The deal would see the cost of applying for a CTM come down from €1750 to about €1000, with the fee level reviewed every two years. But it would also see national offices in EU member states receive 50% of CTM renewal fees.
The agreement was struck by representatives of EU member states and OHIM at a meeting in Brussels last week. If adopted by the Commission, the compromise proposal will have to be formally voted on by member states.
The cuts to the fees require a change to the CTM fees regulation, which could be implemented within months.
However, the change to the distribution of renewal fees will require more legislative action and will take a lot longer. In the interim, a cooperation fund of €50 million is likely to be set up. Both the revenues from renewal fees and those from the fund would be earmarked for activities that promote trade marks.
MARQUES, the association of European trade mark owners, welcomed the fee reduction and the proposal to combine the application and registration fee into one charge.
In a statement it said it would be willing to support the compromise solution and to work to ensure its implementation. But the association also expressed some concerns.
MARQUES said it would approve of the creation of the cooperation fund “on the basis that users are directly involved in judging the projects that are approved as worthy recipients of funding”.
The association also said it is “very concerned that diversion of CTM fees to national offices [in the distribution of renewal fees] will result in a corresponding decrease of the budgets of these particular offices, which will make the problem of diversion on a national level even worse”.
It added that offices that receive the money should meet users’ expectations, including by creating electronic databases for free online searching, creating seniorities databases, developing agreed classification terms, providing online filing with credit card facilities, displaying transparent accounts and improving communications.
In an interview to be published in the October issue of Managing IP, ECTA president and director of trade marks at AstraZeneca, Simon Reeves, said the association would be looking at the proposals in more detail but his initial reaction is positive: “Any fee reduction in itself will be broadly welcomed ... As for the latest proposals, we’ll have to look at the specifics, but as major users no one’s going to object to the significant surplus being reduced, though there are a whole lot of questions you need to be asking. My initial reaction is that it’s a good signal and a start and we will formally respond in due course.”
A spokesman for BusinessEurope, which had said before the deal that it would not support diversion of renewal fees, said the organization is yet to take a position and is still assessing the package.
