European Trademark Fees Reduced
There has been a significant new development with respect to filing European Community trademark applications which will reduce the overall cost of trademark protection in Europe. The European Community Trademark Office has eliminated the formerly required issue fee. An issue fee is a direct charge from the European Community Trademark Office after an application has been examined and approved for registration. This issue fee could range (depending on the exchange rate) anywhere from approximately $1,500.00 to $2,000.00.
Please note that a European Community Trademark Application covers 27 (current) member states of the European Union. These include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The application provides a great value, as the cost of obtaining trademark protection in individual member countries would greatly exceed the cost of obtaining a European Community trademark registration which offers the same scope of protection. Any company doing business in Europe should strongly consider filing such an application at the earliest possible date for relevant trademarks or brands for products or services being marketed in Europe.
It is most likely due to the current economic state of the world that the European Community Trademark Office has eliminated the formerly required registration issue fee. As such, now would be an advantageous time to file European Community trademark and/or service mark applications. Should you have any questions, please contact Evan M. Kent directly at (310) 312-3111.