31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/5 
(b) it is liable, in consequence of the use made of it 
in respect of the goods or services for which it is 
registered, to mislead the public, particularly as 
to the nature, quality or geographical origin of 
those goods or services. 
Article 15 
Where a ground for refusal of registration or for 
invalidation of a trade mark exists in respect of only 
part of the goods or services for which that mark has 
been applied for or registered, refusal of registration 
or invalidation shall cover only the goods or services 
concerned. 
Article 16 
Without prejudice to Article 8, Member States whose 
laws authorize the registration of collective marks or 
guarantee marks may provide that such marks be 
refused registration, or shall be invalidated, on other 
grounds than those specified in Article 2 and 14 
where the function of those marks so requires. 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, and in particular 
Article 235 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the 
Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas: 
it is desirable to promote throughout the Community 
a harmonious development of economic activities 
and a continuous and balanced expansion by 
establishing a common market which functions 
properly and offers conditions which are similar to Article 17 
The laws of the Member States shall determine the 
procedure for registration and for invalidation of 
trade marks and the effects of invalidation. They may 
further provide that a trade mark to which one of the 
grounds for invalidation mentioned in this Directive 
applies shall not be capable of defeating the claims of 
third parties. 
Article 18 
1. The Member States shall bring into force the 
laws, regulations and administrative provisions 
necessary to comply with this Directive not later 
than... 
They shall immediately inform the Commission 
thereof. 
2. The Member States shall communicate to the 
Commission the text of the main provisions of 
national law which they adopt in the field governed 
by this Directive. 
Article 19 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
those obtaining in a national market. In order to 
create a market of this kind and make it increasingly 
a single market, not only must the barriers to free 
movement of goods and services be removed and 
arrangements be instituted which ensure that 
competition is not distorted, but, in addition, legal 
conditions must be created which enable 
undertakings to adapt their activities to the scale of 
the Community, whether in manufacturing and 
distributing goods or in providing services. For those 
purposes, trade marks enabling the products and 
services of undertakings to be distinguished by 
identical means troughout the entire Community, 
regardless of frontiers, should feature amongst the 
legal instruments which undertakings have at their 
disposal; 
action by the Community would appear to be 
necessary for the purpose of attaining the 
Community's said objectives. Such action involves 
the creation of Community arrangements for trade 
marks whereby undertakings can by means of one Proposal for a Council Regulation on Community trade marks 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 25 November 1980) 
No C 351/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
system of procedure obtain Community trade marks 
to which uniform protection is given and which 
produce their effects throughout the entire area of the 
Community; 
the Treaty does not provide the requisite powers to 
create a legal instrument such as a Community trade 
mark. The barrier of territoriality of the rights 
conferred on proprietors of trade marks by the laws 
of the Member States cannot be removed by 
approximation of laws. In these circumstances the 
only appropriate way of opening up unrestricted 
economic activity in the whole of the common 
market for the benefit of undertakings is to create 
trade marks which are governed solely by a law of the 
Community, that law being directly applicable in all 
Member States; 
the Community law relating to trade marks 
nevertheless does not replace the laws of the Member 
States on trade marks, for at the stage to which the 
establishment of the common market has now 
advanced it would not appear to be proper to require 
undertakings to apply for registration of their trade 
marks as Community trade marks. National trade 
marks do in fact continue to be necessary for those 
undertakings whose activities are such that 
protection of their trade marks at Community level is 
of no use to them; 
in order not to detract from the unity of the system of 
Community trade marks and from the primacy of the 
Community law which governs them, such trade 
marks must not be subject to the laws of the Member 
States, save insofar as this Regulation expressly 
provides; 
the rights in a Community trade mark are not to be 
capable of being obtained otherwise than by 
registration, and registration is to be refused if the 
trade mark is not distinctive, is unlawful or is not 
available. In the latter case the Office should not 
withhold registration unless the prior right which 
conflicts with the trade mark is a trade mark which is 
registered and used in the common market, if the 
proprietor of the prior right has entered opposition to 
registration of the trade mark as a Community trade 
mark and all efforts to produce an amicable 
settlement between the parties have failed; 
the interests of proprietors of prior private rights 
which have not been registered will also be protected, 
whatever those rights may be, for any proprietor of a 
prior right, whether registered or not, is entitled to 
claim that a Community trade mark, once registered, 
is invalid. It may in due time be appropriate, 
depending particularly on the degree of integration 
then achieved by the Community, to contemplate 
new measures for the purpose of settling conflicts 
between Community trade marks and prior rights 
existing at national level; the protection conferred by a Community trade mark 
is bound up with the concept of similarity of signs, 
similarity of goods and services and the possibility of 
confusion arising therefrom. The purpose of 
protection is to guarantee the trade mark's function 
as an indicator of origin. It is essential that the said 
concepts be interpreted strictly so that the freedom of 
action of persons who are in competition with each 
other is not needlessly restricted. It is necessary, in 
particular, that by simultaneous comparison of signs, 
goods and services it be certain in each case that 
customers are in reality likely to confuse products 
and services which are identified by those signs. For 
the purpose of determining whether a sign which is 
alleged to infringe a trade mark which consists of a 
number of elements is so similar to it that confusion 
may arise between them, the trade mark must be 
viewed as a whole. In order to determine whether a 
Community trade mark and a sign consisting of 
words sound the same or are at any rate phonetically 
similar, it is not possible to disregard the fact that the 
Community exists and that the public is increasingly 
aware of the correct pronunciation of words in the 
languages which are spoken therein; 
in view of the fact that the function of a Community 
trade mark is to indicate origin, the proprietor must 
not be entitled to prohibit its use by a third party in 
relation to goods which have been put into 
circulation in the Community or outside it, under the 
trade mark, by him or with his consent, nor to 
prohibit its use, for reasons based on trade marks 
law, by a licensee who supplies the goods or services 
under the trade mark outside the territory covered by 
the licence; 
there is no justification for protecting Community 
trade marks or, as against them, any trade mark 
which has been registered before them, except where 
the trade marks are actually used; 
a Community trade mark is to be regarded as an 
object of property which exists separately from the 
undertaking whose products or services are 
designated by it. Accordingly, a Community trade 
mark must be capable of being, inter alia, transferred 
to, or charged as security in favour of, a third party 
and of being the subject-matter of licences. The 
conditions applicable for revocation and invalidity 
of trade marks must also be regulated in a uniform 
manner; 
decisions regarding the validity of Community trade 
marks must have absolute effect and cover the entire 
area of the common market, for this is the only way 
of preventing inconsistent decisions on the part of 
the courts and the Office and of ensuring that the 
unitary character of Community trade marks is not 
undermined. The rules contained in the Convention 
on jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments in civil 
and commercial matters apply to all actions at law 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/7 
relating to Community trade marks, save where this 
Regulation derogates from those rules; 
administrative measures are necessary at Community 
level for implementing in relation to every trade 
mark the trade marks law created by this Regulation. 
It is therefore essential, while retaining the 
Community's existing institutional structure and 
balance of powers, to establish a Community Trade 
Marks Office which is independent in relation to 
technical matters and has legal, administrative and 
financial autonomy. To this end it is necessary and 
appropriate that it should be a body of the 
Commission having legal personality and exercising 
the precisely delimited implementing powers which 
are conferred on it by this Regulation, and that it 
should operate within the framework of Community 
law without detracting from the competences 
exercised by the Community's Institutions; 
in order to ensure that parties who are affected by 
decisions made by the Office are protected by the law 
in a manner which is entirely suited to the special 
character of trade marks law, it is necessary to 
establish, within the Office, boards of appeal 
composed of three independent members who are 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
(Community trade marks] 
1. A trade mark for goods or services which 
conforms with the conditions contained in this 
regulation and is registered in manner herein 
provided is hereinafter referred to as a 'Community 
trade mark'. 
2. A Community trade mark shall have identical 
effect throughout the Community. No trade mark 
shall be registered as a Community trade mark 
otherwise than for the entire area of the Community; 
a Community trade mark shall not be transferred or qualified in law and who will be responsible for 
examining, from the point of view of both substance 
and law, the decisions made by the Office's 
divisions; 
in order to ensure that in interpreting and applying 
this Regulation the law is observed, the decisions 
made by the boards of appeal must be open to appeal 
to the Court of Justice. This judicial control must be 
available even in cases where none of the parties 
appeals against an erroneous decision made by a 
board of appeal. The Commission must in such cases 
be enabled to enter an appeal in the Court of Justice 
in the interest of the law; 
the institutional structure of the Community, the 
balance of powers and the democratic control of the 
Office's budget can be maintained only if the 
Assembly and the Council adopt the Office's budget 
in conformity with the provisions contained in the 
Treaty which relate to the adoption of the budget of 
the European Communities, and utilise, in relation to 
the Office's revenue and expenditure, together with 
the Audit Board, the powers of control which are 
conferred by the Treaty. 
surrendered or be the subject of a decision revoking 
the right of the proprietor or declaring it invalid, nor 
shall its use be prohibited, save in respect of the entire 
area of the Community. 
Article 2 
(Community Trade Marks Office] 
For the purposes of the application of this regulation 
a Community Trade Marks Office, hereinafter 
referred to as 'the Office', is hereby established. TITLE I 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
No C 351/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
TITLE II 
THE LAW RELATING TO TRADE MARKS 
Section 1 Article 6 
DEFINITION OF A COMMUNITY TRADE MARK 
OBTAINING A COMMUNITY TRADE MARK 
Article 3 
[Signs of which a Community trade mark 
may consist] 
A Community trade mark may consist of words 
(including surnames), designs, letters, numerals, 
combinations of colours, the shape of goods or of 
their packaging, or of any other signs which are 
capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one 
undertaking from those of other undertakings. 
Article 4 
[Persons who can be proprietors of Community trade 
marks] 
1. The following persons may be proprietors of 
Community trade marks: 
(a) nationals of any Member State, and nationals of 
any non-Member State who are habitually 
resident in the Community or who have a real 
and effective industrial or commercial place of 
business in the Community; 
(b) nationals of any State which is party to the Paris 
Convention for the protection of industrial 
property, hereinafter referred to as 'the Paris 
Convention', and persons who are deemed to be 
such by the operation of Article 3 thereof; 
(c) nationals of any other State which accords to 
nationals of the Member States the same trade 
mark protection as it accords to its own 
nationals. 
