The Trade Marks and Designs Registration Office of the EU (OHIM) is in charge of Community Trade Marks (CTMs). It will reduce a massive budget surplus by slashing fees.
Lee Curtis, a trade mark attorney at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, said that the result of this will be fewer people registering UK-only trade marks.
OHIM's proposals for fee cuts have been accepted by the European Commission and will come into effect when published in the EU's Official Journal in a number of weeks.
A CTM will then cost €1,050 by fax or paper or €900 in an electronic filing. A CTM automatically covers all 27 EU member states. Curtis said that the trade mark need only be kept active in one country in order to remain in force across the EU.
A UK trade mark costs £200, but covers only the UK.
"I think what will happen is that a lot of people will say, even if they are only trading in one country, I might as well get an EU-wide registration now that it is so much cheaper than it was," said Curtis.
OHIM has built up surpluses of €300 million due to the success of the CTM. National trade mark offices had opposed the slashing of fees because they said nobody would use national offices any more.
Curtis said that the current reductions are the result of negotiations which resulted in OHIM passing a portion of fees earned to national trade mark offices.
Curtis said that businesses would benefit from the change.
"I think this is to be welcomed as it will reduce the cost of doing business for companies," he said.
"OHIM President Wubbo de Boer said he was delighted that Member States had voted overwhelmingly for the measure, which is designed to provide better value for users and help SMEs in particular," said an OHIM statement.
