Community Trademarks

The Community trade mark (CTM) system was introduced in 1996 (April 1st, 1996 is the official filing date of the first applications). Under the system it is possible to obtain a registration having effect in all twenty-seven current Member States of the European Union with a single procedure.

The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) is the EU Agency based in Alicante (Spain) having the exclusive competence to deal with the CTM.

The system is regulated by the following legal texts:

- Council Regulation No. 40/94 of 20 December 1993 (regulation concerning the substantive law)
- Commission Regulation No. 2868/95 (implementing regulation)
- Commission Regulation No. 2869/95 (fees regulation)

All the above-mentioned Regulations were modified in 2004.

The CTM confers its owner exclusive rights in all the EU Member States and it is characterised by its unitary nature. It follows that possible differences in the legal provisions concerning IP rights of each EU Member are eliminated.

The main principles of the CTM system are the following:

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