Even so, let me introduce some knowledge about EU trademarks:
Euro * * * is a regional economic and trade organization established and developed by major developed countries in Western Europe in the 195s in order to strengthen mutual cooperation and promote their respective economies. On December 2, 1993, the European Union Conference adopted the European Regulations on Homologous Trademarks, referred to as CMTR. The "Regulations" came into effect on March 15th, 1994. According to the Regulation, the Internal Market Integration Authority of the European Union (OHIM) was established within the European Union to handle trademark registration. Located in Alicante, Spain, the EU Trademark Office began to accept EU trademark applications on January 1, 1996. The term of protection of EU trademarks is 1 years, which can be extended, and the term of protection for each extension is 1 years. Applicants for EU trademarks are not limited to nationals of EU member countries, but also nationals of other member countries that have entered the Paris Convention and the World Intellectual Property Organization. 2. Bulgaria and Romania, members of the European Union, formally joined the EU at : local time on January 1, 27. So far, the number of EU members has 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 and Hungary. Third, the characteristics of EU trademarks 1. Low cost. You only need to apply for registration once to use the trademark in the 27 member States of the whole European Union. Compared with applying separately in each member country, the cost is greatly reduced; 2. Applicants are not limited. Applicants for EU trademarks are not limited to nationals of EU member States, but also nationals of other member States such as the Paris Convention and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). 3. Centralized protection procedures. A trademark registration can be protected by the 27 member States of the European Union, and the ruling on trademark cases will be enforced in all countries of the European Union. The use of the same trademark in any member state will be regarded as the use in all member States. Even if the trademark is only used in one country, it will not be in danger of being revoked because it is not used in other countries. * * * The transfer, change or renewal of the same trademark will take effect within the scope of all member States; 4. * * * Homologous registration is the principle of double protection. * * * Homologous registered trademarks do not replace national registered trademarks, and national registered trademarks continue to exist as international registered trademarks; If an applicant's application for registration of a trademark with * * * is rejected, the applicant can convert the trademark with * * * into a trademark application in one or several countries within three months, and the original application date and priority date are equally enjoyed; A registered trademark that has been published in an EU member state may claim priority when applying for an EU trademark; A trademark application can cover up to three categories of goods or services, and if there are more than three categories, the fee for each category must be added; * * * During the internal announcement of the same registered trademark, the prior obligee of the same country can raise an objection. If the prior obligee of the country tolerates the subsequent same registered trademark to be used continuously for five years, it will lose the right to declare it invalid or object to its use. If two trademarks exist, there will be two different trademark owners in the same region; 5. Not only traditional trademarks such as words and logos can be registered, but also new trademarks such as sound, smell, product appearance and structure can apply for registration. IV. Disadvantages of EU trademarks 1. The trademark registration of * * * requires high distinctiveness of trademarks. As long as one of the 27 member States of * * * raises an objection, and the objection is established, the entire registration of * * * trademark will be rejected. Although the rejected trademark can be converted into a national application, and the application date of the original * * * identical trademark is retained, the applicant must also pay the conversion fee to each country. Therefore, if the significance of the selected trademark is not very strong, it is not suitable to apply for registration of * * * homonym trademark; 2. It is difficult to determine the time to apply for registration of the * * * homonym trademark in the internal market coordination bureau. If all goes well, the trademark may be registered within one year. However, as long as one country raises an objection, the trademark cannot be registered in time, and it takes a long time to solve the objection, usually about two years. It is rare that there is no objection in 27 countries. Therefore, the application for the same trademark of * * * often cannot be registered for a long time. V. Registration Procedures of EU Trademarks 1. There are three ways and places to apply for registration of European trademarks: (1) Apply directly to the Bureau of Internal Market Coordination; (2) Apply to the Central Industrial Property Office of each member state; (3) Apply to the Benelux Trademark Office (established by the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg); 2. The EU Trademark Office will notify the trademark authorities of each member country of the application for trademark examination in each country; 3, after the review, a three-month announcement. During this period, the third party can raise various objections; 4. If no third party raises an objection, the applied trademark will be registered within one year; 5. It takes 12-15 months. 6. Materials required for handling EU trademark applications 1. Applicant's main documents; 2, trademark design, to apply for a trademark picture, requires a clear picture; 3. The goods or services designated by the trademark can be selected by my agent through external communication, and three categories can be selected; 4. Fill in an application form, which must be signed by the applicant or the agent; 5. A power of attorney for trademark registration, on which the applicant must sign and seal; Vii. EU trademark application fees The application fees include official fees and agency fees charged by the EU Trademark Office. Viii. Warm Tips Because the EU trademark application involves 27 European member countries, the potential trademark objection probability is relatively high. Therefore, it is suggested that a trademark search should be conducted before the EU trademark application to determine whether any similar trademark has been registered by a third party and avoid unnecessary losses. However, the search is not omnipotent. If the applied trademark is not obvious or simple, it is recommended to apply for trademarks of European countries in a single country.