About OHIM

The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) is the official trade marks and designs office of the European Union. We register the Community trade mark (CTM) and registered Community design (RCD), which are essential components of the European single market. These registrations provide trade mark and design protection throughout the European Union, which covers 27 countries and almost 500m people. The Office also works in close partnership with national IP offices in the EU member states, with international offices, and the European Commission on a wide range of issues affecting the owners and users of intellectual property rights.

Under Institutional information you can find out more about how OHIM is organised, including our mission statement, information on our Administrative Board and Budget Committee, the Boards of Appeal, financial and budget information, and our organisational chart.

Over recent years the Internet has become the main point of contact between OHIM and all our stakeholders. The Office has used it very successfully to increase access to Community trade marks and designs for customers of every size, drawn from throughout Europe and, indeed, from all over the world.

OHIM’s Strategic Plan for 2011-2015 includes a commitment to deliver much higher quality in every area of our operations. President Campinos says: “Our first and most important priority is to transform OHIM into a true organisation of excellence, complying with modern and recognised standards and renowned as such, by its staff, by national offices, by international organisations and users. We recognise that the Community trade mark and design systems do not exist in isolation. We co-exist and cooperate with intellectual property offices in EU member states, and work with our international counterparts to try and remove unnecessary differences in systems that make things difficult for users.

Hence, we need to look closely at how we can contribute more broadly to the smooth running of these systems by cooperating with member states and the Commission in the fight against counterfeiting and helping where we can to make enforcement more effective, in the interests of everyone.”

We are committed to a policy of continuous improvement of the OHIM website. We hope you find it both easy to use and informative. If you have any suggestions for better content or presentation, please do not hesitate to contact us via our Information Centre.

About OHIM

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