The amendments will assist the accession of the EC’s Community Design programme to the blanket design protection offered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
Amendment one, on Regulation 2245/2002, modifies registration and renewal procedures, and also covers communications with WIPO’s International Bureau on the subject of Community-related registrations. Further to those measures, the administration of Community Designs through the Office for the Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) will be simplified and streamlined.
The second amendment concerns Regulation 2246/2002, and provides for a system based at OHIM’s Trademarks and Designs department for administrating fee payments for European Community international registrations.
Ratification of these measures before WIPO is sheduled for the end of September, following the EC’s adoption of the Geneva Act. EC Internal Market and Services commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, said: ‘The new legislation will make it possible for European business to safeguard their design rights globally with less bureaucracy and reduced costs. I expect that the new system can become operational in the EU by January 1, 2008.’
