Search reports for Community trade marks (CTMs) are now compulsory but they become optional for applicants from March 10 next year.
Under the EU Fee Regulation, any applicant who chooses to have search reports prepared after this date will pay €12 for each report.
But national offices will be paid €16 per report, the extra €4 being paid by OHIM. It is believed that this decision was made at a meeting of the OHIM Budget and Finance Committee earlier this month.
Critics argue that this means that OHIM (and, indirectly, users who do not request search reports) will be subsidising those who do request reports.
Last week, representatives of three of Europe’s leading associations representing brand owners wrote a joint letter to Robert Ullrich, chair of the Committee, arguing that "there should never be cross-subsidisation from OAMI’s funds to National Offices and that this appears to set a dangerous and inequitable precedent".
The letter was signed by Philippe de Buck, secretary general of BusinessEurope; Alan Galaski, director general of AIM and Jane Collins, chair of the council of MARQUES.
The letter says that it is appreciated that some applicants may choose to opt for national searches: "However, we have always understood that if they did so, they would, quite naturally, pay for that service. It is therefore rather a shock to us to discover that their commercial decisions are to be subsidised by other applicants."
The letter comes amid increasing discussion in Europe about the role and funding of national offices, and the appropriate fee level for CTMs. In May, EU member states agreed in principle to reduce CTM application fees for the second time in two years, though the size of the fee reduction has yet to be decided.
Questions relating to the role and funding of national offices and OHIM have been debated in recent issues of Managing IP, following an article written by Tove Graulund, past chair of MARQUES. That article has led to letters from Bas Kist of Shieldmark, Mihály Ficsor of the Hungarian Patent Office and David Stone of Howrey, among others.
