A trademark watch service only protects you if its alerts arrive before the opposition window closes, and those windows are very different across the corridor: three months at the EUIPO, two months in Spain, 60 days in Brazil, 30 days in the Andean Community, Chile and Uruguay, and a single month in Mexico. This guide shows how to build a monitoring calendar around those deadlines, office by office, for brand owners and in-house teams with portfolios in Europe, Latin America and Africa.
Update (October 2026): WIPO Information Notice No. 40/2026 (23 September 2026) reports that Cuba’s Decree-Law 103/2025 entered into force on 8 August 2026 and that, for provisional refusals issued by the Cuban office from that date, holders of international registrations have 60 calendar days to respond, counted from the date WIPO transmits the notification. Cuba is subject to sanctions regimes, notably those of the United States, that can affect payments and representation; review them with your adviser before acting. WIPO, Information Notice No. 40/2026.
Key takeaways
- Opposition periods in the corridor range from one month (Mexico) to three months (EUIPO and OAPI), and they run from publication, not from filing.
- For international registrations designating the EU, the EUIPO window opens one month after republication and lasts three months.
- China’s revised Trademark Law, approved on 26 June 2026, cuts its opposition period to two months from 1 January 2027.
- A watch report is useful only if it reaches the decision-maker with enough time to gather evidence and instruct local counsel.
- The calendar should be built backwards from the shortest deadline in your portfolio, not from the average.
Why opposition deadlines drive a trademark watch service
Most offices in the corridor publish applications so that third parties can object before registration. That opposition is usually the cheapest and fastest way to stop a conflicting mark: once the window closes, the alternative is an invalidity or cancellation action, which takes longer and costs more. A watch service scans official gazettes and registers for new filings that resemble your marks and reports them to you. Its value depends on one thing: whether the report arrives with enough of the opposition period left to act.
In practice, the time lost is rarely in the search itself. It is lost between the alert and the decision: the report sits in an inbox, the business team needs to confirm whether the products overlap, and local counsel is instructed in the last week. With a one-month window, that sequence does not fit.
Opposition periods across the corridor: the table to start from
These are the statutory periods we use as anchors. Each runs from the publication of the application in the official bulletin or gazette indicated.
| Office | Opposition period | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| EUIPO (EU trade mark applications) | 3 months from publication | Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, Art. 46(1) |
| EUIPO (international registrations designating the EU) | 3 months, starting 1 month after republication | Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, Art. 196(2) |
| OEPM (Spain) | 2 months from publication in the BOPI | Royal Decree 687/2002, Art. 17(1) |
| IMPI (Mexico) | 1 month, non-extendable, from publication in the Gazette | Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property, Art. 221 |
| INPI (Brazil) | 60 days from publication | Law 9.279/1996, Art. 158 |
| Andean Community (Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia) | 30 days from publication, plus 30 days for evidence on request | Decision 486, Art. 146 |
| INAPI (Chile) | 30 days from publication of the extract in the Official Gazette | Law 19.039, Art. 5 |
| DNPI (Uruguay) | 30 calendar days from the day after publication | Decree 34/999, Art. 7 |
| OAPI (African Intellectual Property Organization) | 3 months from publication | Revised Bangui Agreement, Annex III, Art. 15 |
| CNIPA (China), from 1 January 2027 | 2 months from the preliminary approval announcement | Revised Trademark Law, Art. 36 |
Two details change how you read the table. First, the Andean Community allows an opposition based on a mark registered in another member country, but the opponent must show a real interest in the market where it opposes, which in practice means filing there too (Decision 486, Art. 147). Second, at the EUIPO third parties can also file observations on absolute grounds until the opposition period ends (Art. 45 of the Regulation), a cheaper tool when the problem is descriptiveness rather than a conflict with your mark.
How do you build a monitoring calendar around these deadlines?
We build the calendar backwards, from the deadline to the alert, and we set it by the shortest window in the portfolio. A workable sequence looks like this:
- Map where you need watching. List marks, classes and countries that matter commercially, including markets you plan to enter within two or three years. A watch limited to where you are registered misses the filings that block your expansion.
- Set the alert frequency by office. Mexico, with one month, needs weekly alerts; offices with three months tolerate a fortnightly cycle.
- Fix an internal decision deadline. For a one-month window, the business decision should be taken within about ten days of publication, leaving time to collect evidence and instruct local counsel.
- Pre-agree the evidence pack. Registration certificates, evidence of use and of reputation should be ready before any alert arrives, so that the opposition is not drafted around missing documents.
