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The Trade Marks and Designs Registration Office of the European Union
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1. Unitary nature and protection of exclusive rights
The Community trade mark is unitary in nature, i.e. it is valid everywhere in the European Union, and gives its proprietor exclusive rights enabling them to prohibit any third parties from using the sign in their commercial or industrial activities.
2. Simplified formalities and management
The unitary nature of the Community trade mark, which covers all the countries of the European Union, means that formalities and management can be kept simple, there being:
The application procedure is simple, and applications may be made either at national industrial property offices or directly at OHIM in Alicante.
3. Reduced costs
This simple procedure results in considerably reduced costs as compared with the overall costs of national registration in all or many of the countries of the European Union.
Filing a Community trade mark application is not expensive: EUR 900 to file online (e-filing) or EUR 1050 if you use the paper form.
4. Option of claiming the seniority of national trade marks
The Community trade mark has been designed to complement the national systems of protection. If an applicant or proprietor of a Community trade mark already holds a prior identical national trade mark for identical goods and services, they may claim the seniority of that mark. This allows applicants/proprietors to preserve their prior rights even if they surrender their national trade mark or do not renew it.
5. Right of priority
A Community trade mark applicant can claim the priority of an identical earlier national or international registration filed for the same goods and services during a period of six months from the date of filing of the first application, and thereby benefit from the effects of the earlier date.
If the first application of a mark is as a Community trade mark, it can also be used to file later identical marks in other countries claiming the priority of the earlier Community trade mark application.
6. Obligation of use which is easy to meet
CTMs shall be put to genuine use in the Community within a period of five years following registration (Article 15 CTMR). Genuine use may be found when the mark has been used in only one part of the Community, such as in a single member state or in a part thereof. Any person (legal or natural) can protect their registered CTM against revocation on the grounds of lack of use – provided it is put to genuine use in the Community after the initial five-year post-registration grace period or if there are proper reasons for such non-use.
7. Broadened legal protection which is accessible to all
Infringement proceedings may be brought before the Community trade mark courts, which are national courts designated by the EU member states to have jurisdiction in respect of Community trade marks. Decisions may have effect throughout the EU. This can avoid the need to prosecute infringers in each member state. Only the Community trade mark has such protection across the whole of the European Union.
8. An extended range of options for exercising rights under the trade mark
The option to transfer and assign Community trade marks is essential for the management of companies.
A Community trade mark may be transferred, separately from any transfer of the undertaking which is its proprietor, in respect of some or all of the goods or services for which it is registered.
A Community trade mark may also be licensed for the whole or part of the European Union. A licence may be exclusive or non-exclusive.
9. Community trade marks as prior rights in all the member states of the European Union
Community trade marks constitute prior rights in relation to all subsequent trade marks and other conflicting rights in all EU member states. This allows proprietors of Community trade marks not only to protect their exclusive rights at Community level but also to prevail over later national rights.
10. Enlargement
The enlargement of the European Union to include new member states has resulted in a European Union of 27 member states. At present, there are three Candidate Countries (Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey). When there is a new enlargement of the EU, an automatic extension of all existing Community trade mark applications and registrations to the new territories takes place, thus limiting the possibility of attacking them on grounds that become applicable merely as a result of the enlargement.
The Community trade mark therefore is a gateway not only to the existing single market but also to a market in the process of expansion.