EUIPO – European Union Intellectual Property Office was formerly known and named as OHIM – The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market which was the European Union agency responsible for managing the Community trade mark and the registered Community design. Until March 23, 2016 the European Union trade mark or EU trade mark abbreviated as EUTM was named Community Trade Mark (CTM). Regulation (EU) No 2015/2424 of the European Parliament and the Council came into force on 23 March 2016 to make certain amendments. OHIM is now called the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the Community trade mark is called the European Union Trade mark (EUTM).
EUIPO provides you with exclusive rights for trade mark and design protection throughout the European Union (EU) with just a single application.
EUTM is a combined trademark registration system in Europe. Through EUTM protection the trademark protection is possible in all member states of the European Union. The drawback is that any one state which has an objection may decline and frustrate the registration of Trademark. It can defeat the entire application, a EUTM registration is enforceable in all member states. The EUTM system is administered byEUIPO
Following are the member countries of The CTM-OHIM now EUIPO
- Austria
- Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg)
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- The Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Malta
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- The United Kingdom
When a new member state joins the EU, existing EUTM automatically expands without any action or payment on the part of the EUTM owners.
The initial registration period is ten years from the date of filing of the application.
Applications for a EUM are made directly at EUIPO in Alicante, Spain. However, applications can also be filed through the national trademark office of any of the EU member states, or at the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property. Alternatively, the EUTM can be designated in a Madrid Protocol application.
The EUTM application must be filed in one of the 23 languages of the EU. It is considered the first language of the application. A second language must be indicated, which must be different from the first language and which must be one of the five languages of EUIPO, namely English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
The most attractive feature of EUTM registration is the trademark protection in all member states of the EU. The payment is also single as compare to separate filing of each application.
