Adoption Of The ‘Trade Mark Package' And Practical Implications

On 23 March 2016, the European Union Trade Mark Regulation (dated 16 December 2015) comes into force. As part of the package of changes introduced by the Regulation, the 'Community trademark' will change its name to the 'European Union trademark'.

The Regulation and the associated European Union Directive relating to trademarks, which entered into force on 14 January 2016, are together known as the 'Trade Mark Package' (the package).

The package concerns the reform and harmonisation of the different national trademarks legislation within the European Union. The deadline for implementing the Directive into national legislation is three years (that is, 14 January 2019) for certain provisions and seven years (that is, 14 January 2023) for other provisions.