EU Intellectual Property Office – new name for the EU’s largest intellectual property agency

The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) is to be renamed the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) under new EU legislation.

As from 23.3.2016, which will be 90 days after the legislation came into force, OHIM will be known as the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), while the Community trade mark will be renamed the European Union trade mark.

On that date all existing CTMs and CTM applications will automatically become European Union trade marks and European Union trade mark applications, respectively.

The amending Regulation also revises the fees payable to the Office, including an overall reduction in their amounts, particularly in the case of trade mark renewal fees. On 23.3.2016, the Office’s online application forms and fee calculator will be automatically updated to reflect the new system. From its base in Alicante, Spain, OHIM has processed more than 1.3 million Community trade mark applications in 23 EU languages, from nearly every country and region in the world, since 1996.

OHIM is the EU’s largest decentralised agency. It is entirely self-financed, receiving no funding from the EU Budget. As well as managing the Community trade mark and the registered Community design (RCD), it works in collaboration with the EU national and regional IP offices to build a stronger IP system across the EU for the benefit for users.

Source: EU Intellectual Property Office