The date has been fixed for the reduction in CTM official fees. The European Community trade marks office has announced that the fees reduction will apply from 1st May 2009.
The new online official fee will be €900 (around US$1100), an increase of €150. If you are considering filing Community Trade Mark applications, the current (lower)application fee will only be available until 30th April 2009. Any application filed between now and 30th April will however benefit from the abolition of final registration fees.
Applicants using the Madrid Protocol and designating a Community Trade Mark should note that at 14th April 2009, the fee calculator on the WIPO website still includes OHIM registration fees which will not, in fact, become payable.
In our last article on these fee changes we mentioned that they were contrary to the principles of the original fee structure, which was aimed high so as to minimize the impact on the incomes of national offices. However, the UK Intellectual Property Office is currently consulting with its users on the possibility of corresponding fee reductions. We will report further as soon as information is available.
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