The elimination of the graphical representation requirement from the definition of EU and national trade marks is one of the key changes brought by the new Directive, as it gives the way for the acceptance of new types of trade mark and new means of representation. It will facilitate the reproduction of some of the already recognized kinds of trademarks and improve the accuracy of the reproductions.

Therefore, to ensure the transition to the new Directive is as smooth as possible for all stakeholders, the Intellectual Property Offices of the Member States of the EU, the EUIPO and the European Commission have been working together to develop a common initiative on the representation of new types of trade marks.

The result is Common Communication[1]which gives a complete overview of the state of play of each Office’s transposition process, showing: the types of trade mark each Office plans to accept; the definitions thereof; and the accepted electronic file formats for sound, motion, multimedia and hologram marks.

The Communication will be updated on a six-monthly basis to reflect the developing positions of the Offices as they advance with the transposition process.

[1]https://euipo.europa.eu/tunnel-web/secure/webdav/guest/document_library/contentPdfs/about_euipo/who_we_are/common_communication/common_communication_8/common_communication8_en.pdf