2. Legal persons, including those companies and 
associations which under the law that governs them 
are regarded as legal persons, shall be treated as 
nationals within the meaning of paragraph 1. 
Article 5 
[Means whereby the rights in a Community trade mark 
are obtained] 
The rights in a Community trade mark are obtained 
by registration. [Absolute grounds for refusal] 
1. Trade marks which do not conform to the 
requirements of Article 3 or 4, and trade marks which 
are not distinctive, shall not be registered; in 
particular the following trade marks shall not be 
registered: 
(a) those which consist solely of signs or indications 
which in trade may be requisite for the purpose 
of showing the kind, quality, quantity, intended 
purpose, value, geographical origin, the time of 
production of the goods or of rendering of the 
service, or other characteristics of the goods or 
service; 
(b) those which consist solely of signs or indications 
which are customarily used to designate the 
goods or service in the current language of the 
trade or in the bona fide and established 
practices thereof. 
2. In addition, the following shall not be 
registered: 
(a) the shape which results from the nature of the 
goods themselves, or which has some technical 
consequence; also the shape of the goods where 
this affects their intrinsic value; 
(b) trade marks which include signs or indications 
liable to mislead the public, particularly as to the 
nature, quality or geographical origin of the 
goods or service; 
(c) trade marks which are contrary to public policy 
or to accepted principles of morality, and those 
which fall within the provisions of Article 6ter of 
the Paris Convention. 
3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply notwithstanding 
that the grounds of non-registrability obtain in only 
part of the common market. 
4. Paragraph 1 (a) shall not apply if the trade mark 
has become distinctive in consequence of the use 
which has been made of it. 
Article 7 
[Relative grounds for refusal] 
1. A trade mark shall not be registered if it is 
identical with or similar to an earlier trade mark, and 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/9 
the goods or services designated by each of the trade 
marks are identical with or similar to each other, with 
the result that there arises a serious likelihood of 
confusion on the part of the public in the territory in 
which the earlier trade mark has effect. 
2. Earlier trade marks are trade marks of the 
following kinds in respect of which the date of 
application for registration preceded the date of 
application for registration of the Community trade 
mark, taking account, where appropriate, of the 
priorities claimed in respect of those trade marks: 
(a) Community trade marks, 
(b) trade marks registered in a Member State, 
including those registered in the Benelux 
countries, 
(c) trade marks registered under international 
arrangements which have effect in a Member 
State; 
and trade marks which, on the date on which 
application is made for registration of them as 
Community trade marks, are well known in a 
Member State, in the sense in which the words 'well-
known' are used in Article 6 bis of the Paris 
Convention. 
3. Where an agent or representative of the rightful 
proprietor of a trade mark applies for registration 
thereof in his own name without the proprietor's 
consent, registration shall be refused unless the agent 
or representative justifies his action. 
4. This Article applies only where the proprietor of 
the earlier trade mark, or of a trade mark, to which 
paragraph (3) applies, has been successful in 
opposing registration of the Community trade mark, 
his opposition having been in conformity with the 
provisions of this Regulation. 
Section 2 
EFFECTS OF COMMUNITY TRADE MARKS 
Article 8 
(Rights conferred by a Community trade mark] 
1. A Community trade mark confers on the 
proprietor exclusive rights therein. The proprietor 
shall be entitled to prohibit any third party from 
using in the course of trade, save with his consent: 
(a) any sign which is identical with or similar to the 
Community trade mark in relation to goods or 
services which are identical with or similar to 
those for which the Community trade mark is 
registered, where such use involves a serious 
likelihood of confusion on the part of the 
public; 
(b) any sign which is identical with or similar to the 
Community trade mark in relation to goods or services which are not similar to those for which 
the Community trade mark is registered, where 
the Community trade mark is of wide repute and 
use of that sign is detrimental to that repute. 
2. Use of the following kinds, inter alia, may be 
prohibited under paragraph (1): 
(a) affixing the sign to the goods or to the packaging 
thereof; 
(b) putting the goods on the market under that sign, 
or supplying services thereunder; 
(c) using the sign on business correspondence or 
invoices. 
3. The rights conferred by a Community trade mark 
shall prevail against third parties from the date of 
publication of registration of the trade mark. 
Reasonable compensation may, however, be claimed 
in respect of matters arising after the date of 
publication of a Community trade mark application, 
which matters would, after publication of 
registration of the trade mark, be prohibited by virtue 
of that publication. The court seised of the case shall 
stay the proceedings until the registration has been 
published. 
Article 9 
(Reproduction of Community trade marks 
in dictionaries] 
1. The publisher of a dictionary, encyclopaedia or 
similar work shall ensure that any reproduction of a 
Community trade mark therein is accompanied by an 
indication that the trade mark is registered. 
2. Where the publisher fails to comply with the 
requirements of paragraph 1 he shall) at the request 
of the proprietor of the Community trade mark, 
correct the matter at his own expense in the next 
edition of the publication. 
Article 10 
(Limitation of the effects of a Community 
trade mark] 
A Community trade mark does not entitle the 
proprietor to prohibit a third party from using in the 
course of trade: 
(a) his own surname and address; 
(b) indications concerning the kind, quality, 
quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical 
origin, the time of production of the goods or of 
No C 351/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
rendering of the service, or other characteristics 
of the goods or service; 
(c) the trade mark for the purpose of indicating the 
intended purpose of accessories or spare 
parts; 
provided he does not use them as a trade mark. 
Article 11 
(Limits of the rights conferred by a Community trade 
mark] 
1. A Community trade mark does not entitle the 
proprietor to prohibit its use in relation to goods 
which have been put on the market under that trade 
mark by the proprietor or with his consent. 
2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply: 
(a) Where, the goods having been put on the market 
outside the Community, the proprietor is legally 
entitled to oppose their importation into the 
Community; 
(b) Where the condition of the goods is changed or 
impaired after they have been put on the 
market; 
(c) Where the goods are re-packaged by a third 
party; but this provision shall not apply where 
the third party proves that the use made of the 
trade mark by the proprietor, taking into 
consideration his system of marketing, tends to 
fragment the markets artificially and that the re­
packaging could not affect the original 
condition of the goods, if the third party informs 
the proprietor beforehand that the re-packaged 
goods are to be put on the market and the new 
packaging indicates that the goods have been re­
packaged by the third party. 
Article 12 
ISupplenKntary application of national law 
relating to infringement] 
1. The effects of Community trade marks shall be 
governed solely by the provisions of this Regulation. 
Save as otherwise herein provided, the civil sanctions 
for infringement of a Community trade mark shall be 
governed by the law on civil sanctions for 
infringement of a national trade mark which applies 
in the Member State in which the Court hearing the 
action is located. 2. The rules of procedure to be applied shall be 
determined in accordance with Article 76 and the 
Articles which follow it. 
Section 3 
USE OF COMMUNITY TRADE MARKS 
Article 13 
1. A Community trade mark shall be put to serious 
use in the common market, consistently with the 
terms of this Regulation, in connection with the 
goods or services in respect of which it is registered, 
unless there exist legitimate reasons for not doing 
so. 
2. Circumstances arising independently of the will 
of the proprietor of a Community trade mark are 
alone sufficient to constitute legitimate reasons for 
not using it. 
3. Use of a Community trade mark by a licensee or 
by a person who is associated economically with the 
proprietor shall be deemed to constitute use by the 
proprietor. 
Section 4 
DURATION AND ALTERATION OF COMMUNITY 
TRADEMARKS 
Article 14 
(Duration of registration] 
Community trade marks shall be registered for a 
period of ten years from the date of filing of the 
application. Without prejudice to the application of 
Article 37, registration may be renewed for further 
periods of ten years. 
Article 15 
(Alteration] 
1. No alteration of a Community trade mark shall 
be allowed during the period of registration or on 
renewal thereof. 
2. Where, however, a Community trade mark 
includes the name and address of the proprietor, 
these may be altered, provided the alteration does not 
substantially change the trade mark. Any alteration 
shall be registered. 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/11 
Section 5 
COMMUNITY TRADE MARIS AS OBJECTS OF 
PROPERTY 
Article 16 
[Dealing with Community trade marks as national 
trade marks) 
1. Unless Articles 17 to 22 otherwise provide, a 
Community trade mark as an object of property shall 
be regarded in all respects, including its geographical 
coverage of the entire area of the Community, as a 
trade mark registered in the Member State in which, 
according to the Register of Community trade marks, 
the applicant had his habitual residence or principal 
place of business or, failing either of these, a place of 
business, on the date of filing of the Community 
trade mark application. 
2. In cases which are not provided for by 
paragraph 1 the Member State referred to in that 
paragraph shall be the Member State in which the 
headquarters of the Office is situated. 
Article 17 
ITraasfer] 
1. A Community trade mark may be transferred, 
separately from any transfer of the undertaking, in 
respect of some or all of the goods or services for 
which it is registered, 
2. A transfer of the whole of the undertaking shall, 
unless some other intention appears, have effect to 
transfer any Community trade mark of the 
undertaking. 
3. Without prejudice to paragraph 2, an assignment 
of a Community trade mark shall be made in writing; 
otherwise it shall be void. 
4. Where it is clear from the transfer documents 
that because of the transfer the Community trade 
mark will mislead the public concerning the nature, 
quality or geographical origin of the goods or 
services in respect of which it is registered, the Office 
shall not register the transfer. 
5. A transfer shall not affect rights acquired by third 
parties before the date of transfer. 
6. A transfer shall not take effect vis-a- vis the Office 
or third parties until it has been registered, and then 
only to the extent that the transfer documents require. A transfer shall nevertheless take effect before 
registration vis-a-vis third parties who have acquired 
rights in the trade mark after the date of transfer but 
who knew of the transfer at the date on which they 
acquired those rights. 
Article 18 
[Rights in rem} 
1. A Community trade mark may be charged as 
security or otherwise be the subject of security rights 
in rem, separately from the undertaking. 
2. Security rights in rem which are created over a 
Community trade mark, and any transfer of those 
rights, shall not have effect vis-a-vis third parties 
until the rights have been registered, or until the 
transfer has been registered, as the case may be. 
Article 19 
[Levy of execution] 
1. A Community trade mark may be levied in 
execution and be the subject of enforcement 
measures following thereon, separately from the 
undertaking. 
