(765 ILCS 1036/20)
Sec. 20.
Filing of application.
(a) Upon the filing of an application for registration
and payment of the application fee, the Secretary may cause the
application to be examined for conformity with this Act.
(b) The applicant shall provide any additional pertinent
information requested by the Secretary including a description of
a design mark and may make, or authorize the Secretary to make,
such amendments to the application as may be reasonably requested
by the Secretary or deemed by applicant to be advisable to respond
to any rejection or objection.
(c) The Secretary may require the applicant to disclaim
an unregisterable component of a mark otherwise registerable, and
an applicant may voluntarily disclaim a component of a mark sought
to be registered. No disclaimer shall prejudice or affect the
applicant's or registrant's rights then existing or thereafter
arising in the disclaimed matter, or the applicant's or
registrant's rights of registration on another application if the
disclaimed matter be or shall have become distinctive of the
applicant's or registrant's goods or services.
(d) Amendments may be made by the Secretary upon the
application submitted by the applicant upon applicant's agreement;
or a fresh application may be required to be submitted.
(e) If the applicant is found not to be entitled to
registration, the Secretary shall advise the applicant thereof and
of the reasons therefor. The applicant shall have a reasonable
period of time specified by the Secretary in which to reply or to
amend the application, in which event the application shall then be
reexamined. This procedure may be repeated until (1) the Secretary
finally refuses registration of the mark or (2) the applicant fails
to reply or amend within the specified period, whereupon the
application shall be deemed to have been abandoned.
(f) All final decisions of the Secretary of State
under this Act shall be deemed to be administrative decisions and
subject to judicial review under the provisions of the
Administrative Review Law
and the rules adopted pursuant thereto.
(g) In the instance of applications concurrently being
processed by the Secretary seeking registration of the same or
confusingly similar marks for the same or related goods or
services, the Secretary shall grant priority to the applications in
order of filing. If a prior-filed application is granted a
registration, the other application or applications shall then be
rejected. Any rejected applicant may bring an action for
cancellation of the registration upon grounds of prior or superior
rights to the mark, in accordance with the provisions of Section 45
of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 90-231, eff. 1-1-98.)
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