Cheaper and easier EU trade mark protection

The fees for EU-wide trade mark rights are to be reduced by 40% from 1 May 2009, saving businesses some €60 million a year, and the registration procedure will also be simplified. Instead of paying €1750 for the application and registration of a Community trade mark, businesses will be charged only an application fee of €1050 in future. Those who file their applications via the Internet will benefit from a greater reduction and will be charged merely an application fee of €900 in place of the total amount of €1600 to be paid at present. This means that in future businesses will pay 40% less for obtaining a Community trade mark – and as much as 44% less when using electronic means. The fee reduction and simplification of procedure essentially consist in setting the registration fee for Community trade marks to zero. Businesses will therefore pay only an application fee, and will no longer have to pay a separate fee for registration. As a result, the processing time for the registration of a Community trade mark will also become significantly shorter. In addition, the individual fee for international trade mark applications and registrations designating the European Community under the Madrid Protocol will go down from €1450 to €870, which also corresponds to a 40% decrease.The EU agency responsible for registering trade marks and designs that are valid in all 27 Member States is OHIM, the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, located in Alicante, Spain.
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