Brussels, 28/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - In Council on Thursday 28 May, economy and industry ministers took stock of the significant progress achieved with the Community trade mark system. The legislative text also received the support of Commissioner for the Internal Market and Industry Elzbieta Bienkowska, although she did express her reservations over the financial aspect of the project.
The Commission regrets that the income generated by registering European level marks will not be able to contribute to the European budget but will remain in the hands of the member states, according to one source who spoke to EUROPE. The United Kingdom has been particularly firm on this point and, during the public session, reiterated that this income must not be transferred to the European budget; according to the British minister, this is a red line that could not be crossed.
Latvian Minister for Economic Affairs Dana Reizniece-Ozola, chairing the Competitiveness Council session, commented: “This is good news for Europe because we will be better able to fight the floods of counterfeit products".
This legislative project includes a regulation and directive to optimise the entrepreneurial environment and encourage innovation by improving the protection of marks and tackling counterfeit products, such as those transiting Union territory. The new legislative framework will allow for easier and more efficient access to systems for registering marks. It will also help fine tune the cooperation system between the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM), whose headquarters are in Alicante in Spain and the respective national offices.
The European Commission officially submitted this legislative project in 2013. A provisional agreement was reached between the Latvian Presidency and European Parliament representatives on 21 April last. The Latvian Minister is hoping that a text will be presented at the beginning of June 2 to Coreper I. (Pascal Hansens)