2. As regards the procedure for enforcement 
measures in respect of a Community trade mark, the 
courts and authorities of the Member State which is 
relevant for the purposes of Article 16 shall have 
exclusive jurisdiction. 
Article 20 
[Insolvency and similar proceedings! 
Until such time as common rules are in operation 
between the Member States, the only Member State 
in which a Community trade mark may form part of 
the assets in an insolvency or in similar proceedings 
shall be the Member State in which those proceedings 
are first opened. 
Article 21 
[Licensing] 
1. Licences may be granted in respect of a 
Community trade mark for some or all of the goods 
or services for which it is registered. 
2. The rights conferred by a Community trade mark 
shall not be asserted vis-d-vis a licensee unless he 
operates his licence beyond the period of time for 
No C 351/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
which it was granted or uses the trade mark in 
relation to goods or services for which it has not been 
registered or does not comply with the proprietor's 
instructions concerning the quality of the goods or 
services. 
3. The proprietor of a Community trade mark shall 
ensure that the quality of the goods manufactured or 
of the services provided by the licensee is the same as 
that of the goods manufactured or of the services 
provided by the proprietor. 4. Paragraphs 5 and 6 of Article 17 apply to 
licences. 
Article 22 
(The right of property in an application 
for a Community trade mark] 
Articles 16 to 21 apply to applications for 
Community trade marks. 
TITLE III 
APPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNITY TRADE MARKS 
Section 1 
FILING OF APPLICATIONS AND THE CONDITIONS 
WHICH GOVERN THEM 
Article 23 
(Filing of applications] 
An application for a Community trade mark shall be 
filed at the Office. 
Article 24 
[Conditions governing applications] 
1. The following, inter alia, shall be included in an 
application for a Community trade mark: 
(a) particulars identifying the applicant; 
(b) a list of the goods or services; 
(c) a representation of the trade mark; 
(d) where paragraph 2 of Article 72 applies, the 
relevant power of attorney. 
2. The fees shall be paid upon filing of the 
application. 
Article 25 
(Date of filing] 
The date of filing of a Community trade mark 
application shall be the date on which the documents 
specified in Article 24 are received, provided the 
minimum fees have at that date been received by the 
Office. Section 2 
PRIORITY 
Article 26 
(Right of Priority] 
1. A person who has duly filed an application for a 
trade mark in or for any State which is a party to the 
Paris Convention, or his successors in title, shall, for 
the purpose of filing a Community trade mark 
application for the same trade mark in respect of 
goods or services which are identical with those for 
which the application has been filed, be entitled to a 
right of priority for a period of six months following 
the date of filing of the first application. 
2. Every filing which is equivalent to a regular 
national filing under the national law of the State 
where it was made or under bilateral or multilateral 
agreements shall be recognised as giving rise to a 
right of priority. 
3. Regular national filing means any filing which is 
sufficient to establish the date on which the 
application was made, whatever the outcome of the 
application. 
4. A subsequent application for a trade mark which 
was the subject of a previous first application in 
respect of the same goods or services, and which is 
filed in or for the same State shall, for the purpose of 
determining priority, be considered as the first 
application, provided that, at the date of filing of the 
subsequent application, the previous application has 
been withdrawn, abandoned or refused, without 
leaving any rights outstanding, and no right of 
priority has been claimed in respect of it. No right of 
priority shall thereafter be claimed in respect of the 
previous application. 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/13 
5. If the first filing has been made in a State which is 
not a party to the Paris Convention, paragraphs 1 to 4 
shall apply only in so far as that State grants on the 
basis of a first filing made at the Office a right of 
priority which is subject to conditions equivalent to 
those laid down in the Paris Convention and which 
has equivalent effect. 
Article 27 
(Claiming priorityl 
An applicant who wishes to take advantage of the 
priority of a previous application shall file a 
declaration of priority. The Office may require 
production of a copy of the previous application and, 
if necessary, a translation of it in the Office's 
procedural language. 
Section 1 
EXAMINATION OF APPLICATIONS 
Article 30 
(Examination as to whether the application satisfies the 
relevant substantive conditions] 
1. A Community trade mark application shall be 
rejected if it cannot be accorded a date of filing 
because the relevant conditions have not been 
satisfied. 
2. A Community trade mark application which is 
irregular as to form, or in respect whereof the amount 
of fees paid is equal to the minimum fee chargeable 
but less than the prescribed fee, shall be rejected. No 
right of priority may be claimed in respect of an 
application where the priority provisions contained 
in this Regulation have not been complied with. 
3. Paragraph 2 shall not apply until the applicant 
has been requested to correct the irregularities or to 
pay the prescribed amount of fees. 
Article 31 
(Examination as to absolute grounds for refusal] 
1. Where, under Article 6, a trade mark is ineligible 
for registration in respect of some or all of the goods Article 28 
(Right of Priority] 
The right of priority shall operate so that the date of 
first filing shall be treated as the date of filing of the 
Community trade mark application, save for 
purposes of the application of Article 14. 
Article 29 
(Equivalence of Community filing and national filing 
For purposes of the application of Article 4 of the 
Paris Convention, a Community trade mark 
application which has been accorded a date of filing 
shall in the Member States be equivalent to a regular 
national filing. 
or services covered by the Community trade mark 
application, the application shall be rejected as 
regards those goods or services. 
2. Where the trade mark includes an element which 
is not distinctive, registration of the trade mark may 
be subject to the applicant's agreeing, if the Office 
requests him to do so, that his rights in the trade mark 
are not exclusive. 
3. The application shall not be rejected before the 
applicant has been allowed the opportunity of 
withdrawing or amending the application or of 
submitting his observations on the matter. 
4. The application shall be published in respect of 
the goods or services for which it is not ineligible for 
registration. 
5. Where, after publication, the application is 
rejected under paragraph 1 or 2, the decision that it 
has been rejected shall, upon becoming final, be 
published. 
Article 32 
(Amendment of application] 
A Community trade mark application may upon 
request be amended by restricting the list of goods or 
services, or by rectifying the name and address of the TITLE IV 
REGISTRATION PROCEDURE 
No C 351/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
applicant, errors of wording or of copying, or other 
obvious mistakes, provided that such rectification 
does not substantially change the trade mark. 
Section 2 
OBSERVATIONS BY THIRD PARTIES 
AND OPPOSITION 
Article 33 
(Observations by third parties) 
Any natural or legal person and any group or body 
representing manufacturers, producers, traders or 
consumers, may, after publication of a Community 
trade mark application, submit to the Office written 
observations explaining on which grounds, under 
Article 6, the trade mark is ineligible for 
registration. 
Article 34 
[Opposition] 
1. Proprietors of trade marks of the kinds referred 
to in Article 7 may within three months following 
publication of a Community trade mark application 
enter opposition to registration of the trade mark. 
Registration may be opposed only on grounds of 
ineligibility under Article 7. 
2. Opposition shall be expressed in writing and 
shall specify the grounds on which it is made. It shall 
not be treated as duly entered until the opposition fee 
has been paid. 
3. If the opposing party has no habitual residence 
or place of business within the Community he shall, 
if the applicant so requests, provide security for the 
costs of the proceedings. The amount of security and 
the date by which it must be provided shall be 
determined by the Office. If security is not provided, 
the opposition shall be treated as having been 
withdrawn. 
Article 35 
(Examination of opposition) 
1. When examining the opposition the Office shall 
invite the parties to submit their observations. 2. If the applicant so requests or the Office so 
requires, the proprietor of an earlier Community 
trade mark who has entered an opposition shall 
furnish proof that that trade mark has been used in 
manner required by Article 13 during the period of 
five years preceding the date of publication of the 
Community trade mark application, provided the 
earlier Community trade mark has at that date been 
registered for not less than five years. In the absence 
of proof to this effect, the opposition shall be 
rejected. If the earlier Community trade mark has 
been used in relation to part only of the goods or 
services for which it is registered it shall, for purposes 
of the examination of the opposition, be deemed to 
be registered in respect only of that part. This 
provision shall apply where the earlier trade mark is 
a trade mark of the kind described in subparagraph 
(b) or (c) of paragraph 2 of Article 7. 
3. The Office shall, if it thinks fit, invite the parties 
to make a friendly settlement. The Office shall make 
proposals to them for this purpose if it considers that 
conditions can be imposed on the prospective use of 
the trade mark applied for and of the earlier trade 
mark in such manner that there will be no serious 
likelihood of confusion on the part of the public. 
4. If examination of the opposition reveals that the 
trade mark is not eligible for registration in respect of 
some or all of the goods or services for which the 
Community trade mark application has been made, 
the application shall be rejected in respect of those 
goods or services. Otherwise the opposition shall be 
rejected. 
5. Where a final decision is taken to refuse the 
application the decision shall be published. 
Section 3 
REGISTRATION 
Article 36 
Where an application meets the requirements of this 
Regulation and the registration fee has been paid in 
due time, the trade mark shall be registered as a 
Community trade mark. If the fee is not paid within 
the period prescribed the application shall be deemed 
to have been withdrwan. 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities # NoC 351/15 
TITLE V 
RENEWAL 
Article 37 
1. Where it is desired to renew the registration of a 
Community trade mark an application shall be made. 
A declaration of user shall be produced and fees shall 
be paid. 
2. The declaration of user shall specify the goods or 
services in respect of which the Community trade 
mark has been used in manner required by Article 13 
during the period of five years prior to expiry of the 
registration. 
3. The application shall be submitted, the 
declaration of user produced and the fees paid not 
earlier than six months before expiry of the 
Section 1 
SURRENDER 
Article 38 
1. A Community trade mark may be surrendered in 
respect of some or all of the goods or services for 
which it is registered. 
2. Surrender shall be effected by the proprietor of 
the trade mark by means of writing delivered to the 
Office. The surrender shall not have effect until it is 
recorded in the Register. 
3. Surrender shall be registered only with the 
consent of any third party who has a right in rem 
which is recorded in the Register. If a licence is 
recorded in the Register, the surrender shall be 
recorded only if the proprietor of the trade mark 
proves that he has previously informed the licensee 
of his intention to surrender it. 
Section 2 
(Grounds for revocation) 
1. The rights of the proprietor of a Community 
trade mark shall be revoked: 
(a) if the trade mark has not been used in a manner 
required by Article 13 during an unbroken registration. Failing this, they may validly be 
submitted, filed and paid within six months 
following the date of expiry of the registration, but 
on payment of an additional fee. 
