Changes To European Trade Marks

Late December 2015 saw the publication of a European Union Trade Mark Directive and Regulations that introduces a number of changes to the Community Trade Mark system, which will take effect from 23 March 2016.

The first point to note is that the unitary EU trade mark will henceforth be known as a "European Union Trade Mark" (EUTM) – rather than "Community Trade Mark" (CTM) - and the responsible Office will be renamed the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) – rather than the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM). The EUIPO is also responsible for the unitary EU Design Registration system, but does not have any involvement with European Patents, either under the current European patent system or the propose unitary patent that is planned to come into being in the near future.