A package of fee changes for Community Trade Mark, delivering a 40% cut in the cost of trade mark protection, has been approved by the Fees Committee chaired by the European Commission in Brussels. OHIM President Wubbo de Boer said he was delighted that Member States had voted overwhelmingly for the measure, which is designed to provide better value for users and help SMEs in particular.
The draft Regulation now needs to be prepared for adoption by the Commission, following which it will be published in the Official Journal. The fee reductions will take effect the day after publication, which is expected to be within a matter of weeks.
The main elements of the package are as follows: The registration fee will be set at zero, and there will be a small offsetting increase in the application fee. The effect of this will be to simplify the process, with a single fee of €1050 for a CTM applied for by fax or paper, and €900 for an electronically filed CTM. The new fee for an application filed via the Madrid Protocol will be €870.
source: OHIM
