COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
C0MC9Î) 481 final 
Brussels, 28 November 1991 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL DECISION 
on the deferment of the date on which the laws 
of the Member States must comply with 
Council Directive 89/104/EEC of ^certber 19B8 
to approximate the laws of the Member States 
relating to Trade Marks 
(presented by the Commission) 
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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
1. The objective of this Communication is to request the Council to decide 
that the date of implementation of Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 
21 December 1988 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States 
relating to trade marks be deferred from 28 December 1991 until 
31 December 1992. 
2. Council Directive 89/104/EEC provides in Article 16(1), that the Member 
States must comply with its provisions not later than 28 December 1991. 
Paragraph 2 of this Article, however, contains a provision in accordance 
with which the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, may 
defer the said date until 31 December 1992 at the latest. 
This provision has been included, exceptionally, in the Directive to 
ensure the envisaged "parallelism" between the Community Trade Mark 
Regulation and the Trade Mark Directive. The parallelism implies that 
the date from which Community Trade Mark applications may be filed should 
be the same as the date of the entry into force of the national 
legislative measures mandated by Directive 89/104/EEC. 
The reason behind this exceptional provision has been included as a 
statement of the Council and the Commission in the minutes of the Council 
meeting at which the Directive was adopted. 
3. Recently, the Commission received a request from e Member State to 
propose the deferment of the date of implementation in accordance with 
Article 16(2) of the said Directive. 
The Commission realises that Community Trade Mark applications can not be 
filed before 28 December 1991 and that it is possible that that may not 
even be the case by 31 December 1992. The latter is, however, not yet 
excluded if the necessary decisions for the adopt on of the Community 
Trade Mark system were to be taken shortly. 
Furthermore, it should be underlined that the deferment of the date of 
implementation until 31 December 1992 would in any case have the effect 
that the parallelism between the date of implementation of the Directive 
and tho date on which applications for Community Trade Marks may be filed 
will be assured for, at least, another 12 months. 
4. The deferment of the date of implementation until 31 December 1992 would 
still meet with the objectives set for the completion of the Internal 
Market by 1992. In this light, the Commission notes that any further 
deferment of the date of implementation is not foreseen by the Directive 
nor shall it be proposed by the Commission. 
5. Proposal for a Council Decision 
Accordingly, the Commission proposes that the Council adopts the attached 
draft Decision. 
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PROPOSAL 
FOR A 
COUNCIL DECISION 
on the deferment of the date on which the laws 
of the Member States must comply with 
Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 
to approximate the laws of the Member States 
relating to Trade Marks 
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THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, 
Having regard to First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 to 
approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks^1), in 
particular Article 16(2) thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
whereas under Article 16(1) of Directive 89/104/EEC the Member States shall 
bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions 
necessary to comply with this Directive not later than 28 December 1991, 
whereas under Article 16(2) of Directive 89/104/EEC, on a proposal from the 
Commission, the Council, acting by qualified majority, may defer the date 
referred to in Article 16(1) until 31 December 1992 at the latest, 
whereas this exceptional provision has been included in 
Directive 89/104/EEC exclusively to ensure, if necessary, that the date of 
the entry into force of the legislative measures mandated by it should, as 
far as possible, be aligned with the date as from which it will be possible 
for Community trade mark applications to be filed, 
whereas the Commission's proposal for a Council Regulation on the Community 
trade mark^2) has not yet been adopted, 
whereas it is expected that the said Regulation will be adopted shortly, 
whereas It seems therefore appropriate to defer the date on which the 
Member States shall bring into force the legislative measures mandated by 
Directive 89/104/EEC until 31 December 1992 so that the objective, referred 
to above, may be pursued, 
(1) OJ No. L40 of 11 February 1989, p. 1. 
(2) OJ No. C351 of 31 December 1980, p. 1 and OJ No. C230 of 
31 August 1984, p. 1. 
whereas the objectives set for the completion of the Internal Market by 
1992 continue to be respected notwithstanding the deferment, until 
31 December 1992, of the date on which the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions of the Member States must comply with Directive 
89/104/EEC. 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION 
Article 1 
The date referred to In Article 16(1) of First CounciI Directive 89/104/EEC 
of 21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating 
to trade marks shall be deferred until 31 December 1992. 
Article 2 
This Decision is addressed to the Member States 
Done at Brussels, For the Council 
The President 
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Note on Impact for small and medium sized enterprises 
The object of this Communication is to recommend the Council to decide that 
the date on which the laws of the Member States must comply with Council 
Directive 89/104/EEC be deferred from 28 December 1991 until 
31 December 1992. 
Thus, this concerns an act which has no effect on small and medium sized 
enterprises or on employment. 

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ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(91) 481 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 06 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-91-531-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-77889-X 
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