4. Where the application is submitted, the 
declaration of user produced and the fees paid in 
respect of part only of the goods or services for which 
the Community trade mark is registered, registration 
shall be renewed only for that part of the goods or 
services. 
5. Renewal shall take effect from the date on which 
the existing registration expires. The renewal shall be 
registered. 
period of five years; but no person may claim 
that the proprietor's rights in a Community trade 
mark should be revoked where, during the 
interval between expiry of the five-year period 
and filing of the application for revocation, the 
trade mark has been used in manner required by 
Article 13 and this use was made in good 
faith; 
(b) if, in consequence of acts of the proprietor, the 
trade mark has become the common name for a 
product or service in respect whereof it is 
registered; 
(c) if, in consequence of the use made of it in respect 
of the goods or services for which it is registered, 
it is liable to mislead the public, particularly as 
to the nature, quality or geographical origin of 
those goods or services. 
2. Where the grounds for revocation of rights exist 
in respect of part only of the goods or services for 
which the Community trade mark is registered, the 
rights of the proprietor shall be revoked in respect 
only of that part of the goods or services. 
1. Revocation shall be declared by a decision 
adopted in conformity with the terms of this 
Regulation. 
2. The Community trade mark shall, within the 
tenor of the decision revoking it, be deemed not to TITLE VI 
SURRENDER, REVOCATION, INVALIDITY 
GROUNDS FOR AND CONSEQUENCES 
OF REVOCATION 
Article 40 
Article 39 [Consequences of revocation! 
No C 351/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
have had the effects provided for in this Regulation 
from the time when any of the grounds for revocation 
existed. 
3. Subject to the provisions contained in the laws of 
the Member States relating to actions for 
compensation for damage caused by negligence or by 
lack of good faith on the part of the proprietor of the 
trade mark, or relating to unjust enrichment, the 
retroactive effect of revocation shall not affect: 
(a) any decision on infringement which has 
acquired the authority of a final decision and 
has been executed before the decision revoking 
the rights of the proprietor was adopted; 
(b) any contract concluded before the decision 
revoking the rights of the proprietor was 
adopted, in so far as the contract has been 
performed before the adoption of that decision; 
but restitution of sums paid under the contract 
may be claimed on grounds of equity to the 
extent justified by the circumstances. 
Section 3 
GROUNDS FOR AND CONSEQUENCES 
OF INVALIDITY 
Article 41 
(Absolute grounds of invalidity] 
1. A Community trade mark which is registered in 
breach of the provisions of Article 6 shall be 
invalid. 
2. Where subparagraph (a) of paragraph 1 of 
Article 6 has been contravened, the Community 
trade mark shall nevertheless not be declared invalid 
if it has become distinctive after registration. 
3. Where the ground of invalidity exists in respect 
of part only of the goods or services for which the 
Community trade mark is registered, the trade mark 
shall be invalid as regards only that part of the goods 
or services. 
Article 42 
(Relative grounds of invalidity] 
1. A Community trade mark shall be invalid: 
(a) where a trade mark of the kind described in 
Article 7 exists in opposition to it and the 
conditions set out in paragraph 1 or 3 of that 
Article obtain; 
(b) where some other prior right exists in opposition 
to it and there is a serious likelihood of 
confusion on the part of the public between the 
trade mark and that right; but this provision shall not apply if the right subsists only in a 
particular locality. The expression 'some other 
prior right' means any sign used in the course of 
trade before filing of the Community trade mark 
application and which, under the law of the 
Member State which governs the sign, entitles 
the proprietor to prohibit the use of any later 
trade mark. 
2. A Community trade mark shall also be invalid if 
it contains: 
(a) a work protected by copyright or by an 
industrial design or model; 
(b) a portrait; 
(c) a surname, where use of the trade mark in 
relation to the goods or services for which it is 
registered is liable to cause serious detriment to 
the honour, reputation or credit of the person 
whose surname it is. 
3. A Community trade mark shall not be declared 
invalid where the proprietor of any such right as is 
mentioned in paragraph 1 or 2 has consented to 
registration of that trade mark. 
4. Where the proprietor of any such right as is 
mentioned in paragraph 1 or 2 applies for a 
declaration that a Community trade mark is invalid, 
he shall not enter a new application for that purpose 
on the basis of another such right which he could 
have averred in support of the first application. 
5. Paragraph 3 of Article 41 shall apply. 
Article 43 
(Consequences of invalidity] 
1. Where a decision is adopted declaring a 
Community trade mark invalid, the trade mark shall, 
within the tenor of the decision declaring it invalid, 
be deemed never to have had the effects provided for 
in this Regulation from the time when the trade mark 
came into existence. 
2. Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 40 shall apply to 
invalidity of Community trade marks. 
Article 44 
(Limitation in consequence of acquiescence] 
1. Where the proprietor of any such right as is 
mentioned in paragraph 1 or 2 of Article 42 has 
acquiesced in the use of a Community trade mark for 
a period of three successive years, he shall not be 
entitled to apply for a declaration that the trade mark 
is invalid on the ground that that right, or some other 
right of his, exists; but this provision shall not apply 
if the Community trade mark was applied for in bad 
faith. 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/17 
2. Paragraph 1 shall not affect the right of the 
proprietor of a well-known trade mark, as defined in 
paragraph 2 of Article 7, to apply for a declaration 
that a Community trade mark is invalid, provided he 
makes the application within the period of five years 
following registration of the Community trade 
mark. 
3. The proprietor of a Community trade mark shall 
not be entitled to oppose use of the right referred to in 
paragraph 1 even though the proprietor of that right 
is no longer entitled to apply for a declaration that 
the Community trade mark is invalid. 
Article 45 
[Prior rights subsisting in particular localities] 
1. The proprietor of a prior right subsisting in a 
particular locality may oppose use of the Community 
trade mark in the territory where his right is valid. 
2. Paragraph 1 shall cease to apply if the proprietor 
of the prior right has acquiesced in the use of the 
Community trade mark for a period of three 
successive years; but this provision shall not apply if 
the Community trade mark was applied for in bad 
faith. 
3. The proprietor of the Community trade mark 
shall not be entitled to oppose use of the right 
referred to in paragraph 1 even if that provision has 
ceased to apply. 
Section 4 
PROCEEDINGS IN THE OFFICE IN RELATION TO 
REVOCATION OR INVALIDITY 
Article 46 
[Application for revocation or for a declaration of 
invalidity] 
1. An application for revocation of the rights of the 
proprietor of a Community trade mark or for a 
declaration that the trade mark is invalid may be 
submitted to the Office: 
(a) where Articles 39 and 41 apply, by any natural 
or legal person and any group or body which has 
the capacity to be a party to proceedings in 
court, whether as plaintiff or defendant, for the 
purpose of representing the interests of 
manufacturers, producers, suppliers of services, 
traders or consumers. 
(b) where paragraph 1 of Article 42 applies, by the 
proprietor of the trade mark or other prior 
right; 
(c) where paragraph 2 of Article 42 applies, by the 
owner of the copyright, the proprietor of the design or model, the owner of the relevant 
surname, the person who is the subject of the 
portrait, or the persons who are entitled under 
the laws of the Member States to exercise the 
rights in question. 
2. The application shall be submitted in writing and 
shall specify the grounds on which it is made. Before 
the fee has been paid the application shall be treated 
as not having been submitted. 
3. Paragraph 3 of Article 34 shall apply. 
4. An application for revocation or for a 
declaration of invalidity shall not lie if an application 
relating to the same subject-matter and cause of 
action, and involving the same parties, has been 
adjudicated on by a court in a Member State. 
Article 47 
[Examination of the application] 
1. The Office may stay the proceedings of its own 
motion or at the request of any of the parties if, under 
paragraph 1 of Article 78, a counterclaim for 
revocation of the rights of the proprietor of the 
Community trade mark or for a declaration that the 
Community trade mark is invalid has been filed with 
a court in a Member State. 
2. When the Office examines the application for 
revocation of rights or for a declaration of invalidity, 
it shall as often as necessary invite the parties to file 
observations on communications from third parties 
or issued by itself. 
3. The Office may of its own motion contend that 
the Community trade mark, having been registered in 
breach of Article 3, Article 4 or subparagraphs (b) 
and (c) of paragraph 2 of Article 6, is invalid. 
4. If the proprietor of the Community trade mark so 
requests or the Office so requires, the proprietor of an 
earlier Community trade mark, being a party to the 
invalidity proceedings, shall furnish proof that that 
trade mark has been used in manner required by 
Article 13 during the period of five years preceding 
the date of the application for a declaration of 
invalidity, provided that at that date the earlier 
Community trade mark has been registered for not 
less than five years. If, at the date on which the 
Community trade mark application was published, 
the earlier Community trade mark has been 
registered for not less than five years, the proprietor 
of the earlier Community trade mark shall furnish 
proof that, in addition, the conditions contained in 
paragraph 2 of Article 35 were satisfied at that date. 
In the absence of such proof the application for a 
declaration of invalidity shall be rejected. Where the 
earlier Community trade mark has been used in 
relation to part only of the goods or services for 
which it is registered it shall, for the purposes of 
No C 351/18 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
examining the application for a declaration of 
invalidity, be deemed to be registered in respect only 
of that of the goods or services. This provision shall 
apply where the earlier Community trade is a trade 
mark of the kind described in subparagraph (b) or (c) 
of paragraph 2 of Article 7. 
5. In the course of the invalidity proceedings the 
Office shall, if it thinks fit, invite the parties to make a 
friendly settlement The Office shall make proposals 
to them for this purpose if it considers that conditions 
Article 48 
(Decisions from which an appeal will lie] 
1. An appeal shall lie from decisions of the Office. 
It shall have suspensive effect. 
2. An appeal against a decision which does not 
terminate proceedings as regards one of the parties 
may only be made in conjunction with an appeal 
against the final decision, unless the latter 
contemplates separate appeal. 
Article 49 
(Persons entitled to appeal and to be parties to 
proceedings on appeal] 
Any party to proceedings who is adversely affected 
by a decision may appeal. The other parties to those 
proceedings shall automatically be parties to the 
appeal proceedings. 
