While this is the case, it is still introduced, the EU trademark related knowledge:
European **** body is the main developed countries in Western Europe in order to strengthen mutual cooperation, promote the region and their respective economies in the 50's of this century and the development of regional economic and trade organizations. December 20, 1993, the EU meeting adopted the "European **** the same body of trademarks regulation", referred to as CMTR. On December 20, 1993, the Conference of the European Union adopted the European Community Trade Mark Regulation (CMTR), which entered into force on March 15, 1994, and is referred to as the CMTR. According to the Regulation, the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) was established within the European Union to handle trademark registration matters. Located in Alicante, Spain, the OHIM started to accept EU trademark applications on January 1, 1996. The term of protection of the European Union trademark is ten years, which can be renewed, and the term of protection of each renewal is ten years. EU trademark applicants are not limited to nationals of EU member states, and nationals of other member states of the Paris Convention and the World Intellectual Property Organization may also apply. Second, the European **** body member states Bulgaria and Romania local time on January 1, 2007 zero hour officially joined the European Union, so far, the EU member states increased to 27, including: Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Greece, Austria, the Netherlands, Ireland, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria. Third, the characteristics of the EU trademark 1, low cost. Only need to apply for registration once, you can use the trademark in the entire European Union's twenty-seven member states. Compared with the application in each member state, the cost is greatly reduced; 2, the applicant is not limited. The applicant of EU trademark is not limited to nationals of EU member states, and nationals of other member states such as the Paris Convention and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) can also file applications; 3, centralized protection procedures. A trademark registration can obtain the protection of the 27 member states of the European Union, the decision on the trademark case will be enforced in all the countries of the European Union, *** the use of the same trademark in any member state will be regarded as the use of the trademark in all member states, even if the trademark is only used in one country, will not be because of the lack of use in other countries to make the trademark and meet the risk of revocation; *** the transfer, change or renewal of the trademark will be within the scope of all the member states. The assignment, modification or renewal of a ****-same mark will be effective in all member states; 4. The ****-same registration is based on the principle of double protection, and the ****-same registered mark does not replace the nationally registered mark, which will continue to exist like the internationally registered mark; if an applicant's application for registration of a mark with the ****-same is rejected, the applicant can convert the ****-same mark into a trademark in one or more countries within three months; the original application date and the priority of the application are the same as the original application date and the priority of the application. The original filing date and priority date of the application will be the same; A registered trademark that has been published in a member state of the European Union may request priority when applying for a European Union trademark; A trademark application may cover a maximum of three classes of goods or services, and for more than three classes, the fee for each class shall be increased; During the period of publication of an application for a registered trademark by a ***same entity within the ***same entity, the prior right holder of a country of the ***same entity may object to the application if the prior right holder of the country is aware of the application. The country's prior right holder in the knowledge of tolerance in the later *** same body registered trademark for five years, then lose the right to propose invalidation or opposition to the use of two trademarks *** exist, in the same geographical area there will be two different trademark right holders; 5, not only the words, logos and other traditional trademarks can be registered, the sound, odor, product appearance and structure of the new type of trademarks, but also can be applied for registration. IV. Disadvantages of EU Trademarks 1. ***Same Trademark Registration has high requirements for the distinctiveness of trademarks, ***Same 27 member states as long as a member state has someone to file an objection, and the objection is established, it will lead to the entire ***Same Trademark Registration is rejected. Although the rejected mark can be converted to a national application and retains the original ****trademark filing date, the applicant must also pay a conversion fee to each country. Therefore, if the chosen mark is not very distinctive, it is not appropriate to apply for registration of the ****same mark; 2. The timing of the application for registration of the ****same mark at the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market is more difficult to determine, and if all goes well, the mark may be registered within a year. However, as soon as an opposition is filed in one country, the mark will not be registered in time and it takes a long time to resolve the opposition, usually about 2 years. The situation that there is no opposition in all 27 countries is rare, therefore, **** the same trademark application is often not allowed to be registered for a long time. Fifth, the EU trademark registration procedures 1, the European *** body trademark registration application for ways and places there are three: (1) directly to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market application; (2) to the central industrial property rights of the member states to apply for; (3) to the Netherlands-Belgium-Luxembourg Trademark Office (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, three countries set up the Trademark Office) to apply for; 2, the European Union Trademark Office will be notified to the trademark authorities of member states to carry out the application for national trademark examination; 3. After the examination is passed, a three-month public announcement will be made. During this period, the third party can put forward a variety of objections; 4, if there is no third-party opposition, the trademark application is approved within one year; 5, takes 12-15 months. Sixth, for the European Union trademark application materials required 1, the applicant's main document information; 2, trademark design, to apply for a trademark picture, require a clear big picture; 3, trademark designated goods or services, can be my agent outside the communication choice, optional 3 categories; 4, fill out an application form, the application form must be signed by the applicant or signed by the agent; 5, trademark registration power of attorney, the applicant must be in the power of attorney on the signature and seal; 7, the European Union trademark application materials required 1. The applicant must sign and stamp on the power of attorney; VII. Application Fee for EU Trademark Application fee includes the official fee and agent's fee charged by the European Union Trademark Office. Due to the fact that the EU trademark application involves 27 European member states, which leads to a higher chance of potential trademark opposition, it is recommended that, before applying for the EU trademark, a trademark search should be carried out in order to determine whether similar trademarks have been registered by a third party and to avoid unnecessary losses, but the search is not infallible, and it is recommended to apply for the European trademarks in a single-country manner if the trademarks applied for do not have strong distinctive character or are relatively simple. The search is not a panacea.