30Finally, it is clear from Article 34(2) of Regulation No 207/2009 that the only effect of the seniority of an earlier national mark claimed for an EU mark is that the proprietor of that earlier national mark, who surrendered it or allowed it to lapse, is to be deemed to continue to have, in the Member State in or for which it was registered, the same rights as he would have had if that mark had continued to be registered. That provision thus creates a fiction intended to enable the proprietor of the EU mark to continue to enjoy, in that Member State, the protection enjoyed by the earlier national mark which was cancelled and not to enable that mark to continue to exist in the same form. It follows, in particular, that any use of the sign at issue after that cancellation must be regarded, in such a case, as use of the EU mark and not of the cancelled earlier national mark.
Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.