a lack of merit in
the request for annulment, but rather due to the untimeliness of its action.
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