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CLASS 46


Now in its twelfth year, Class 46 is dedicated to European trade mark law and practice. This weblog is written by a team of enthusiasts who want to spread the word and share their thoughts with others.

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Who we all are...
Anthonia Ghalamkarizadeh
Birgit Clark
Blog Administrator
Christian Tenkhoff
Fidel Porcuna
Gino Van Roeyen
Markku Tuominen
Niamh Hall
Nikos Prentoulis
Stefan Schröter
Tomasz Rychlicki
Yvonne Onomor
TUESDAY, 31 MARCH 2009
OHIM: fee cuts effective from 1 May 2009

After quite a bit of speculation regarding the effective date of the planned Community trade mark fee changes ("early May"), the OHIM has today (31 March 2009) confirmed that the changes to the Community trade mark fees will be effective from 1 May 2009.


On its website the OHIM has published the following information:

"The cost of having a Community trade mark will be cut by 40% to EUR 900 for online applications from 1 May, the European Commission announced today. OHIM's President, Wubbo de Boer, speaking at a joint press conference with the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Charlie McCreevy, said he was delighted that Community trade marks were becoming more accessible and affordable.

Commissioner McCreevy said: "This is good news for businesses in Europe. This will promote entrepreneurship and stimulate economic activity, which is essential in times of economic crisis. In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises, for which the costs and procedure of obtaining this protection are often a heavy burden, will profit from these improvements."

The move is the second cut in fees in five years, and has been made possible by increased efficiency at OHIM. The process of obtaining a trade mark has been simplified and there has been a strong drive towards doing business online. Over the past five years, the average time taken to register a Community trade mark has dropped by 50% to around eight months."

The OHIM's press release can be retrieved here (PDF).
A press release by the European Commission can be retrieved here.
Speech by Commissioner Charlie McCreevy can be accessed by clicking here. (PDF)
Wacth the press conference video.

Posted by: Birgit Clark @ 21.19
Tags: fee cuts, OHIM budget, OHIM fees,
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MARQUES does not guarantee the accuracy of the information in this blog. The views are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of MARQUES. Seek professional advice before action on any information included here.


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