On 23 March the current ‘Community Trade Mark’ will be renamed the ‘EU Trade Mark’ (EUTM) and the system for registration and policing of EUTMs will be dealt with by the newly-named EU Intellectual Property Office.
This may seem like little more than window-dressing, but one important change is that under new regulations counterfeit goods bearing an EUTM will be able to be seized in transit in the EU even if they are not intended for sale in the EU, provided the owner of the EUTM can show their trade mark is enforceable in the country of final destination.
The rules will help to prevent the EU being used as ‘way point’ for the shipping of counterfeit goods.