The Trade Marks Directive (TMD) is the central basis for the European harmonisation of trade mark law.^[1] The 1988 predecessor directive had already provided the member states with comparatively precise and mostly mandatory requirements with regard to the law relating to trade marks. The new version, which was adopted as a result of the 2015 trade mark law reform, now also harmonises the procedural rules in many parts. The harmonisation covers the grounds for refusal,^[2] the scope of protection of trade marks,^[3] licensing,^[4] the acquiescence of rights,^[5] the use requirements^[6] and the central procedural provisions. The Directive seeks to strike a general balance between the interests of the proprietor of a trade mark and the interests of other traders in the availability of signs to designate their products.^[7]
In addition to the TMD, the Community Trade Mark Regulation (CTMR)^[8], now the European Union Trade Mark Regulation (EUTMR),^[9] created the system of EU trade marks in 1996. The EUTMR not only contains extensive procedural provisions, but also substantive provisions, including independent claims. The substantive provisions of the EUTMR are consistent with the TMD and are interpreted in the same way by the case law.
European trade mark law was last 2015 fundamentally reformed. While the new EUTMR has already been in force in all essential parts, the deadline for implementing the new TMD into national law was 15 January 2019.
The formal provisions for the European Union trade mark system include the Commission Regulation on the implementation of the European Union trade mark regulation (EUTMIR)^[10] and the European Union trade mark delegated regulation (EUTMDR),^[11] neither of which had yet been officially published in the Official Journal at the time of going to press. The EUTMR contains rules for registration and renewal procedures, while the DV contains rules for opposition, revocation, invalidity and appeal proceedings. Finally, the fees are now regulated in an annex to the EUTMR; the former separate fees regulation (GebührenVO) ^[12] has been replaced.