Article 50 
[Time limit and form of appeal] 
Notice of appeal shall be filed in writing at the Office 
within two months after notification of the decision 
from which the appeal is made. Until such time as the 
fee for appeal has been paid the notice shall be 
treated as not having been filed. Within four months 
after notification of the decision a written statement 
setting out the grounds of appeal shall be filed. 
Article 51 
(Interlocutory revision] 
1. If the department whose decision is contested 
considers that the appeal properly lies and is well-
founded, it shall rectify its decision. This shall not 
apply where the appellant is in the proceedings 
opposed by another party. can be imposed on the prospective use of the 
Community trade mark, of the earlier trade mark or 
of the prior right in such manner that there will be no 
serious likelihood of confusion on the part of the 
public. 
6. Where a final decision is taken revoking the 
rights of the proprietor of the Community trade mark 
or declaring it invalid, it shall be removed from the 
register. 
2. If the appeal is not allowed within one month 
after receipt of the statement of grounds, the appeal 
shall forthwith be remitted to the Board of Appeal 
without comment on the merits. 
Article 52 
(Examination of appeals] 
If the appeal properly lies, the Board of Appeal shall 
as often as necessary invite the parties to file 
observations on communications from another party 
or issued by itself. 
Article 53 
[Decision on appeal] 
In deciding the appeal the Board of Appeal may 
exercise any power which lies within the competence 
of the dapartment whose decision is the subject of the 
appeal, or it may remit the case to that department 
for further action. In the latter case the department 
shall, in so far as the facts are the same, be bound by 
the decision of the Board of Appeal and by the 
grounds on which it is based. 
Article 54 
[Further appeal by the parties] 
1. A further appeal to the Court of Justice of the 
European Communities shall lie from decision of the 
Boards of Appeal. Such further appeals shall have 
suspensive effect. 
2. The further appeal may be lodged on grounds of 
want of jurisdiction, infringement of an essential 
procedural requirement, infringement of the Treaty, 
of this Regulation or of any rule of law relating to 
their application, in so far as that rule of law is not a 
provision of national law, or misuse of power. The 
Court of Justice shall not question the facts as found 
by and recorded in the decision of the Board of 
Appeal. TITLE VII 
APPEALS 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/19 
3. The further appeal may be made by any party to 
the proceedings before the Board of Appeal who is 
adversely affected by its decision. 
4. The further appeal shall be lodged with the Court 
of Justice within two months after notification of the 
decision of the Board of Appeal. 
5. If the Court of Justice remits the case for further 
action to the Board of Appeal, the Board shall, in so 
far as the facts are the same, be bound by the decision 
of the Court of Justice and by the grounds on which it 
is based. 
Article 55 
[Further appeal in the interest of the law] 
1. The Commission may in the interest of the law 
lodge a further appeal to the Court of Justice against 
Section 1 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
Article 56 
(Statement of grounds on which decisions are based] 
Decisions of the Office shall state the grounds on 
which they are based. They shall be based only on 
grounds or on evidence on which the parties involved 
have had the opportunity of presenting their 
observations. 
Article 57 
(Examination of the facts by the Office of its own 
morion] 
In proceedings before it the Office shall examine the 
facts of its own motion. It may disregard facts or 
items of evidence which have not been submitted in 
due time by the parties involved. 
Article 58 
[Oral proceedings] 
1. If the Office considers that oral proceedings 
would be useful they shall be held either on motion of 
the Office itself or at the request of any of the parties 
to the proceedings. a decision of the Board of Appeal. The further appeal 
may be lodged on grounds of want of jurisdiction, 
infringement of an essential procedural requirement, 
infringement of the Treaty, of this Regulation or of 
any rule of law relating to their application, in so far 
as that rule of law is not a provision of national law, 
or misuse of power. The provisions contained in this 
paragraph shall apply to final decisions only. 
2. Where the decision is reversed, the parties shall 
not be entitled to plead this fact. 
3. The Registrar of the Court of Justice shall notify 
the Member States and the Council that the further 
appeal has been lodged, and they shall be entitled to 
file memoranda or observations in writing with the 
Court within two months after receipt of 
notification. 
4. No costs or expenses shall be charged or 
reimbursed in connection with such proceedings as 
are provided for in this Article. 
2. Oral proceedings before the Examining 
Division, Opposition Division or Administration 
Division shall not be public. 
3. Oral proceedings, including delivery of the 
decision, shall, as regards the Cancellation Division 
and the Board of Appeal, be public, in so far as the 
department before which the proceedings are taking 
place does not decide otherwise in circumstances 
where serious and unwarranted disadvantages could 
arise from admitting the public, particularly for any 
of the parties to the proceedings. In derogation from 
paragraph 2, this present paragraph shall apply to 
oral proceedings before the Opposition Division in 
cases where Article 91 applies. 
Article 59 
[Taking of evidence] 
1. In any proceedings before the Office, the means 
of giving or obtaining evidence shall include the 
following: 
(a) hearing the parties; 
(b) requests for information; 
(c) production of documents; 
(d) hearing the witnesses; 
(e) opinions by experts; 
(f) inspection; 
(g) sworn statements in writing. TITLE VIII 
PROCEDURE 
No C 351/20 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
2. The relevant department may commission one of 
its members to examine the evidence adduced. 
3. If the Office considers it necessary that a party, 
witness or expert give evidence orally, it shall 
either: 
(a) issue a summons requiring the relevant person to 
appear before it, or 
(b) request the competent judicial authority in the 
country of residence of the relevant person to 
take the evidence, as provided in paragraph 3 of 
Article 70. 
4. A party, witness or expert who is summoned 
before the Office may request it to allow his evidence 
to be heard by the competent judicial authority in his 
country of residence. On receipt of such request, or if 
there is no response to the summons, the Office may, 
in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3 of 
Article 70, request the competent judicial authority to 
take the evidence of that person. 
5. If a party, witness or expert gives evidence before 
the Office, the Office may, if it considers it advisable 
that the evidence be given in solemn form, request 
the competent authority in the country of residence 
of the relevant person to hear his evidence under the 
requisite conditions. 
6. When the Office requests a competent judicial 
authority to take evidence, it may request it to take 
the evidence in solemn form and to permit a member 
of the relevant department to attend the hearing and 
question the party, witness or expert either through 
the intermediary of that judicial authority or 
directly. 
Article 60 
[Service) 
The Office shall effect service of all decisions and 
summonses, and of notices which cause time-limits to 
run or which are required to be served either in 
pursuance of other provisions of this Regulation or 
by order of the President of the Office. 
Article 61 
{Restitutio in integrum] 
1. Where, in spite of having taken all due care in the 
particular circumstances, the applicant for or 
proprietor of a Community trade mark or any other 
party to proceedings before the Office has been 
unable to observe a time-limit vis-A-vis the Office, his 
rights shall, upon application, be restored if his 
failure to respect the time-limit has resulted directly, 
by virtue of the provisions of this Regulation, in the 
loss of any right or means of redress. 2. Applications shall be filed in writing within two 
months after the cause of non-compliance with the 
time-limit has ceased to operate. The act omitted 
shall be completed within this period. Application 
may be made only within the period of one year 
following the expiry of the time-limit which has not 
been observed. Where the formalities for renewal 
have not been complied with, the period specified in 
paragraph 3 of Article 37 shall be deducted from the 
one-year period. 
3. An application shall state the grounds on which 
it is based and the facts on which it relies. It shall not 
be regarded as duly filed until the fee for restoration 
of rights has been paid. 
4. The decision on the application shall be 
determined by the department which is competent in 
relation to the omitted act. 
5. The provisions of this Article shall not apply to 
the time-limits referred to in paragraph 2 of this 
Article nor to the time-limit specified in paragraph 1 
of Article 26. 
6. The applicant for or proprietor of a Community 
trade mark shall not oppose the use of a sign in good 
faith by a third party during the period between the 
time when the rights in the application or in the trade 
mark are lost and the restoration of those rights. 
Article 62 
(Reference to general principles] 
In the absence of procedural provisions in this 
Regulation, the Office shall take into account the 
principles of procedural law which are generally 
recognized in the Member States. 
Article 63 
(Termination of financial obligations] 
1. The Office's right to require payment of fees shall 
be extinguished after four years from the end of the 
calendar year in which the fees become due for 
payment. 
2. Rights against the Office for the refunding of fees 
or of sums overcharged by the Office shall be 
extinguished after four years from the end of the 
calendar year in which the rights arose. 
3. A request for payment of a fee shall have effect to 
interrupt the period specified in paragraph 1, and a 
written claim for refund, stating the grounds on 
which it is made, shall have effect to interrupt the 
period specified in paragraph 2. After interruption 
the period shall begin to run again immediately and 
shall terminate at the latest six years after the end of 
the calendar year in which it originally commenced, 
unless in the meantime judicial proceedings to 
enforce the right have been instituted; in this case the 
period shall end not earlier than one year after the 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/21 
judgment has acquired the authority of a final 
decision. 
Section 2 
COSTS 
Article 64 
[Costs] 
1. Each party to opposition proceedings or to 
proceedings for revocation or for a declaration of 
invalidity shall pay the costs incurred by him unless 
the Opposition Division or Cancellation Division 
decides that it would be equitable that the costs of 
oral proceedings or of certain stages in the 
examination be borne in some other manner. A 
decision concerning divison of costs may, if applied 
for, be adopted where a Community trade mark 
application, an opposition, an application for 
revocation of rights or an application for a 
declaration of invalidity is withdrawn, or where 
registration of a Community trade mark is not 
renewed or where the proprietor of a Community 
trade mark surrenders it. 
2. Paragraph 1 shall also apply to the costs incurred 
by each of the parties to appeal proceedings. A Board 
of Appeal decision on division of costs may cover all 
essential items including travel and subsistence and 
the remuneration of an agent, adviser or advocate. 
3. The Registrar of the Opposition Division or 
Cancellation Division shall upon application 
determine the amount of costs to be paid where a 
decision is taken to divide them. The amount so 
determined may upon application be amended if the 
Opposition Division or Cancellation Division so 
decides. 
Article 65 
[Enforcement of decisions which determine 
the amount of costs] 
1. Final decisions of the Office which determine the 
amount of costs shall be enforceable. 
2. Enforcement shall be governed by the rules of 
civil procedure applicable in the State in which it 
takes place. Subject only to verification that the 
relevant document is authentic, the enforcement 
clause or endorsement shall be appended by the 
national authority appointed for that purpose by the 
government of each Member State; the governments 
shall inform the Office and the Court of Justice of the 
identity of each such national authority. 
