Following more than seven years of consultation and debate, on 16 December 2015, the European Parliament and Council published regulation 2015/2424 (“the Regulation”) and directive 2015/2436 (“the Directive”) which have introduced significant numbers of additions and variations to the current EU Trade Mark regime.

Entry into force

The vast majority of the provisions within the Regulation will take effect from 23 March 2016 with others following from 1 October 2017.

The central intellectual property offices/registries within the EU Member States will have until 15 January 2019 to implement the Directive.