Revised filing fees for Europe should be in place by early 2014

The ability to register a trademark in the member countries of the European Union (currently 30) in a single application has been available under the Community Trademark system (CTM) since the mid-1990’s. The basic fee (900€, currently about $1,215US) for filing a CTM covers the cost of filing in up to three classes.¹

The European Commission (EC) proposed revisions to the current CTM system in March 2013. Among other revisions was a change to the fee schedule. Under the proposal, fees would be payable per class — 775€ for one class, 825€ for two classes and 900€ for three classes. Renewal fees are proposed at 1,000€ for one class, 1,100€ for two classes and 1,250€ for three classes.

The EC’s proposed revisions should assist most brand owners. Under the existing system, trademark owners typically select coverage in all three classes even though the mark may only be used in a single class. For example, a business may include class 16 (paper goods) even though it only uses paper goods for marketing the actual product. By moving to a one-class system, businesses will pay less when seeking to obtain protection for only one or two classes. In addition, proposed marks will face less barriers from unused marks on the register in classes arbitrarily picked under the old system. Lastly, the need to file unnecessary oppositions (actions to remove unused marks) should decrease.

While most of the EC’s proposed revisions must be adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council, the fee revision only requires prior endorsement by the OHIM Committee on fees. The meeting of the committee is scheduled for fall 2013, and the revised fees should be in place by early 2014.
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¹Most trademark offices around the world use the Nice Classification System of goods and services and base filing fees per class.