Registration of a Community Trade Mark
European Community Trade Marks are granted and regulated by the Office For Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs). Alexander Ramage Associates is recognised as a firm of Professional Representatives before OHIM. All of our Attorneys are recognised as Professional Representatives before OHIM, and therefore qualified to act as European Trade Mark Attorneys.
APPLICATION COSTS.
The cost
of our preparing and filing an application to register a Community trade
mark covering goods or services falling in up to three Classes amounts
to £300.00 for our services, plus official fees of 900.00 Euro. If the
goods or services to be protected fall in more than three Classes then
additional Class fees must be paid. Classification can be quite complex
and we will be happy to discuss your requirements and advise you on your
specific needs.
A Community trade mark or CTM provides protection by means of a single
registration covering the whole of the European Union.
This can be enforced in any one of the member states.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
A limited search against potentially conflicting prior rights will also be conducted against trade mark rights existing on the Community Trade Mark Register or on the Register of certain member states. Although the applicant will be notified of the outcome of these searches, registration of the trade mark will not be refused on this basis unless the proprietor of a relevant earlier trade mark right brings successful opposition proceedings.
However, a decision might be made now whether to seek to avoid the possible expense of future opposition proceedings by restricting the scope of the application or, indeed, by withdrawing it completely.
FURTHER COSTS, ACCEPTANCE AND GRANT
If no objection is taken it will cost £150.00 to take the application to
the point of acceptance and registration when further fees become due,
as explained below.If objection is taken it is not possible to say
with certainty what costs will be incurred at this stage.
These depend upon what objections are taken and how long it takes either
to argue against them with the Examiners or to decide upon an appropriate
limitation to seek to avoid conflict with prior trade mark rights located
in the searches.
If objections are taken, a budget of around £500.00
will often take the application to the point of acceptance to proceed to the
next stage, or to the point it becomes clear acceptance will not be secured
at all or will be secured only on expenditure of significant sums.
Once any formal objections are overcome, the application is published
for opposition purposes. If no opposition is filed, or is successfully
contested, the application proceeds to formal registration upon payment
of registration fees. This costs £250.00 for our services and 850.00
Euro for official fees for an application covering up to three Classes.
When the Community trade mark has been registered, it will be effective
in all countries of the European Union to be enforced against conflicting
trade marks either by means of infringement action brought through the
National Courts or by means of opposition brought through the Office.
IF THE MARK IS REFUSED
If it appears that a trade mark cannot be secured as a Community trade mark because of some formal objection, it is possible then to consider whether to seek to convert the application into a National application or series of National applications covering one or more individual states of the European Union.Although the cost of securing a Community trade mark may appear significant, it compares very favourably with the cost of seeking protection in each individual member state of the European Union.
Also if an application to register a Community trade mark runs into
trouble, there is the option to convert the CTM (on payment of additional
fees), and seek protection in any or all individual states of the European
Union if this looks like a preferable alternative.
This page is for general guidance only. Detailed
advice must be sought on specific issues and problems.
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WOKING
LONDON POOLE
- 20 High Street, Woking, Surrey, England, GU21 1BW
Tel 01483 750701, Fax 01483 740560, Email ARA@Ramage.co.uk
