Introduction

In This Issue Spring 2003

We are about to see a major political change in Europe. From 1st May 2004 onwards, ten new States will join the EU bringing the total membership to twenty five countries. These changes will also impact on our more parochial world of trade marks. From the May 2004 accession date onwards, all CTM registrations, whenever filed, will extend to the whole, twenty five country region.

The transitional provisions, adopted by OHIM ahead of this EU expansion, offer significant advantages to those who file a CTM application before 1st November 2003 (see page 11 of this issue). We therefore strongly recommend that any trade mark owner who has plans to protect his trade marks in the EU in the next year or so brings those plans forward to ensure that any CTM applications are filed prior to 1st November this year.

Regular readers of our Newsletter will notice a new format to this edition. In an effort to save at least some of the world’s forestry, we have published two articles exclusively at our website. We hope that anyone with an interest in Community Design protection or recent OHIM decisions at the Board of Appeal and Opposition Division level will visit www.jenkins-ip.com to view these articles.