TRADEMARK FEES : COMMISSION FINALLY PROPOSES REDUCTIONS.

The European Commission will on 22 December adopt a communication proposing a "regular" and "automatic" review of trademark fees so as to ensure a reasonable "balance" at the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, established in 1994 in Alicante, Spain. Detailed proposals for an amendment of the Commission's Trade Mark Fees Regulation should come in spring 2007. The review should lead to lower trademark fees and reduce the towering reserves of the Office, which rose to more than 130 million in 2005. At the current rate of growth in the number of trademarks, and current high fees, reserves could top 375 million by the end...