| Division 6 — Opposition to Registration |
| Notice of opposition |
| Contents of notice of opposition |
30.—(1) The notice of opposition shall contain a statement of the grounds upon which the opponent opposes the registration.
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| Counter-statement |
31.—(1) Within 2 months after the date of receipt of the copy of the notice of opposition from the opponent, the applicant shall file with the Registrar a counter-statement in Form HC6 (referred to in this Division as the counter-statement) setting out —
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| Rounds of evidence |
31A.—(1) Where the counter-statement has been filed, the Registrar must, after hearing the parties on the appropriate timelines, specify the periods within which the following evidence may be filed by the parties:
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| Extension of time for evidence in support of opposition |
32.—(1) A request by the opponent for an extension of time to file the statutory declaration mentioned in rule 31A(1)(a) must be made by filing with the Registrar Form HC3 within —
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| Extension of time for evidence in support of application |
33.—(1) A request by the applicant for an extension of time to file the statutory declaration mentioned in rule 31A(1)(b) must be made by filing with the Registrar Form HC3 before the expiry of the latest of the following periods:
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| Extension of time for evidence in reply by opponent |
34.—(1) A request by the opponent for an extension of time to file the statutory declaration in reply mentioned in rule 31A(1)(c) must be made by filing with the Registrar Form HC3 before the expiry of the latest of the following periods:
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| Further evidence |
| 35. No further evidence may be filed by either party except that, in any proceedings before the Registrar, the Registrar may at any time, if he thinks fit, give permission to either party to file further evidence upon such terms as to costs or otherwise as the Registrar may think fit. [S 263/2022 wef 01/04/2022] |
| Exhibits |
| 36.—(1) Where there are exhibits to any evidence filed in an opposition, the party who is relying on the exhibits in support of his case must send a copy of each exhibit to the other party. [S 743/2014 wef 13/11/2014]
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| Pre-hearing review |
36A.—(1) At any time after the completion of the filing of evidence by the parties, the Registrar may direct the parties to attend a pre-hearing review at which he may give such directions as he considers necessary or desirable for securing the just, expeditious and economical disposal of the proceedings.
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| Opposition hearing |
37.—(1) Upon completion of the filing of evidence by the parties, the Registrar shall give notice to the parties of a date on which he will hear arguments on the case.
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| Registrar’s decision in opposition proceedings |
| 38. After the end of the hearing mentioned in rule 37, and the filing of the closing submissions (if the Registrar grants permission for closing submissions to be filed after the last day of the hearing), the Registrar must inform the parties of the Registrar’s decision and the grounds of the decision as soon as practicable. [S 22/2017 wef 31/01/2017] [S 263/2022 wef 01/04/2022] |
| Extension of time in opposition proceedings |
| 39. Where any extension of time is granted to any party, the Registrar may, if he thinks fit, without giving the party a hearing, grant a reasonable extension of time to the other party in which to take any subsequent step. |
| Costs in uncontested oppositions |
| 40. Where an opposition is uncontested by the applicant, the Registrar, in deciding whether costs should be awarded to the opponent, shall consider whether proceedings might have been avoided if reasonable notice had been given by the opponent to the applicant before the notice of opposition was filed. |