15 March 2016

Important Changes to the Community Trade Mark Regulation and the OHIM

Key changes are being made to the Community Trade Mark Regulation and the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market from the 23 March 2016. The Community Trade Mark (“CTM”) will be renamed the European Union Trade Mark (“EUTM”) and the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market will be renamed the European Union Intellectual Property Office (“EUIPO”).

Any existing CTM applications will automatically become EUTM applications on 23 March 2016.

In addition to this, there will be changes made to the EUIPO official fees for new trade mark applications to discourage trade marks being filed in three Classes. For trade mark owners wishing to file a EUTM the official fees will be:

For One Class        €850
For Two Classes     €900
For Three Classes  €1050
For Four Classes    €1200

Consequently, clients will no longer be able to register three classes for the price of one. One fee will be payable for each class, at a lower rate of €850 for a single class.

If you would like to know more about the changes or have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact your attorney at Mathys & Squire on +44 (0)207 830 0000 or [email protected].