3. When, upon application by the person 
concerned, these formalities have been completed, he shall be entitled to proceed to enforcement by 
bringing the matter before the competent body 
designated by national law. 
4. Enforcement shall not be suspended except by 
decision of the Court of Justice. Control as to the 
regularity of enforcement measures shall, however, 
reside with the national courts. 
Section 3 
INFORMATION OF THE PUBLIC AND OF THE 
OFFICIAL AUTHORITIES OF THE MEMBER 
STATES 
Article 66 
[Register of Community trade marks] 
The Office shall keep a register which shall be known 
as the Register of Community trade marks, wherein 
shall be recorded the particulars whose registration is 
required by this Regulation. The Register shall be 
open to public inspection. 
Article 67 
[Inspection of files] 
1. The files relating to Community trade mark 
applications which are awaiting publication shall not 
be made available for inspection without the consent 
of the applicant. 
2. Any person who proves that the applicant for a 
Community trade mark has stated, directly or 
indirectly, that after the trade mark has been 
registered he will invoke it against that person, may, 
without the applicant's consent, inspect the file 
before the application is published. 
3. After publication of a Community trade mark 
application the files relating to the application and to 
the trade mark itself may be inspected on request. 
Certain documents in the file may, however, be 
withheld from inspection. 
Article 68 
[Community Trade Marks Bulletin] 
The Office shall publish periodically a Community 
Trade Marks Bulletin containing entries made in the 
Register of Community trade marks and all other 
particulars of which publication is required under 
this Regulation. 
No C 351/22 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
Article 69 
[Classification of Community trade marks] 
Goods and services for which Community trade 
marks are applied for shall be classified in 
conformity with the Office's system of 
classification. 
Article 70 
[Administrative and legal cooperation] 
1. Unless this Regulation otherwise provides, the 
Office and the courts or authorities of the Member 
Staates shall on request give aisstance to each other 
by supplying information or sending files for 
inspection. Where the Office sends files for 
inspection to courts, Public Prosecutors' Offices or 
central industrial porperty offices the restrictions laid 
down in Article 67 shall not apply. 
2. Information received in pursuance of 
paragraph 1 shall be used only for the purpose for 
which it was requested. The Office and the courts or 
authorities of the Member States, and the officials 
and other employees thereof, shall not disclose 
information received by them in pursuance of 
paragraph 1 if that information is of a confidential 
nature. 
3. Upon receipt of letters rogatory from the Office, 
the courts or other competent authorities of the 
Member States shall undertake on its behalf any 
enquiries or other judicial measures to the extent that 
they have power to do so. 
Article 71 
{Exchange of publications] 
The Office and the central industrial property offices 
of the Member States shall on request despatch to 
each other for their own use, free of charge, one or 
more copies of their respective publications. 
Section 4 
REPRESENTATION 
Article 72 
[General principles applicable to representation] 
1. No person shall be compelled to be represented 
before the Office by a professional representative. 2. However, any natural or legal person whose 
place of habitual residence or principal place of 
business ist not in the Community shall be 
represented before the Office by a professional 
representative. 
3. Natural or legal persons whose place of habitual 
residence or principal place of business is in the 
Community may act vis-a-vis the Office through one 
of their employees; due authority shall be conferred 
for this purpose on such employee. An employee of a 
legal person to which this paragraph applies may, in 
derogation from paragraph 2 in appropriate cases, 
also represent other legal persons which are 
economically associated with that legal person. 
Article 73 
[Professional representatives] 
1. Professional representation of natural or legal 
persons before the Office may be undertaken by: 
(a) any advocate who is authorized to practice in a 
Member State and whose place of business is in 
the Community, to the extent that he can act in 
that State as a representative in trade mark 
matters; or 
(b) those professional representatives whose names 
appear on the list maintained for this purpose by 
the Office. 
2. Any natural person who fulfils the following 
conditions may be entered on the list of professional 
representatives: 
(a) he must be a national of one of the Member 
States; 
(b) his place of business or employment must be in 
the Community; 
(c) he must be entitled to represent natural or legal 
persons in trade mark matters before the 
competent departments in the Member State 
where he practises or is employed. Where, in 
that State, the right to act is not conditional on 
the obtaining of a particular professional 
qualification, any person who acts in trade mark 
matters before the competent departments of 
that State and who applies for his name to be 
entered on the list must have practised 
continuously for not less than five years. 
3. Entry on the list shall be effected upon request, 
provided it is accompanied by a certificate issued by 
the central industrial property office showing that the 
conditions laid down in paragraph 2 are satisfied. 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/23 
TITLE IX 
JURISDICTION AND PROCEDURE IN LEGAL ACTIONS RELATING 
TO COMMUNITY TRADE MARKS 
Section 1 Section 2 
JURISDICTION PROCEDURE 
Article 74 
(Jurisdiction of national courts to bear actions for 
infringement of Community trade marks] 
1. Actions for infringement of a Community trade 
mark shall be heard by the courts of the Member 
State in which the defendant has his habitual 
residence or, if he has no habitual residence in the 
Community, in which he has a place of business. If 
the defendant has neither habitual residence nor 
pHrce of business in one of the Member States, such 
actions shall be heard by a court in the Member State 
in which the plaintiff has his habitual residence or, if 
he has no habitual residence in the Community, in 
which he has a place of business. If neither the 
defendant nor the plaintiff has his habitual residence 
or a place of business in the Community, the action 
shall be heard by a court in the State in which the 
headquarters of the Office is situated. The court 
hearing the action shall have jurisdiction in respect of 
acts of infringement alleged to have been committed 
in any Member State. 
2. Actions for infringment of a Community trade 
mark may also be heard by a court in the Member 
State in which an act of infringement has been 
committed. The court hearing the action shall have 
jurisdiction only in respect of acts of infringement 
alleged to have been committed in that State. 
3. If the court hearing the action finds that the 
Community trade mark has been infringed by use of 
another Community trade mark it shall order that the 
latter shall not be used anywhere in the Community; 
in any other case the order prohibiting the use of the 
Community trade mark shall have effect only in the 
Member State in which an act of infringement 
occurred. 
Article 75 
[Supplementary provisions] 
Each Member State shall arrange that actions for 
infringement of Community trade marks which are 
brought at first instance shall be heard by a court 
which has jurisdiction for the whole of that State or 
for several jurisdictional districts therein. Article 76 
(Rules applicable] 
Unless this Regulation otherwise provides, actions 
for infringement of Community trade marks shall be 
subject to those rules of procedure applicable in the 
laws of the Member States to actions for 
infringement of national trade marks. 
Article 77 
(Persons who are entitled to bring an action for 
infringement] 
1. Actions for infringement may be brought by the 
proprietor of a Community trade mark. A licensee 
may bring such actions only if the proprietor 
consents thereto. 
2. A licensee shall, for the purpose of obtaining 
compensation for damage suffered by him, be 
entitled to intervene in an infringement action 
brought by the proprietor of the Community trade 
mark. 
Article178 
(Counterclaims for declaration of revocation or 
invalidity] 
1. The court which is hearing an action for 
infringement of a Community trade mark shall have 
jurisdiction to give judgment on a counterclaim 
made by the original defendant for a declaration that 
the rights of the proprietor are revoked or that the 
trade mark is invalid. 
2. No such counterclaim as aforesaid may be made 
if an application or counterclaim relating to the same 
subject-matter and cause of action, and involving the 
same parties, has been determined by the Office. 
3. Article 47, paragraphs 2 to 5 shall apply. 
4. If the court declares that the rights of the 
proprietor are revoked or that the Community trade 
mark is invalid, it shall of its own motion order that 
the trade mark be removed from the Register. When 
the judgment has acquired the authority of a final 
decision, the Office shall remove the trade mark from 
No C 351/24 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
the Register upon application by whichever of the 
parties first requests it. 
Article 79 
[Stay of proceedings] 
1. The court which is hearing a counterclaim under 
paragraph 1 of Article 78 for a declaration that the 
rights of the proprietor of a Community trade mark 
are revoked or that the trade mark is invalid may, of 
its own motion or on application by any of the 
parties, stay the proceedings and invite the original 
defendant to present to the Office, within such time 
as the court determines, an application for a 
declaration of revocation or for a declaration of 
invalidity. 
Section 1 
CUMULATIVE PROTECTION PROHIBITED 
Article 81 
1. Where the proprietor of a Community trade 
mark is also the proprietor in a Member State of a 
national trade mark which is identical with or similar 
to the Community trade mark and is for goods or 
services for which the Community trade mark is 
registered, the effects of the national trade mark 
shall, upon publication of the registration of the 
Community trade mark, be suspended for so long as 
the Community trade mark produces its effects. 
2. The proprietor of the Community trade mark 
shall however be entitled to claim that in the Member 
State in which the national trade mark exists, or 
continues to be registered, his rights in the 
Community trade mark are effective from the date on 
which he acquired the national trade mark. 
3. In derogation from paragraph 1, the effects of 
the national trade mark shall not revive if the 
Community trade mark is removed from the Register 
following a declaration that the proprietor's rights 
therein are revoked on the ground of non-user. 
Section 2 
PROHIBITION ON APPLICATION OF THE 
NATIONAL LAWS OF THE MEMBER STATES TO 
COMMUNITY TRADE MARKS 
Article 82 
Without prejudice to Article 45, the national laws of 
the Member States shall not apply in relation to the 
validity or use of Community trade marks. 2. The court which is hearing any action relating to 
a Community trade mark may also, of its own motion 
or on application by any of the parties, stay the 
proceedings where an application for a declaration 
that the rights of the proprietor of a Community trade 
mark shall be revoked or that such trade mark is 
invalid has been submitted to the Office. 
Article 80 
[Defences as to the merits] 
In proceedings concerning a Community trade mark, 
the fact that the proprietor's rights therein have been 
revoked or that the trade mark is invalid shall not be 
pleaded by way of defence as to the merits. 
