Subjects:

Intellectual Property Law, Blackstone Legislation Guides

Contents:

Introduction to the Community trade mark

obtaining registration of a Community trade mark 1 - the basic conditions

obtaining registration of a Community trade mark 2 - registration procedure

features of the Community trade mark system

maintaining and losing a Community trade mark

infringement 1 - rights in a Community trade mark

infringement 2 - limitations, counterclaims and jurisdictions

appeals

transactions in a Community trade mark

the Madrid system

Community collective marks.

Appendices:

list of contracting parties to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883)

list of members of the World Trade Organization

list of contracting parties to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (1891)

list of contracting parties to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (1989)

Community trade mark application form

notice of opposition to a CTM

Madrid Protocol application form MM2

Madrid Protocol subsequent designation form MM4

CTM registration procedure

CTM opposition procedure

international application procedure

comparison of international and Community trade marks.

The Community Trade Mark Regulation came into force in March 1994, and the first CTM applcations will be accepted from 1st January 1996. By filing one application, a trade mark owner may obtain a single registration effective throughout the whole of the EC, and for the first time it will be possible to gain truly international protection for intellectual property rights.

Trade mark practitioners world-wide will require in-depth knowledge of the system in order to advise their clients how best to benefit from the Community Trade Mark. The Madrid Protocol comes into effect on 1st April 1996, providing a procedural shortcut to the multiple filing of national trade mark applications. The Protocol will eventually dovetail into the CTM system. This guide aims to help the practitioner to evaluate whether the CTM or the Madrid Protocol or both will best meet the commercial client's aims.