- Track the second deadline. Filing the opposition is only the first date: Brazil gives the applicant 60 days to reply, Uruguay 30 calendar days (Decree 34/999, Art. 13), and the Andean Community 30 days plus a possible extension for evidence (Art. 148).
For international registrations under the Madrid System, the calendar has another layer. Each designated office publishes on its own schedule, so the same international registration can open different windows in the EU, Mexico and OAPI months apart.
What changes when China moves to two months?
The revised Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China, published by the CNIPA on 26 June 2026, enters into force on 1 January 2027 (Art. 87). Under its Article 36, prior right holders and interested parties, or anyone on the grounds listed in the law, can oppose within two months of the preliminary approval announcement. For brands from Europe or Latin America that rely on China for manufacturing or sales, the watch cycle for China should be tightened before that date. China sits outside our corridor; we handle it as an extension for corridor clients, through the Madrid System and qualified Chinese agents whom we coordinate.
What this means for your business
- Review your current watch: check which offices it covers and how often it reports, and compare that frequency with the table above.
- Add the markets on your expansion plan, not only the ones where you are registered.
- Name one person who decides on oppositions, with authority to approve costs within days.
- Keep certificates and evidence of use updated for your core marks in each region.
- Coordinate Madrid designations so that each designated office’s publication is tracked separately.
If you run marks in several of these offices, our trademark watch and registration team for Europe, Latin America and Africa can set the calendar and handle filings and oppositions from one point of contact.
Where companies get trademark watching wrong
- One frequency for every office. A monthly report is fine for the EUIPO but can arrive after the Mexican window has already closed.
- Watching only identical marks. Most conflicts involve similar marks, translations or marks in other scripts; the search criteria need to reflect that.
- No owner for the decision. Alerts that circulate between marketing and legal without a decision lose days the calendar does not have.
- Forgetting the reply stage. An opposition filed on time can still fail if the evidence deadline that follows is missed.
- Separate providers per country. Different formats and cut-off dates make it hard to see the portfolio as a whole. Our trademark opposition and enforcement team works from a single calendar.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to oppose a trademark in the EU?
Three months from the publication of the EU trade mark application, under Article 46(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001. For an international registration designating the EU, the three-month period starts one month after the EUIPO republishes it (Article 196(2)). The opposition is not duly entered until the fee is paid, so payment must be within the same period.
Which office in the corridor has the shortest opposition window?
Mexico. Article 221 of the Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property gives a single, non-extendable month from the date publication in the IMPI Gazette takes effect, and late oppositions are rejected outright. That is why we set weekly alerts for Mexico and an internal decision deadline of about ten days.
Does a trademark watch service replace a clearance search?
No. A clearance search checks whether your own new mark is available before filing. A watch monitors what others file after your marks are on the register. Both are needed: clearance avoids starting a conflict, and watching lets you stop a conflicting mark while opposition is still possible and cheaper than a cancellation action.
Can IP Global Guard run our trademark watch across Europe, Latin America and Africa?
Yes. We set up the watch, review the alerts with you and, where you decide to act, prepare and coordinate the oppositions: before the EUIPO and the OEPM directly when our professionals are entitled to act and otherwise through qualified representatives, and before other offices through local correspondents we coordinate, with one point of contact.
How IP Global Guard can help you keep the calendar
A watch calendar works when one team sees all the deadlines together and can act on the shortest one. IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, manages trademark portfolios with one strategy and one billing relationship across more than 25 jurisdictions in Europe, Latin America and Africa, and extends that coverage to markets such as China for corridor clients.
Send us your list of core marks, classes and target countries. We will map the opposition windows that apply, propose an alert frequency for each office and tell you where your current watch leaves gaps. Ask our team to review your watch calendar.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and reflects the rules in force on its publication date.
Sources
- WIPO Lex, Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 on the European Union trade mark (14 June 2017)
- BOE, Royal Decree 687/2002, Regulation implementing the Spanish Trade Marks Act (consolidated text, 30 April 2019)
- Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, Federal Law for the Protection of Industrial Property (last amended 3 April 2026)
- Presidency of Brazil, Law 9.279 of 14 May 1996
- Andean Community, Decision 486 (14 September 2000)
- Chile, Law 19.039 on Industrial Property, Article 5 (text based on LeyChile)
- IMPO, Uruguay Decree 34/999 implementing Law 17.011 (3 February 1999, updated text)
- Bangui Agreement as revised on 14 December 2015, Annex III
- CNIPA, Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China, revised (26 June 2026)
- WIPO, Madrid Information Notice No. 40/2026, Cuba (23 September 2026)
