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Document 32009R0355
Commission Regulation (EC) No 355/2009 of 31 March 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 on the fees payable to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) and Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 on the Community trade mark
Commission Regulation (EC) No 355/2009 of 31 March 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 on the fees payable to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) and Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 on the Community trade mark
Commission Regulation (EC) No 355/2009 of 31 March 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 on the fees payable to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) and Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 on the Community trade mark
OJ L 109, 30.4.2009, p. 3–5
(BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV) This document has been published in a special edition(s)
(HR)
No longer in force, Date of end of validity: 22/03/2016; Implicitly repealed by 32015R2424
30.4.2009 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
L 109/3 |
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 355/2009
of 31 March 2009
amending Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 on the fees payable to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) and Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 on the Community trade mark
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark (1) and in particular Articles 139 and 157 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) |
Article 139(2) of Regulation (EC) No 40/94 lays down that the amounts of the fees payable to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, hereinafter ‘the Office’, are to be fixed at such a level as to ensure that the revenue in respect thereof is sufficient to ensure that its budget is balanced. |
(2) |
The Office is generating substantial cash reserves. A further increase in the revenue of the Office and, as a consequence, budgetary surplus of the Office is expected. This is in particular the result of the payment of application and registration fees for Community trade marks. |
(3) |
A reduction in fees would therefore be one of the measures for ensuring that the budget is balanced, while fostering access to the Community trade mark system for users. |
(4) |
In order to reduce the administrative burden on both the users and the Office the fee structure should be simplified by fixing the amount of the registration fee for a Community trade mark at zero. Hence, only the payment of the application fee will be required and the processing time for the registration can be considerably reduced if no registration fee has to be paid before registering a Community trade mark. |
(5) |
In relation to international registrations designating the European Community the fixing of the amount of the registration fee for a Community trade mark at zero implies that the amount of the fee to be refunded pursuant to Article 149(4) or Article 151(4) of Regulation (EC) No 40/94 has to be set to zero as well. |
(6) |
The reduction in fees should ensure a proper balance between the Community and national trade mark systems, taking into account the future development of the relations between the Office and industrial property offices of Member States, including the remuneration for services rendered by the offices of Member States. |
(7) |
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 of 13 December 1995 on the fees payable to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (2) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 of 13 December 1995 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 on the Community trade mark (3) should therefore be amended accordingly. |
(8) |
A transitional provision is required to ensure legal certainty while providing maximum benefit to both the users and the Office. |
(9) |
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Fees, Implementation Rules and the Procedure of the Boards of Appeal of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs), |
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 is hereby amended as follows:
1. |
The table in Article 2 is amended as follows:
|
2. |
In Article 11(3), points (a) and (b) are replaced by the following:
|
3. |
Article 13 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 13 Refund of fees following refusal of protection 1. Where the refusal is either for all or only part of the goods and services contained in the designation of the European Community, the amount of the fee to be refunded pursuant to Article 149(4) or Article 151(4) of the Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 shall be:
2. The refund shall be made once the communication to the International Bureau pursuant to Rule 113(2)(b) and (c) or Rule 115(5)(b), (c) and (6) of Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 has been issued. 3. The refund shall be made to the holder of the international registration or his representative.’ |
Article 2
Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 is amended as follows:
1. |
In Rule 13a(3) point (c) is deleted. |
2. |
Rule 23 is replaced by the following: ‘ Rule 23 Registration of the trade mark
|
Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
A Community trade mark application in respect of which a notification described in Rule 23(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 in its version in force before the date of entry into force of this Regulation has been sent before that date shall continue to be subject to Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 and Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 in their versions in force before the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
An international application or a request for territorial extension designating the European Community which has been filed before the day on which the amounts mentioned in Article 11(3), points (a) and (b) of Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 in its version as amended by this Regulation take effect according to Article 8(7)(b) of the Madrid Protocol shall continue to be subject to Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 in its version in force before the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 31 March 2009.
For the Commission
Charlie McCREEVY
Member of the Commission