Does the \"Brands Package\" mean anything to you? Beyond its rather unflattering name, it is a major reform of trademark law that comes to us from a European regulation adopted in 2017, finally (!) transposed into French law by ordinance, and its implementation decree<\/a> all expenses from December 9, 2019.<\/p>\n \"They are annoying us, these lawyers, with their technical details\", you will no doubt say... But this reform is not a detail, since it greatly upsets trademark law procedures as we know them. Above all, and most importantly, it changes the trademark fee<\/a>and adds a few other new tariffs that directly impact applicants. It is on this first subject that we are talking about in this post, which will soon be followed by a second one on procedural changes.<\/p>\n These new fees affect trademark registration as such, but also certain procedural fees.<\/p>\n Until now, the filing fee was \u20ac210 for 1 to 3 classes, and \u20ac42 for each additional class. It was therefore not uncommon for applicants to choose 3 classes, without really needing them, since they had that sweet aura of free that you often find at the top of the gondola at the supermarket: \"one bought, 2 free! \u00bb.<\/p>\n The problem with this system is that these filings cluttered up the registries and constituted potentially enforceable prior art even though their holders had no intention of exploiting them for one or more classes.<\/p>\n The INPI has therefore followed the solution already adopted for several years in Europe: a class tariff. The new fees for filing a trademark are therefore as follows: \u20ac190 for the first class, and \u20ac40 per additional class. We should therefore see many more \"monoclass\" filings, which will streamline the registers and greatly simplify, over time, the background checks<\/a>.<\/p>\n The other changes mainly concern the opposition procedure (which makes it possible to prevent the registration of a trademark that is too close to yours) and renewal.<\/p>\n The cost of the opposition proceedings<\/a> increases from \u20ac325 to \u20ac400, for a single prior right invoked. An additional fee of \u20ac150 is charged for each additional right invoked. The procedure has indeed undergone a radical change, which we explain below.<\/p>\nThe new pricing for trademark registrations<\/h2>\n
No more \"three classes for the price of one\".<\/h3>\n
The new procedural fees<\/h2>\n
Fees for opposition proceedings<\/h3>\n
Brand renewal rates<\/h3>\n