Changes to the Community Trade Mark System
17-Jan-2016
EU - The European Parliament, Council and Commission agreed to changes to the Community Trademark Regulation, which will be brought into force on March 23, 2016.
As per the new changes, the “Community Trade Marks” will be changed to “European Union Trade Marks” and the “Community Trade Mark Courts” will therefore be renamed as the “European Union Trade Mark Courts”. The name of the “Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM)”, will become the “European Union Intellectual Property Office”.
The changes will affect the fee structure at the newly called European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Whilst filing fees for an application in three or more classes will increase slightly, there will be a significant reduction in renewal fees for all registrations.
Apart from the change of name from CTM to EU trade mark, one of the most noticeable changes will be to the filing and renewal fees.