The Icelandic Parliament passed on June 14, 2012 a bill amending the 1997 Trademark Act. A new invalidation process on the administrative level has been opened, but previously invalidation was only possible through the courts. Most often, invalidation is sought due to the non-use of a trademark.
Another notable change is that a trademark cannot be registered if it is confusingly similar to a mark that has been in use in another country, provided that the application is in the same or similar class of goods or services as the foreign mark and the applicant is aware of or should have been aware of the foreign mark.
Finally, foreign trademark owners are no longer required to use local representatives before the Icelandic registration authorities. The changes to the law allow foreign agents to represent trademark owners before the authorities, but they must reside within the EU, EEA or the Faroe Islands. However, all communication between representatives and the Icelandic Patent Office must still be in Icelandic.