Community trademarks (CTMs) can be sold, licensed, modified and renewed. A CTM registration lasts for 10 years but can be renewed indefinitely. Whether to renew or not depends on your brand strategy.
You have the following three options:
1. Renew. Current online renewal costs €1 350 (plus €400 per class where a CTM covers more than three classes of goods and/or services). If you want to stay protected throughout the EU, renew online.
2. Convert. If you want to maintain your trade mark in certain Member States only, you can do so by converting your EU trademark into national registrations.
3. Abandon. If you decide not to renew your trademark in the EU, the rights associated with it will expire.
When to renew
It is your responsibility to make sure you observe the time limit for renewal. However, OHIM will generally inform you or your representative six months before expiry that your CTM is due for renewal. Any other person holding a right to your CTM, e.g. a licensee, will also be informed by the Office.
The renewal form should be submitted and the renewal fee must be paid within the six months preceding your CTM’s expiry date. The form may be submitted right up until the last day of the month in which the protection ends.
If you have failed to observe the time limit but still wish to renew your mark, you can still do so for six months after the expiry date, but there is a 25% surcharge.
How to renew
Your CTM should be renewed online. There is a paper form but, as it is more expensive to process this, the fee for renewing on paper is €1 500 as opposed to €1 350 for renewing online. Don’t forget that you cannot change your trade mark when renewing it. You can restrict the list of goods and services you applied for 10 years ago but you cannot add goods or services.
Source: OHIM
