The long-awaited reform of the EU’s (single) trademark law is coming into force. Today the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) changes its name to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), and, from now on, the “Community trademark” will be referred to as the “European Union trademark” or the “EU trademark”.

The changes are introduced by the Regulation (EU) 2015/2424 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2015 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 on the Community trade mark and Commission Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 on the Community trade mark, and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 2869/95 on the fees payable to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (text in: EUR-Lex).

Naturally, these changes are not merely limited to the terminology. They apply to a number of the existing legal provisions and primarily serve the purpose of modernising the EU’s trademark system and implementing more effective tools to combat counterfeiting.