UPDATE: EU to modernise the European trademark system

As previously reported by our team at Inventa International, the European Union is set to modernize its Trademark System and new developments have occurred.

Past December 24, 2015, Regulation no. 2015/2424 of the European Parliament and the Council was fully published in the Official Journal of the European Union which means that the changes to European Union’s trademark system are entering into force on March 23, 2016.

The changes include changing the name of OHIM to “European Union Intellectual Property Office” (EUIPO) and of “Community Trademark” to “European Union Trademark” (EUTM). Furthermore, fees are also changing and applicants will be able to apply (and pay) for only 1 or 2 international classes instead of a minimum of 3 classes.

Other changes include:

• Simplification of the registration of sound or hologram trademarks and other new types thereof;
• Harmonization of national registration procedures, including opposition, revocation and invalidity procedures;
• More effective means to fight against counterfeit goods when travelling through the EU;
• Simplification of several legal provisions to increase legal certainty, also introducing an European Union Certification Mark;

Foster cooperation between member-states’ IP Offices in developing modern search tools, databases and other measures to promote the protection of EU IP rights, using the 300 million € OHIM surplus.