CTM Search Reports Curtailed

Brand-owners have long doubted the usefulness of national search reports for CTMs. Their scepticism will no doubt rise following the withdrawal on 1 January 2009 of four more member states from the search system.

As of 1 January, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden and Portugal are no longer conducting national searches in respect of CTM applications. They join the Benelux, who dropped out last year when the searches became optional. Other key countries, such as France and Germany, never took part in the search system, which undermined its usefulness from the start.

As a result of the withdrawals, the official fee for the searches, set at €192 last year, has been reduced to €144.

Countries still taking part in the searches are Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Spain.

With the recent withdrawals, however, the E.U.’s biggest economic players are now firmly outside the CTM national search system, and the attractiveness of the optional searches to applicants, never high, is likely to wane yet further. The shortcomings in the search report data have never been fully remedied, and cost-conscious applicants are likely to trim searches from their CTM filings and to rely instead on strategic national searching in markets of actual interest.

We are happy to help with questions on national searching and clearance and the impact of these changes for future CTMs. Please feel free to contact the Trademarks Group at Jenkins.