A system of opposition will be introduced from the 1st July 2010 by the Austrian trade marks registration office. In particular such remedy is intended to facilitate the resolution of the conflicts between trade marks claimed as confusable (up till now it was possible only to instigate a cancellation action in order to invalidate the subsequent trademark in a rather long and complex proceedings which provided also an oral hearing to be held before a board of 3 Examiners). Therefore the opposition procedure will allow owners of prior rights (registered trademarks or applications) to promptly assess at lower costs the likelihood of confusion between their trade marks and similar signs. The deadline for filing an opposition for Austrian trade marks will be of three months from the date of publication in the Austrian Trade Marks Journal. Also the deadline for filing an opposition for international trademarks will be of three months from the date of publication in the WIPO Journal. The basic new features of the proceedings are as follows: • Oral hearing not mandatory; • Decision by an appointed person of the PTO subject to appeal.