Section 3 
CONVERSION INTO A NATIONAL TRADE MARK 
APPLICATION 
Article 83 
[Request for the application of national procedure] 
1. The central industrial property offices in the 
Member States shall not apply the procedure for 
registration of a national trade mark on the basis of a 
Community trade mark application or Community 
trade mark, save where the applicant or proprietor of 
the trade mark so requests and the following 
circumstances obtain: 
(a) the Community trade mark application has been 
refused, withdrawn or deemed to have been 
withdrawn; 
(b) the Community trade mark ceases to have effect, 
but this provision shall not apply where the trade 
mark has been removed from the Register 
following a declaration that the proprietor's 
rights are revoked on the ground of non-user. 
2. Paragraph 1 shall apply only in those Member 
States where the Office or a national court has not 
decided that grounds for refusal of registration or 
grounds of invalidity exist under this Regulation in 
connection with the Community trade mark 
application or in connection with the Community 
trade mark itself. 
3. A request for conversion shall be filed within 
three months after the application has been refused 
or withdrawn or within three months after the 
Community trade mark ceases to have effect. An TITLE X 
EFFECT ON THE LAWS OF THE MEMBER STATES 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/25 
application or proprietor who does not file within the 
said period of three months shall lose the right to 
claim priority for the national trade mark from the 
date of filing of the application or from the date of 
the Community trade mark. 
Article 84 
[Submission of the request for conversion] 
1. The Member States shall determine the 
conditions which are to apply to the submission of 
requests for conversion. 
2. The Office shall, if so requested, and provided 
the fee is paid, make available to the applicant or 
Article 86 
[Community guarantee marks] 
1. Community guarantee marks may consist of any 
sign which is described as such when the guarantee 
mark is applied for, if its purpose is to guarantee the 
quality, method of manufacture or other common 
characteristics of goods or services of different 
undertakings which use the guarantee mark under the 
proprietor's control. 
2. Community guarantee marks shall not be used in 
respect of goods or services produced or supplied by 
the proprietor himself or by a person who is 
economically associated with him. 
Article 87 
[Community collective marks) 
Representative groups or bodies of manufacturers, 
producers, suppliers of services, or traders may, if 
they have legal personality, apply for Community 
collective marks which are described as such in the 
application and are capable of distinguishing the 
goods or services of their members from those of 
other undertakings. 
Article 88 
[Application of provisions) 
The provisions of this Regulation shall apply to 
Community guarantee marks and to Community 
collective marks, unless Articles 86 to 99 provide 
otherwise. proprietor a copy of the file relating to the 
Community trade mark application or Community 
trade mark. 
Article 85 
[Communication and publication] 
1. The central industrial property offices in the 
Member States shall inform the Office of all requests 
for conversion which they receive. 
2. Receipt of any such request shall be recorded in 
the Register of Community trade marks. If the 
Community trade mark application has been 
published, the request for conversion shall be 
published also. 
Article 89 
[Rules relating to the mark] 
1. Applications for Community guarantee marks or 
Community collective marks shall be accompanied 
by regulations relating to them. 
2, The regulations governing a Community 
guarantee mark shall set out the common 
characteristics of the goods or services which the 
mark is intended to guarantee and shall specify the 
detailed arrangements for real and effective 
supervision of the use of the mark, and suitable 
sanctions. 
Article 90 
[Refusal of application] 
1. An application for a Community guarantee mark 
or Community collective mark shall be refused where 
the provisions of Articles 86, 87 or 89 are not 
satisfied, or where the regulations are contrary to 
public policy or to accepted principles of morality. 
2. An application for a Community guarantee mark 
shall also be refused if the public is liable to be misled 
as regards the nature of the mark. 
Article 91 
[Opposition of Community guarantee marks on 
absolute grounds for refusal] 
1. Any natural or legal person and any group or 
body which has the capacity to be a party to TITLE XI 
COMMUNITY GUARANTEE MARKS AND COMMUNITY 
COLLECTIVE MARKS 
No C 351/26 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
proceedings in court, whether as plaintiff or 
defendant, for the purpose of representing the 
interests of manufacturers, producers, suppliers of 
services, traders or consumers may, within a period 
of three months after publication of an application 
for a Community guarantee mark, file opposition at 
the Office, on any of the following grounds, against 
registration of the mark: 
(a) that under Article 6 or 86 the mark is ineligible 
for registration; 
(b) that the regulations do not comply with the 
requirements of paragraph 2 of Article 89 or are 
contrary to public policy or to accepted 
principles of morality; 
(c) that the public is liable to be misled as regards 
the nature of the mark. 
2. The opposition shall be expressed in writing and 
shall specify the grounds on which it is based. It shall 
not be treated as duly entered until the opposition fee 
has been paid. 
Article 92 
[Observations by third parties] 
Article 33 shall apply in the cases described in Article 
90. 
Article 93 
{Use of marks] 
The use made of a Community guarantee mark or of 
a Community collective mark by a person entitled to 
use it shall be in conformity with the provisions of 
this Regulation and with the conditions which it 
imposes as regards such use. 
Article 94 
(Amendment of the regulations governing the mark] 
1. The proprietor of a Community guarantee mark 
or of a Community collective mark shall inform the 
Office of any amendment to the regulations 
governing it. 
2. Amendments shall not be accepted if they are 
inconsistent whith the provisions of Article 89 or are 
contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of 
morality, or, where they relate to Community 
guarantee marks, are liable to mislead the public as 
regards the nature of the mark or the guarantees 
provided by the regulations. 
3. The Office shall publish the amendments to 
regulations governing Community guarantee marks 
or Community collective marks, or shall publish the 
fact that the regulations have been amended. Where 
the amendments are published in full, Articles 91 and 
92 shall apply. 4. Amendments to regulations shall not take effect 
until they have been registered. 
Article 95 
(Persons who are entitled to bring an action for 
infringement] 
1. The provisions of Article 77 concerning the rights 
of licensees shall apply to every person who has 
authority to use a Community guarantee mark or 
Community collective mark. 
2. The proprietor of a Community guarantee mark 
or Community collective mark shall also be entitled 
to claim compensation for damage sustained by 
persons who have authority to use the mark, if the 
damage arises in consequence of an unauthorized use 
of the mark. 
Article 96 
[Grounds for revocation] 
The rights of the proprietor of a Community 
guarantee mark or of a Community collective mark 
shall be revoked if: 
(a) he uses the mark in a manner which is 
inconsistent with the provisions of paragraph 2 
of Article 86, or 
(b) he authorizes or acquiesces in the use of the 
mark on terms which are different from those 
prescribed by this Regulation. 
Article 97 
(Grounds for and consequences of invalidity] 
1. A Community guarantee mark or a Community 
collective mark which is registered in breach of the 
provisions of Article 90 shall be invalid. Such mark 
shall also be invalid if an amendment to the 
regulations governing it is registered in breach of 
paragraph 2 of Article 94. The provisions of this 
Article shall not apply however if the proprietor of 
the mark, by further amending the regulations, 
complies with the requirements of those Articles. 
2. Where a Community guarantee mark or 
Community collective mark is invalid in 
consequence of amendment of the regulations 
governing it, it shall be deemed not to have had the 
effects provided for in this Regulation from the time 
when the amendment was registered. 
Article 98 
[No applications to be made for registration of 
Community guarantee marks or Community collective 
marks which have been removed from the Register, and 
such marks are not to be used] 
1. Where a Community guarantee mark or a 
Community collective mark has not been renewed, or 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/27 
the proprietor's rights therein have been revoked, or 
the mark has been declared invalid or has been 
surrendered, no fresh application shall be made for 
registration thereof and it shall not be used oh any 
ground whatsoever for goods or services which are 
similar to those in respect of which it was registered 
until three years have elapsed since the relevant non­renewal, revocation, surrender or declaration of 
invalidity. 
2. Without prejudice to the application of 
subparagraph (b) of paragraph 1 of Article 83, 
paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to the 
former proprietor of the mark or to his successors in 
title thereto. 
TITLE XII 
THE COMMUNITY TRADE MARKS OFFICE 
Section 1 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 
Article 99 
[Legal Status] 
1. The Office is a body of the Community. 
2. In each of the Member States the Office shall 
enjoy the most extensive legal capacity accorded to 
legal persons under their laws; it may, in particular, 
acquire or dispose of movable and immovable 
property and may be a party to legal proceedings. 
For these purposes the Office shall be represented by 
its President. 
3. The seat of the Office shall be located at... 
Article 100 
(Staff) 
1. The Staff Regulations of officials of the 
European Communities, the conditions of 
employment of other servants of the European 
Communities, and the rules adopted jointly by the 
Institutions of the European Communities for 
purposes of the application of those Staff 
Regulations and conditions of employment shall 
apply to the staff of the Office, but without prejudice 
to the application of Article 118 to the members of 
the Boards of Appeal. 
2. Without prejudice to Article 105, the powers 
conferred on each Institution by the Staff 
Regulations, and by the conditions of employment of 
other servants, shall be exercised by the Office in 
relation to its staff. 
Article 101 
[Privileges aad imnunitiesl 
The Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the 
European Communities shall apply to the Office. Article 102 
[Liability] 
1. The contractual liability of the Office shall be 
governed by the law applicable to the relevant 
contract. 
2. The Court of Justice of the European 
Communities shall have jurisdiction to give 
judgment pursuant to any arbitration clause 
contained in a contract concluded by the Office. 
3. As regards non-contractual liability, the Office 
shall, in accordance with the general principles 
common to the laws of the Member States, make 
good any damage caused by its departments or 
servants in the performance of their duties. 
4. The Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction in 
disputes relating to compensation for any such 
damage as is referred to in paragraph 3. 
5. The personal liability of servants towards the 
Office shall be governed by the provisions laid down 
in its Staff Regulations or in the conditions of 
employment applicable to its staff. 
Article 103 
[Language] 
The language of the Office for procedural purposes 
is... 
Section 2 
ADMINISTRATION OF THE OFFICE 
Article 104 
[Powers of the President] 
1. The Office shall be administered by the 
President. 
2. To this end the President shall have inter alia the 
following functions and powers: 
No C 351/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
(a) he shall take all necessary steps, including the 
adoption of internal administrative instructions 
and the publication of notices to ensure the 
functioning of the Office; 
(b) he may, after consulting the Advisory 
Committee, place before the Commission any 
proposal to amend this Regulation, the 
implementing Regulation, the rules of 
procedure of the Boards of Appeal, the fees 
regulations or the financial rules; 
(c) he shall draw up the estimates of revenues and 
expenditure of the Office and shall implement 
the budget; 
(d) he shall submit a management report to the 
Commission and Advisory Committee each 
year; 
(e) he shall excercise the powers conferred by 
paragraph 2 of Article 100; 
3. The President shall be assisted by a number of 
Vice-Presidents. If the President is unable to act, one 
of the Vice-Presidents shall act in place of him. 
Article 105 
(Appointment of senior officials] 
1. The President of the Office shall be selected from 
a list of three candidates which shall be prepared by 
the Advisory Committee, and shall be appointed by 
the Commission. Power to dismiss the President shall 
lie with the Commission after consulting the 
Advisory Committee. 
2. The Vice-President of the Office and the 
members of the Boards of Appeal shall be appointed 
or dismissed as in paragraph 1. 
3. Without prejudice to paragraph 1 of Article 118, 
the Commission shall exercise disciplinary authority 
over the employees referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 
of this Article. 
Article 106 
(Control of legality] 
1. The Commission shall be responsible for legal 
supervision of the acts of the President. 
2. It shall require that any unlawful act of the 
President be altered or annulled. 
3. Any Member State, or any third party who is 
directly and personally concerned, may refer to the 
Commission any act of the President, whether 
express or implied, so that the Commission will 
examine the legality of that act. Section 3 
ADVISORY COMMITTEE 
Article 107 
(Creation and powers] 
1. An advisory committee to the Office is hereby 
established and is hereinafter referred to as 'the 
Committee'. 
2. It shall settle the list of candidates provided for in 
Article 105. 
3. It shall advise the President concerning matters 
for which the Office is responsible. 
4. It shall be consulted in the cases provided for in 
this Regulation. 
5. It may deliver opinions to the Commission and 
to the President where it considers that this is 
necessary. 
Article 108 
(Composition] 
1. The Committee shall be composed of one 
representative of the government of each Member 
State and one representative of the Commission, and 
their alternates. 
2. The members who represent the governments of 
the Member States, and the alternates of those 
members, shall be appointed by the Council. The 
member who represents the Commission, and his 
alternate, shall be appointed by the Commission. 
3. The term of office of members and of their 
alternates shall be three years. It shall be 
renewable. 
Article 109 
[Presidency] 
The Committe shall elect a President and Vice-
President from among its members. If the President is 
unable to act the Vice-President shall act in place of 
him. 
Article 110 
[Meetings] 
1. Meetings of the Committe shall be convened by 
the President. 
2. The President of the Office may take part in the 
deliberations. 
3. The Committee shall hold an ordinary meeting 
once a year; it shall also meet at the request of its 
President or of the Commission or of one third of its 
members. 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/29 
4. It shall adopt rules of procedure. 
5. Its decisions shall be taken by simple majority 
vote. Where, however, the Committee has to take a 
decision under paragraph 1 or 2 of Article 105 or 
paragraph 1 of Article 121, a majority of not less than 
three quarters of the votes shall be required. 
Article 111 
[Duties of Office] 
The members of the Committee shall be bound, even 
after cessation of their appointment, not to disclose 
or make use of information which is of a confidential 
nature. 
Section 4 
ARRANGEMENT OF DEPARTMENTS 
Article 112 
{Departments responsible for procedure] 
For the purposes of implementing the procedures 
laid down in this Regulation, there shall be 
established within the Office: 
(a) an Examining Division; 
(b) an Opposition Division; 
(c) an Administration of Trade Marks Division; 
(d) a Cancellation Division; 
(e) Boards of Appeal. 
Article 113 
(Examining Division] 
1. The Examining Division shall be responsible for 
examining Community trade mark applications and 
for deciding whether trade marks applied for are to 
be registered. 
2. Decisions of the Examining Division shall be 
taken by one of its members. 
Article 114 
(Opposition Division] 
1. The Opposition Division shall be responsible for 
deciding whether a trade mark is to be registered as a 
Community trade mark in cases where observations 
are submitted or opposition is entered. 2. Decisions of the Opposition Division shall be 
taken by three of its members, of whom two shall not 
have taken part in examining the application. One of 
the deciding members must be qualified in law. 
3. Examination of the opposition may be 
conducted by one of those three members. 
Article US 
(Administration of Trade Marks Division] 
1. The Administration of Trade Marks Division 
shall be responsible for doing all such acts of the 
Office in relation to Community trade marks as lie 
outside the competence of other departments thereof. 
It shall be responsible inter alia for deciding what 
particulars are to be recorded in or are to be deleted 
from the Register of Community trade marks. 
2. Decisions of the Administration of Trade Marks 
Division shall be taken by one of its members. 
Article 116 
(Cancellation Division] 
1. The Cancellation Division shall be responsible 
for examining applications for revocation or for 
declarations of invalidity of Community trade 
marks. 
2. Decisions of the Cancellation Division shall be 
taken by three members who are qualified in law. 
3. Examination of applications may be conducted 
by one of those three members. 
Article 117 
[Boards of Appeal] 
1. The Boards of Appeal shall be responsible for 
examining appeals from decisions of the Examining 
Division, Opposition Division, Cancellation 
Division and Administration of Trade Marks 
Division. 
2. Each Board of Appeal shall be composed of 
three members who are qualified in law. 
Article 118 
[Independence of members of the Boards of Appeal] 
1. The members of the Boards of Appeal shall be 
appointed for a term of five years and may not be 
removed from office during that term, except where 
there are serious grounds for removing them and the 
No C 351/30 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 80 
Court of Justice, having been seized by the 
Commission decides that the member in question 
shall be removed. 
2. The members of the Boards of Appeal shall be 
independent. In making their decisions they shall not 
be bound by any instructions they may have 
received. 
3. The members of the Boards of Appeal shall not 
be members of the Examining Division, Opposition 
Division, Administration of Trade Marks Division or 
Cancellation Division. 
Article 119 
(Exclusion and objection) 
1. Members of the Cancellation Division or of the 
Boards of Appeal shall not take part in determining 
any matter in which they have a personal interest, or 
in which they have previously been involved as 
representatives of any of the parties, or in relation to 
which they participated in taking the final decision in 
the course of the registration procedure. Members of 
the Boards of Appeal shall not take part in appeal 
proceedings if they participated in making the 
decision under appeal. 
2. If, for any of the reasons mentioned in 
paragraph 1, or for any other reason, a member of 
the Cancellation Division or of a Board of Appeal 
considers that he should not take part in determining 
a matter, he shall inform the Division or Board 
accordingly. 
3. Members of the Cancellation Division or of a 
Board of Appeal may be objected to by any party for 
any of the reasons mentioned in parargraph 1, or if 
suspected of partiality. An objection shall not lie if, 
while being aware of a reason for objecting the 
relevant party has taken any procedural steps. No 
objection shall be based upon the nationality of 
members. 
4. In the situations mentioned in paragraph 2 and 3 
the Cancellation Division and the Boards of Appeal 
shall decide, without the participation of the member 
concerned, as to the action to be taken. For the 
purposes of making the decision the member 
objected to shall be replaced in the Division or Board 
of Appeal by his alternate. 
Section 5 
BUDGET AND FINANCIAL CONTROL 
Article 120 
(Budget] 
1. Estimates of all the Office's revenue and 
expenditure shall be prepared for each financial year and shall be shown in the Office's budget, and each 
financial year shall correspond with the calendar 
year. 
2. The revenue and expenditure shown in the 
budget shall be in balance. 
3. Revenue means (without prejudice to other types 
of income) total fees payable under the fees 
regulations, and to the extent that it is necessary a 
subvention recorded under a specific heading of the 
Budget of the European Communities, Commission 
Section. 
Article 121 
[Preparation of the Budget] 
1. The President shall draw up each year an 
estimate of the Office's revenue and expenditure for 
the following year and shall send it to the 
Commission not later than 31 March in each year, 
together with an establishment plan and an opinion 
from the Committee. 
2. The Commission shall annex the estimate to the 
preliminary draft Budget of the European 
Communities. The Commission may attach an 
opinion on the estimate along with an alternative 
estimate. If a subvention under paragraph 3 of 
Article 120 is necessary, the Commission may 
propose such amendment of the estimate as it 
considers requisite. 
3. The Office's budget shall be adopted by the 
budget authority in accordance with the same 
procedure as the general budget. 
Article 122 
(Control] 
1. Not later than 31 March in each year the 
President shall transmit to the Commission and to the 
Audit Board accounts of the Office's total revenue 
and expenditure for the preceding financial period. 
The Audit Board shall examine them in accordance 
with Article 206 a of the Treaty. 
2. The European Parliament shall give a discharge 
to the President of the Office in accordance with the 
procedure laid down in Article 206 c of the Treaty. 
3. Control of commitment and payment of all 
expenditure and control of the existence and recovery 
of all revenue of the Office shall be carried out by the 
financial controller of the Commission. 
Article 123 
(Financial provisions] 
The financial regulation applicable to the general 
budget of the European Communities shall apply to 
31. 12. 80 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 351/31 
the Office without prejudice to the provisions the amounts of the fees and the ways in which they 
contained in this Regulation or to special provisions are to be paid, 
determined by regulations adopted by the Council in 
accordance with the conditions laid down in 2. The amounts of the fees shall be fixed in such 
Article 209 of the Treaty. manner that the Office's revenue covers its 
expenditure. 
Article 124 3. The fees regulations shall be adopted on a 
proposal from the Commission by qualified majority 
[Fees regulations] vote of the Council after obtaining the opinion of the 
1. The fees regulations shall determine in particular European Parliament. 
TITLE XIII 
FINAL PROVISIONS 
Article 125 
[Community implementing provisions! 
1. The rules implementing this Regulation, 
particularly as regards the calculation and extension 
of periods of time to which a time-limit applies, shall 
be adopted in an implementing regulation. 
2. The implementing regulation and the rules of 
procedure of the Boards of Appeal shall be adopted 
by the Council, by qualified majority vote, on a 
proposal from the Commission. 
Article 126 
[National implementing provisions] 
The Member States shall within twelve months 
following the adoption of this Regulation bring into 
operation the measures which are requisite for the 
purpose of implementing Articles 75 and 84 hereof 
and shall forthwith inform the Commission of those 
measures. 
Article 127 
Save as regards Articles 75 and 84, this Regulation 
shall enter into force twelve months after it has been 
published in the Official Journal of the European 
Communities. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States.